NASCAR WCUP: Bobby Labonte salvages top ten after spin at New Hampshire

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

July 23, 2001

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

(ON YOUR RUN) "A top 10 is pretty good, especially after last weekend where we didn't finish at all. The guys did a great job. "It was kind of a typical Loudon deal. It was hard to pass. If you were on the bottom and got up a little bit out of the groove, it's tough to get back down there. But we started 35th and finished seventh, so I guess it wasn't too bad."

(WAS THE SEALER THE REASON FOR ONLY HAVING ONE RACING GROOVE?) "No. I've been here about 20 times and it's always been the same way. I don't care what they do, it's going to be about the same way. The sealer was pretty good. There was a lot of rubber built up on it and you could get some good grip up off the corner. But, that just made it worse as far as making it a one-groove deal."

(HOW BAD DID YOUR SPIN IMPACT YOUR FINISH?) "It really didn't flat spot the tires. I don't know if you can flat-spot the tires here that bad. I just did a little 360 over there after I got hit and came back. I actually got a chance to pass a lot of them back, so I kind of got back to where we started. All in all, we just lost some track position on it. We didn't really make it up until some other people had problems, but it was still a good day for the Interstate Batteries Pontiac. We had a good, fast race car. We just couldn't get much track position. That last run was the worst run, but other than that, it was pretty good all day."

Text provided by Al Larsen

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