Bobby Labonte Finishes 34th in Final Race for Interstate Batteries and Joe Gibbs Racing

In his 438th and final start in the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs Racing, Bobby Labonte finished 34th, four laps down, in the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Labonte will drive the No. 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge for Petty Enterprises next season.

Greg Biffle won the event, while Labonte’s JGR teammate, Tony Stewart, won his second NEXTEL Cup Championship.

The race was somewhat of a microcosm of the season, with problems plaguing the Labonte throughout the day. After starting 21st, Labonte was steadily moving up when Kyle Busch crashed in Turn 4. Labonte was right behind Busch and had to lock-up his brakes, which caused him to flat-spot his tires and he had to come to the pits for new tires.

The untimely pit stop put Labonte in 33rd position for the Lap 30 restart.

It only got worse.

Just 13 laps later, Labonte spun exiting Turn 2 and brushed the outside retaining wall. Two pits stops and a few repairs later, Labonte was 40th, but still on the lead lap.

A long green flag run helped Labonte get up to 30th, but he went one lap down in the process. After pitting on Lap 128 under caution, Labonte incurred the third and final problem of the day – a loose right rear wheel.

The loose wheel caused him to pit under green and ultimately cost him any chance at victory. He continued to race hard, but wound up with the disappointing 34th-place finish. He ended up 24th in the final NEXTEL Cup point standings.

“It’s not the way we wanted it to end, obviously,” Labonte said. “It was an emotional day. We’ve been together for 11 years, and we’re a family. Everyone at JGR signed the car before the race and that was a pretty neat deal. I’ve had a lot of fun with JGR and Interstate Batteries, and we’ll always be a part of each other.”

So what started on Feb. 19, 1995 with a 30th-place finish in the Daytona 500, ends with a disappointing 34th-place finish on Nov. 20, 2005 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. In between, the combination of Bobby Labonte, Interstate Batteries and Joe Gibbs Racing captured 21 victories, including the some of the biggest races on the circuit: the Brickyard 400 (2000), Southern 500 (2000) and Coca-Cola 600 (1995).

There was also that magical season in 2000 when Labonte, JGR and Interstate won the Winston Cup championship.

In 11 years, Labonte, the employees of JGR and Interstate, as well as thousands of fans around the world were taken on one heck of a ride.

“It’s been an unbelievable experience,” Labonte said. “I’m excited about the future, but I’ll always remember this incredible part of my career.”