NASCAR WCUP: Labonte, Benson comment on qualifying at Darlington

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

August September 1, 2001

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

(ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THAT LAP?) "For ourselves, it was pretty good. I wish I could have picked up another half a tenth to a tenth because that would have been a whole lot better for us compared to some other guys. But the guys did a good job today. We didn't run that many laps." (HOW WAS THE TRACK?) "It was OK. It still had a lot of grip in it. The track temperature had gone up some from when we practiced, but it was still pretty good. It felt like the car gripped just as good, if not better in some places, than it did earlier today."

JOHNNY BENSON, NO. 10 VALVOLINE PONTIAC GRAND PRIX:

(HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR QUALIFYING LAP?) "I thought I would go a little bit better than that, but I didn't. It was just a little slippery out there."

(DO YOU THINK YOU'VE GOT SOMETHING TO WORK WITH FOR SUNDAY?) "I think so. Of course, we'll have to change everything - there's a big difference from qualifying setups to the race setups. But, this was good or better than we've had. It was just hotter then. I thought I could run in the 'thirties' or 'forties' (29.30 or 29.40 seconds) and ran a 'fifty.' We'll just see by the end of the weekend how things work out."

Text provided by Al Larsen

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