NASCAR WCUP: Bobby Labonte races late for fifth place at Daytona

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

July 8, 2001

BOBBY LABONTE, NO. 18 INTERSTATE BATTERIES PONTIAC GRAND PRIX:

(WERE YOU PLAYING "OPOSSUM" ALL NIGHT WITH THE FIELD?) "Not really. We couldn't go, we couldn't get anywhere, so we just hung out at the back. That was kind of our game plan from the beginning. We really only raced about seven laps tonight and finished fifth. I don't know what that tells you, but all I know is that I really want to congratulate Dale [Earnhardt] Jr. That was an awesome run. I wish I could have finished second, but Michael [Waltrip] had it different. He [Waltrip] had an awesome car tonight and finished second. Congratulations to DEI [Dale Earnhardt, Inc.]. They had a great night tonight and we finished fifth. Our guys did a good job. Our game plan, I guess, might have worked tonight."

(ON DALE EARNHARDT, JR.) "There is no doubt he was the favorite before he got here this weekend. I think they were good all night. He had a fast car."

(BY "FAVORITE," DO YOU MEAN SENTIMENTAL OR THE CAR TO BEAT?) "Both - sentimental and the car to beat. He had both. He was fast in practice. He was fast on the racetrack and was the sentimental favorite, of course, also."

(ARE YOU RELIEVED THIS RACE IS OVER?) "Yeah, of course we are. Tonight I raced about seven or eight laps all night long. That doesn't seem right, does it? But, this was just a great deal for Dale, Jr., and Michael Waltrip and all those guys at DEI. That's what it was all about here. The racing, on my part, wasn't much other than right there at the end.

"Jimmy [Makar] and them made a great call for Tony [Stewart] and I to pit. They had that caution - anything could have happened - and we got track position there and that is what you needed because you can't hardly pass sometimes. You can get boxed in. This is one time where that strategy worked out for us. Sometimes it will come up to bite you, but this time it worked out for us."

"But, on that restart, I was running second to Junior and Michael got by me. He had a really fast race car. I got shuffled back to fifth, which is probably better than I should have been tonight, so I can't complain too much."

(WHAT WERE YOU THINKING THE LAST FEW LAPS?) "They were beating all over each other and everything and you're just hoping that nothing happens."

Text provided by Al Larsen

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