ConAgra Foods Sponsors Bobby Labonte to Compete in Eight 2005 NASCAR Busch Races and Showcase Four Top Brands
CHARLOTTE, N.C.--May 20, 2005--| Labonte Begins Busch Series Race Driving The Hunt's No. 19 Chevrolet on May 28 |
Bobby Labonte, the only driver to win NASCAR NEXTEL Cup and Busch Series titles, will compete in eight Busch Series races for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2005. All eight races will be sponsored by brands of ConAgra Foods, Inc.
ConAgra Foods' Banquet(R), Eckrich(R), Hunt's(R) and Slim Jim(R) brands will each serve as the primary sponsor of the No. 19 Chevrolet for selected races this season. ConAgra Foods has been an associate sponsor on Labonte's No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet NEXTEL Cup Series car since 2003 and Slim Jim was a sponsor of Labonte's Busch Series team in the early 1990's.
"It's a pretty neat deal to team up with ConAgra Foods and race in the Busch Series again. ConAgra Foods has been great to work with over the years, and I've always enjoyed racing in the Busch Series," said Bobby Labonte, who will kick off the eight-race schedule by driving the No. 19 Hunt's Chevrolet in the CarQuest Auto Parts 300 on May 28 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.
"We're pleased to expand our racing relationship with Bobby, and excited to have additional involvement in the NASCAR Busch series," said Mike Hargrave, vice president, Sponsorship and Event Marketing, ConAgra Foods. "We look forward to Bobby having great success with the Banquet, Eckrich, Hunt's, and Slim Jim cars this racing season."
In addition to Charlotte, Labonte will compete at: Chicago, July 9 (Banquet); Brooklyn, Mich., Aug. 21 (Eckrich), Bristol, Aug. 26 (Hunt's), Richmond, Sept. 9 (Banquet); Kansas, Oct. 10 (Banquet), Texas, Nov. 6 (Slim Jim), and Phoenix, Nov. 12, 2005 (Slim Jim).
"It's a good mix of racetracks," said Labonte. "Bristol was where I got my first pole and my first win in the Busch Series. I was born in Texas, got my first NEXTEL Cup pole at Richmond and Banquet has sponsored the Cup race at Kansas for a few years now. So, there's a lot of history for me at these tracks."
Labonte has started 164 Busch Series races and scored nine wins and 11 Busch Poles. After not making any Busch Series starts from 2000-2003, Labonte drove in three races in 2004, two for Banquet and Joe Gibbs Racing (California Fall and Charlotte Fall) and one for Richard Childress Racing as part of the ESGR Program (Texas Spring). He finished in the top-15 in all three events. With eight races scheduled for 2005, this is the most Busch races Labonte will have entered in any one year since 1998.
Labonte/ConAgra Foods 2005 Busch Series Racing Schedule
Date Event Track Sponsor
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May 28 Carquest Auto Parts 300 Lowe's Motor Speedway Hunt's
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July 9 Chicagoland 300 Chicagoland Speedway Banquet
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Aug. 21 GFS Marketplace 400 Michigan International Eckrich
Speedway
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Aug. 26 Food City 250 Bristol Motor Speedway Hunt's
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Sept. 9 Emerson Radio 250 Richmond International Banquet
Raceway
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Oct. 8 Kansas 300 Kansas Speedway Banquet
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Nov. 5 O'Reilly Challenge Texas Motor Speedway Slim Jim
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Nov. 12 Phoenix 200 Phoenix International Raceway Slim Jim
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About Joe Gibbs Racing
Joe Gibbs Racing is one of the premier organizations in NASCAR, fielding three NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series teams for drivers Bobby Labonte (No. 18 - Interstate Batteries Chevrolet), Tony Stewart (No. 20 - The Home Depot Chevrolet) and Jason Leffler (No. 11 - FedEx Chevrolet), two NASCAR Busch Series teams for drivers J.J. Yeley (No. 18 - Vigoro/The Home Depot Chevrolet) and Denny Hamlin (No. 20 - Rockwell Automation Chevrolet) and a development program with drivers Aric Almirola and Chris Bristol.
Based in Huntersville, N.C., and owned by Joe Gibbs - a three-time Super Bowl-winning coach, member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and current coach of the Washington Redskins - the team has competed in NASCAR since 1992, winning two of the last five Cup Series championships and more than 40 NASCAR races, including the 1993 Daytona 500 and the 2000 Brickyard 400.
About ConAgra Foods
ConAgra Foods, Inc. is one of North America's largest packaged food companies, serving consumer grocery retailers, as well as restaurants and other foodservice establishments. Popular ConAgra Foods consumer brands include ACT II, Armour, Banquet, Blue Bonnet, Brown 'N Serve, Butterball, Chef Boyardee, Cook's, Crunch 'n Munch, DAVID, Decker, Eckrich, Egg Beaters, Fleischmann's, Gulden's, Healthy Choice, Hebrew National, Hunt's, Kid Cuisine, Knott's Berry Farm, La Choy, Lamb Weston, Libby's, Lightlife, Louis Kemp, Lunch Makers, MaMa Rosa's, Manwich, Marie Callender's, Orville Redenbacher's, PAM, Parkay, Pemmican, Peter Pan, Reddi-wip, Rosarita, Ro*Tel, Slim Jim, Snack Pack, Swiss Miss, Van Camp's, Wesson, Wolf and many others. For more information, visit www.conagrafoods.com.