Labonte Qualifies 10th at Martinsville
MARTINSVILLE, Va., Friday, Oct. 21, 2005 – Bobby Labonte helped Joe Gibbs Racing put three drivers into the top 10 of the starting field for the Subway 500 by qualifying 10th during Friday’s time trials at Martinsville Speedway.
Labonte toured the half-mile oval at 97.212 miles per hour (19.479 seconds) in the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet and will line up on the outside of the fifth row alongside Elliott Sadler. Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin joined Labonte in the top 10. Stewart won the pole position at 98.083 mph (19.306 seconds) in the No. 20 Home Depot Monte Carlo and will share the front row with Ricky Rudd, who was second-fastest at 97.992 mph.
Hamlin covered his qualifying lap at 97.835 mph (19.355 seconds) in the No. 11 FedEx Freight Chevrolet and will start fifth in the 43-car field. The three JGR drivers were among 11 competitors who broke Ryan Newman’s one-year-old track qualifying record.
After Stewart and Rudd, the rest of the top 10 featured Rusty Wallace, who qualified third; Newman, fourth; Hamlin, fifth; defending race winner Jimmie Johnson (last week’s winner at Charlotte), sixth; Jeremy Mayfield, seventh; Joe Nemechek, eighth; with Sadler and Labonte lining up in the fifth row.
Labonte capped off his busy day of racing by qualifying 19th for Saturday’s Kroger 200 Craftsman Truck Series Race. His speed around the Martinsville oval was 94.477 mph (20.043 seconds). Labonte will start the race from the inside of the 10th row, alongside David Starr. The pole went to Rick Crawford with a top speed of 95.966 mph.
Saturday’s Kroger 200 is scheduled to start at 1:25 p.m. (EDT) and will be televised live on the SPEED Channel. Sunday’s NEXTEL Cup Series race is scheduled to start at 1:15 p.m. (EDT) and will be televised live by NBC, with pre-race coverage beginning at 12:30 p.m.
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