Talladega: Bobby Labonte preview

Bobby Labonte: "You know, I'm sure everyone enjoyed their off week. The guys got to spend time with their families. That's exactly what I did. But, at the same time, we had a decent run at Phoenix with the Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge.

Bobby Labonte:

"You know, I'm sure everyone enjoyed their off week. The guys got to spend time with their families. That's exactly what I did. But, at the same time, we had a decent run at Phoenix with the Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge. There is a part of you that wants to be at the racetrack the very next day when you put together a strong team effort like that. You want to be able to grab a little momentum wherever you can. It's those races where we all work as one that can build momentum and confidence."

"We're only 81 points out of the top-12. That can be made up in just one race. It's more realistic to give yourself a couple of races to try to make that up. But we're going to Talladega. Anything can happen. Talladega is one of the great equalizing tracks. There are many different strategies that you can use there. I've always tried to start up front and stay there. We had a good car in the Daytona 500 so I think we should be able to do that."

"This will be our third restrictor-plate race with the new car. We're much further ahead with it now than when we debuted it in the 'Fall' race at Talladega last year. In that race we saw the entire field in a single line. But in the Daytona 500 there was lots of passing. It was one of the most exciting races of the year so far. Daytona is more of a 'handling' track too. So if we were able to pass there, then the fans should be in for another exciting Talladega race."

-credit: pe