Bobby Labonte Finishes Fifth at Phoenix

Labonte finished fifth in the Checker Auto Parts 500 Nov. 13 at Phoenix International Raceway, his seventh top 10 finish of the season, and his fifth top 10 on a track with a distance of 1 mile or less.

“It was a good day for us,” Labonte said. “Steve (Addington, crew chief) and the guys made some great calls. We got some track position and some things went our way. We fought hard there at the end, and it was a good finish. We’re going to try to finish out this year as strong as we can. Even though we’re going our separate ways after Homestead, this is still a family. We’ve been together for 11 years, and it’s a great group of people.”

Labonte started fifth in the No. 18 Interstate Batteries/Madagascar Chevrolet and battled a loose/tight/loose condition early on in the race. Addington and the crew worked with tire pressures and wedge adjustments throughout the first half of the race and got the car to Labonte’s liking around Lap 193 when he was in 16th-place.

Once the car’s handling was fixed, Addington and Labonte worked on getting track position, staying out through three cautions, while most other cars pitted. By Lap 232, he restarted the race in second position and held the spot until Lap 254, when another caution came out when Denny Hamlin spun after being touched by Kevin Harvick. Hamlin’s car was not damaged.

Labonte pitted, but due to a slow stop, came out 11th, which is where he restarted on Lap 259. Labonte then picked off cars one by one and ultimately ended up fifth when the checkered flag flew on Lap 312.

Kyle Busch earned his second victory of the season, while Greg Biffle finished second, Jeff Gordon third and Tony Stewart fourth. Stewart now leads Jimmie Johnson by 52 points with one race remaining. Carl Edwards is third, 87 points behind Stewart.

Labonte gained one spot in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series point standings, moving from 25th to 24th. He has 3,427 points and is 51 points ahead of Michael Waltrip. Labonte trails Casey Mears by 50 points.

The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series season-finale, the Ford 400, will take place Nov. 20 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The race will start at 3 p.m. (EST) and will be broadcast live on NBC and MRN.

The race will mark Labonte’s final race for Joe Gibbs Racing in the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet. Labonte has 437 career starts in the NEXTEL Cup Series and 374 of them have been with JGR in the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet.