Labonte is close to home in Martinsville

In 41 starts at Martinsville Speedway, Bobby Labonte has one pole, one win, six top-five and 14 top-10 finishes and has led 320 laps. His average start is 18.902 and his average finish is 18.415.

Bobby Labonte

Photo by: Action Sports Photography

Favors Martinsville Speedway: “I have had some good experiences at Martinsville and I just love going there,” Labonte said. “It is a track that gets back to handling, throttle control and forward drive. It is also nice that it is really close to home.” In control: “It is just good short track racing,” Labonte said. “Another reason I love going to Martinsville is because you have more control over what you are doing than say at a place like Talladega Superspeedway. We are looking forward to having a strong run for Clorox and all our brands.”

Success: “We have had good success at Martinsville and we are the type of team that can excel at a track like that more so than any other place on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule," Labonte said. "We have always been better on long runs there. Hopefully, we can rebound from the bad weekend we experienced at Talladega.”

Good place for JTG Daugherty Racing: “With Bobby, we have had some of our best finishes at Martinsville Speedway,” crew chief Brian Burns said. “This is one of the best tracks for us. We have a good baseline setup and Martinsville really does not change that much. If we can stay out of trouble, we feel like a top-10 finish is in our reach.”

Short track car: “Our Clorox Toyota that we will have at Martinsville is a car that we have raced a lot,” Burns said. “It is chassis 700 and it is a good short track car.”

Driver's track: “Martinsville Speedway is a driver’s track,” Burns said. “The most important thing is to take care of your equipment. Tire management is a big deal. This type of track plays into Bobby’s hands. He is good at taking care of his equipment. He does not use up his brakes and he takes care of his tires.”

Close to home: “This weekend we are close to home racing,” Burns said. “It is nice because it is a little more relaxing. Some of our road crew guys are driving back and forth since it is only a couple hours from their house. It is good to be able to be home to simply recharge your batteries.”

Baby on the way: “Our tire specialist, Paul Jamison, is on baby watch,” Burns said. “His wife is expecting to have their first child any day now. He has stayed home to be on alert in case it happens this weekend. We are happy for him.”

JTG Daugherty Racing