T. Labonte strong for second straight week

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Terry Labonte not only got his second-consecutive top-10 of the season in the Virginia 500 at Martinsville Speedway, he actually led twice for 11 laps.

	Terry Labonte

The last time Labonte led a lap in the No. 5 Kellogg's Chevrolet was the fall race at Talladega in 2000. His sixth-place performance at the .526-mile track of Martinsville also propelled him to 15th in points.

"We came here and we unloaded good and these guys are just doing a great job," Labonte said after the race. "It's always hard to pass at Martinsville and it took me a little while to get going.

"There at the end, my car was a little bit loose and I couldn't come in and work on it because of track position. So, we just had to try and ride it out. We just kind of hung on there in sixth."

	Jim Long

After starting fourth, Labonte took the lead from Ward Burton on lap 274. He held it for that lap only before taking the top spot back from Burton on lap 278. He led the next 10 laps.

"I wish we could have won," Labonte said. "I wish we could have gotten a top five, but we got another top 10. Like I said last week, I really feel like we're going in the right direction with this team. Today was just another step that way."

Labonte credits his new crew chief, Jim Long, with helping turn the program around.

"This team is really coming together," Labonte added. They're doing a great job. We've been building new cars. That's the biggest thing, the equipment. We've been working on getting cars more like the No. 24 (Jeff Gordon) and the No. 25 (Jerry Nadeau) so we can compare notes."

One thing that hasn't left Labonte is his dry sense of humor. When asked what he thought about his critics who said he couldn't drive any more, he offered a quick answer.

"I never said I could drive," he said.