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NASCAR WCUP: An interview with Bobby Labonte

25 October 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

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

(HIS THOUGHTS ON THE CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE WITH THREE RACES REMAINING) "We got through Rockingham. We had a tire puncture and that put us back to 20th place. We thought we were going to be in for a worse day than what it turned out. Dale (Earnhardt) had a tough day and finished 17th and Jeff Burton finished fourth and led a lot of the race, so we definitely counted our blessings at the end after the race was over. It definitely could have been a lot worse. We had a little bad luck and actually it turned out not as bas as we thought."

(ON THE UNUSUAL MISFORTUNE THE TEAM HAS EXPERIENCED IN SOME RACES DURING THE PAST SEVERAL WEEKS) "We look back on our notes from the second half of the season and it seems like we've had some things happen to us that don't usually happen to us. This time last year we were on a pretty good roll and were getting some really good finishes. This year it seems like we've three or four bad races - by no means 'bad' compared to what it could be - and the way it has turned out is our bad races we might have dodged a bullet and not been so bad as far as points go, so it definitely could be a lot worse."

(IS IT A MENTAL DRAIN TO BE LEADING THE WINSTON CUP STANDINGS AND WHAT DO YOU DO TO BREAK AWAY FROM SOME OF THAT PRESSURE?) :"It can be, if you let it get to you. At the track, there is not much choice within what you have. What we do is pretty much ritual week in and week out. As far as being away from the racetrack, there are still a lot of things to do here. I go visit the shop usually on a regular basis once a week if I can, we've got seven tests that we do during the week that is usually a two-day deal, some appearances - I was in New Orleans yesterday - and then things like going to the shop and signing autographs for hours upon end just to get caught up on requests that come in in the mail.

"There are a few things you do here and there, but for the most part you stay busy. I think it is just kind of a ritual anymore."

(HOW DO YOU FEEL PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY RIGHT NOW?) "Really good. Actually we're working on a little project around the house. That's probably keeping me a little bit busy right now. I'm just doing that and keeping my mind off of things. But for the most part it's just business as usual. But I feel good. I take (my son) Tyler to school every morning that I can that I'm in town and just kind of scoot around the house with them and do some normal stuff every chance you get when you're not busy doing something else."

(HAVE YOU HAD TIME TO THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU MIGHT ACCOMPLISH IN A FEW WEEKS?) "There are times that people talk about it and you're in a conversation and you hear about it, you talk about it and you think about it, of course. But right now, it's still way too close for me to worry about. If there were two races left I'd feel a little bit better. If there was one race left I'd feel a lot better. But with three races left you can only feel so good. Right now I'm just thinking about trying to get through these next races as good as we can. Last year we had an average finish of 2.0 in the next three races, but there is not guarantee."

"We've got to go out and make it happen ourselves and we've got to go out there and run really good, be competitive and try to win one or two of things before the year is over to make ourselves feel really comfortable. But thinking about it right now - it happens, but it doesn't happen to the point where you're just sitting over there daydreaming about it all day."

(HOW WOULD IT FEEL TO BECOME A WINSTON CUP CHAMPION JUST LIKE YOUR BROTHER TERRY?) "I think that really would be neat. Our goal, of course, has always been to win a Winston Cup championship. With Terry having done that a couple times, I definitely want to be able to put my name up there with his and with a lot of other guys. That would be very exciting and maybe one of these days we can do it."

(DOES YOUR BUSCH TITLE FROM 1991 GIVE YOU SOME EXPERIENCE TO DRAW FROM DURING THIS YEAR'S TITLE RUN?) "I guess a little bit. That was several years ago, but I do remember it. It was very exciting and very neat to be a part of it. We were fighting tooth and nail to the last race. I feel like that definitely has something to do hopefully with what we are trying to do today, as far as a learning curve goes. Watching Terry win his second championship, being there for his first one and being around guys that have gone through this before has probably helped out. But there is no doubt that racing for the Busch championship is helping out with being a contender for the Winston Cup championship this year. It would be neat to be able to accomplish both of them. We're working real hard towards it. I know back in '91 it was exciting and this is no different."

(ON THE CHEMISTRY YOU HAVE WITH CREW CHIEF JIMMY MAKAR) "I know that the first test that I drove for them (Joe Gibbs Racing) back in the fall of '94 at Atlanta after the season was over it seemed like we were both excited about having new deals or new adventures going into it, trying to make something out of it. But Jimmy and I have become really good friends off the racetrack, on the racetrack. Our chemistry really does work super together. We've got a great relationship and it's just been a lot of fun. I think that's definitely the key to our success and it just keeps getting stronger and stronger and better and better. Hopefully we'll continue doing that.

"It's fun. We can go do things during our time off when we're not at the racetrack. It's not like, 'I need to get away from racing and everything else.' We're planning fishing trips to South America before racing season starts, so it's kind of hard to split us up when it comes down to it. I think that is important because we're both in this thing together and as long as the season is, if we can both do things together, then I think that is exciting because that means that our relationship and our chemistry is really good. That way, hopefully when we get to the racetrack we're thinking on the same line. So far it has been a lot of fun. We're hopefully going to continue that for a long time."

(HAVE YOU HAD A MENTOR THAT YOU'VE LOOKED UP TO THROUGHOUT YOUR CAREER?) "I guess I'd say Terry is somebody that I always looked up to because we never raced against each other until probably 1989 or even 1990. As children or young kids growing up we never argued or anything. He was always the first one to get stuff because he was older than I was. I was always wanting to do the same thing he was doing. Terry was always the one that was doing things that I wanted to do, also."

(DO YOU THINK THERE WILL BE MORE PRESSURE PUT ON YOUR TEAM BY PONTIAC TO PERFORM NEXT YEAR WITH FEWER PONTIAC RACE TEAMS?) "I think the pressure we put on ourselves to perform is probably from us. I don't think Pontiac puts any more pressure on us than we do. We're going to carry the Pontiac flag and we feel like we've got (two) great race teams with Tony Stewart and the Interstate Batteries team. We feel like we're going to do the best we can with a limited amount of teams. But the way NASCAR has the templates and everything, I don't think we'll be out in left field at any point in time. The way the templates are and the way that everything else goes with aero-matching and chassis dyno stuff, none of that is going to change. I just feel like there will be less teams. Time will tell, but I think we're going to be in very good shape just like we are right now."

(WITH THE RACES THAT ARE REMAINING ON THE SCHEDULE, DO YOU FEEL CONFIDENT THAT YOU CAN WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP?) "We definitely feel like our chances are good at those tracks that we're coming up to. We finished third at Phoenix last year and we had a good average finish last year. But that was then and this is now. We still have the same amount of confidence. We have better race cars than we had then just by virtue of knowing more about them. That doesn't guarantee that we're going to have an average finish of 2.0 during the next three races, but we fell confident that we're going to go to these racetracks and be a contender no matter what. Hopefully we can just continue doing that."

Text Provided By Al Larsen

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