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NASCAR Winston Cup California 500 Race Report -- #18, Bobby Labonte

24 June 1997

#18 Bobby Labonte, Interstate Batteries Pontiac Grand Prix
NASCAR Winston Cup Series
California 500 Presented by NAPA Race Report
California Speedway
 
                LABONTE SIXTH IN FIRST EVER CALIFORNIA 500

FONTANA, CA - Bobby Labonte used superior gas mileage to capture a sixth 
place finish in the inaugural California 500 Sunday afternoon at the new 
California Speedway. Labonte, who started 15th, also overcame miscues in the 
pits and an erratic handling Interstate Batteries Pontiac to collect his 
ninth top-10 finish of the season.

"When the race started, I told the guys on the radio it was a completely 
different car than what we had Saturday afternoon in the final practice," 
Labonte said. "So we made a major chassis adjustment on the first stop. We 
lost track position but we were hoping to make the car better. I learned in 
practice that you can be a lot quicker than the guy ahead of you but you 
still can't pass. The car just didn't act right in traffic. I'm sure we're 
going to make several aerodynamic changes to the car when we get back to the 
shop. All things considered, we're happy to finish where we did."

"We decided to pull the rubber out of the right rear on that first stop," 
crew chief Jimmy Makar said. "I wouldn't have done that if I knew it was 
going to take so long. We were trying to do what we could to get the car 
better for Bobby. After we made the adjustment, the car was just as fast as 
the leaders. Our thinking was we had the majority of the race to get our 
track position back. But we got zapped when we had to make an extra pit stop 
to tighten a loose lug nut and then the car's handling went away. So we 
played the fuel economy game over the last 75 laps of the race and tried to 
get the best finish we could."

Labonte remains seventh in the Winston Cup Series championship standings, 400 
point behind point leader Jeff Gordon. He trails sixth place Dale Earnhardt 
by 53 points and holds a 20 point lead on seventh place Ricky Rudd.

Interstate Batteries Racing Team members Mark Cronquist, Jon Wolfe, plus 
Makar and Labonte flew to Anchorage, Alaska immediately following Sunday's 
race for a four day fishing trip. Cronquist is a native of Alaska.

"This trip will be the first time in 18 years I've been home in the summer," 
Cronquist said. "Usually the only chance I get to go home is in the winter 
during the off season. I'm looking forward to the trip."

By Camp & Associates, Inc.