For Labonte, second is not quite good enough

CONCORD, N.C. -- Bobby Labonte was supposed to be in a pleasant mood Sunday night.

	Credit: Autostock

But having just run a razor-close second to fill-in phenom Jamie McMurray in the UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Labonte was quite somber -- if not downright depressed.

It seems only a trip to Victory Lane can ease the pain of Labonte's disappointing season.

"We'd like to finish this year off really well," said Labonte, who posted his fifth top-five of the season. By comparison, Labonte scored 24 top-fives during a virtually flawless 2000 campaign in which he won the Winston Cup championship.

"We probably haven't been doing as good a job as we need to, but tonight is going to help us out for the rest of the year. I know it will. It's a little disappointing we didn't win, but at the same time it's encouraging that we finished second."

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Labonte nearly pulled it off. Twice.

He was all over McMurray with 10 laps to go, but as he entered Turn 4 on lap 327, the Interstate Batteries Pontiac pushed badly towards the outside wall. Furious, he called to his team that he'd just lost the race.

But on the final lap, with McMurray shouting in elation over his team's radio, Labonte once again snuck up to his right rear quarter panel in hopes of making the winning pass. Once again, he came up just short.

"I had to run low for a little bit because my car got too tight, so I got my right rear heated up a little bit and I thought, 'Well, maybe I can make one last effort at it,'" he said.

"My car is usually pretty good on the outside. With that many laps on tires, it's obviously not quite as good because the balance goes a little bit tight - not much, but just enough."

	Credit: Autostock

He was fortunate just to be in that position. He was the race leader on lap 221 when Ricky Rudd hit the Turn 2 wall, bringing out the day's fourth caution. That proved a lucky break for Labonte. When he pitted, his crew noticed a cut left front tire.

That wasn't his only tire trouble, either. Later in the race, Labonte was again forced to pit early with what he said was a cut right front tire.

"We had two flat tires when Ricky wrecked. I don't know if I ran over something then or had a tire going down," Labonte said. "The caution came out, we pitted and had a flat tire. Then, there at the end, the reason I pitted was because I had a flat tire.

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"I couldn't adjust on it that one time because I made the wrong adjustment because the car was too loose. I don't know if it was the tires going flat or whatever. I kind of got behind on that.

"Jamie's car was a little free on new tires. When he pulled out in front of me I could tell he was a little loose and his car probably 'neutraled' up a lot better than mine did. I was a little bit snug to start with. I just tried to make a run on him there at the end. We came off Turn 4 OK, just didn't quite have enough steam to get him."

Flash back to the 2000 Coca-Cola 600. In an eerily similar scene, Labonte had just finished to another first time winner, Matt Kenseth.

	Credit: Autostock

He was in the middle of a championship season, but second still stung badly. He brought the same car back in the fall, seeking the victory that narrowly escaped his grasp in May.

He got it, and Sunday night brought back the same car yet again, only this time, it had been converted from Pontiac to Chevrolet (for testing purposes) and back to Pontiac.

It nearly won again. But for Labonte, nearly isn't good enough.

"I hope I have more to add to the equation this week going to Martinsville," he said. "It's going to be a good week for us. We're going to Martinsville. The last time there I won."