Sofa Sideline – Finally, That Elusive Short Track Win for Labonte
Bobby Labonte wins his first short-track Winston Cup
Series race at Martinsville Speedway this past weekend! I felt it coming –
after a fourth place finish at the last race in Martinsville, a good finish in
Bristol, it was inevitable. Congratulations!
Starting 15th, Labonte worked his way up
through the field, with the team making some great pit stop calls, and managing
just to be at the right place, at the right time, to gain that short-track win!
Labonte felt the key to his win was just track position.
"I’m never one to push anybody out of the way, like
I’ve seen other guys do, so I figured if I was up front, I probably had a
better shot at it than being behind somebody. It’s hard to pass on this track,
so being up front helped," remarked Labonte.
And what a season this has been for Matt Kenseth. After
starting 26th, a second place finish; only 27 points behind Sterling
Marlin in the points race. What can you say — Kenseth literally
"battling" for position with Jarrett at the end of the race, really
made it much easier for Bobby to get the win. And it really tied Tony Stewart up
trying to get by. Stewart managed to take over third place with Jarrett coming
in fourth. Stewart pretty much had the dominant car, but with 55 laps left,
opted to pit and take on two new tires, and was not able to make it back to the
top spot, fortunately for his teammate.
Rounding out the top ten were; Dale Earnhardt Jr. 5th,
Terry Labonte 6th, Ricky Rudd 7th, Mark Martin 8th,
Jeff Burton 9th, and Kurt Busch in 10th. Sterling Marlin
finished 12th.
Jeff Gordon started off well, but on lap 210 got caught in
a wreck, cut a tire, and having lost his power steering, wound up finishing 23rd.
Hey, can somebody explain why Jarrett "raced"
back to the finish line to beat Kenseth out of a position after a late-race
caution? What the heck was that? It looked like Tony Stewart was thinking about
it, but backed off at the last minute. I just didn’t quite get that one. Also,
in retrospect, I bet Tony was sorry he let Jarrett have his lap back. On these
short-tracks, it’s just too easy to make the come back.
Yeah Terry – you led a lap! Now hopefully, all these
reporters will leave you alone. For me personally, it’s just nice to see your
team coming around, getting back on track, and you having good runs. Keep it up!
Sorry to see Johnny Benson continuing to have problems. It
seemed like he was forever getting involved in some mishap causing him to spin
or something.
And, Mr. Spencer, you know, I don’t think you should
ever again throw stones about rough-housing again. It’s just a thought.
Other notes:
Once again the Richard Childress operation continues to
have its troubles. Kevin Harvick was barred from driving the Cup race as a
result of rough driving (the first in the series’ 54 year history). The
penalty came as a result of Harvick’s repeated run-ins with Coy Gibbs during
the Craftsman Truck Series race on Saturday. The RCR Chevrolet was driven by
Kenny Wallace, who spun out after 73 laps and wound up 32nd.
Harvick is beginning to be known as the "bad
boy" and last year’s grace period is over. If I were him, I would be very
careful who I messed with in upcoming events.
The RCR car driven by Robby Gordon also had a bad day,
cutting down a tire, spinning out, but Childress should be grateful that at
least the car wasn’t totally demolished.
The Roush cars – what can you say. They are all doing
great, and don’t be surprised if they all wind up staying in the top ten in
points. The cars are good, drivers consistent, it’s inevitable.
Special note:
I once again, had the opportunity to "work" the
races in Nashville this weekend. Special thanks to all the drivers, teams,
representatives from both the ARCA/REMAX and Busch Series for a great weekend. A
fun time was had by all!
Frank Kimmel dominated the ARCA/REMAX Series event on
Friday night, with Scott Riggs coming in the winner in the Busch Series on
Saturday. Both seemed to be particularly thrilled with the "trophy"
which just happened to be a Gibson guitar complete with a Sam Bass design on the
body. No one would let me just "hold it" for them…not even for a
minute.
Mike Helton was also the recipient of one of these
guitars, and from what I hear, he was not letting his out of his sight either!
Got an opportunity to meet the designer, Sam Bass, albeit
briefly. Sam was most gracious and presented the track PR director with framed
renderings of his designs for this race, as well as upcoming events. What a
treat that will surely be displayed prominently at the track for all to see!
Special thanks to Don Radebaugh and Zach Drager with the
ARCA/REMAX Series, and to Herb Branham, Communications Manager with NASCAR (et
al), for all their help and guidance during the race to ensure everything ran
smoothly.
I had a great time – thanks again.
That’s it for now!