Labonte eyes season sweep at Martinsville

CONCORD, N.C. -- Bobby Labonte, the most recent driver to wade through the inevitable Martinsville Speedway mayhem and claim victory, has every intention of bucking a recent trend this weekend in the Old Dominion 500.

	The No. 18 Pontiac has six top-10 finishes so far this season. Credit: Autostock

Martinsville's ultra-tight half-mile hasn't produced a repeat winner in five years, since Jeff Gordon took the checkers back-to-back in the in fall of 1996 and the spring of '97.

It won't be easy, however. The Martinsville sweep has occurred just eight times in 40 years at the half-mile bullring. Rusty Wallace was the last driver to pull it off, in 1994.

"Going to Martinsville this coming weekend I'm really excited about it because of what happened last spring," Labonte said. "And obviously the run from Sunday makes our spirits and everything a lot happier this week to go to Martinsville."

Last weekend, Labonte enjoyed his best outing since the win at Martinsville, finishing second to young Jamie McMurray in the UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Last Sunday was a banner day for Joe Gibbs Racing. Both teams, Labonte's No. 18 bunch and Tony Stewart's No. 20 outfit, finished in the top three and Stewart pushed his championship points lead to 97 over Jimmie Johnson with five races remaining.

CHECK IT OUT Bobby Labonte finishes second last weekend at Lowe's Play video Labonte holds off many challengers to win the Virginia 500 in April. Play video    ALSO  •  Labonte's Driver Page  •  Labonte's Photo Gallery  •  Labonte's Season Stats  •  Driver vs. Driver

"Tony is going to be hard to catch, especially with the way he performs at the tracks left on the schedule," said sixth-ranked Jeff Gordon, who trails Stewart by 211 points. "But with the way this season has gone, I think that anything is possible."

According to one former champion, the Old Dominion 500 will play a crucial role in determining who inhabits the head table in New York this December.

"This race could be real important for those guys who are contending for this championship, just because it's one of those places where you really don't have a lot of control of the outcome," said Dale Jarrett, who has logged four consecutive top-fives at Martinsville.

"You can get caught up in an accident whether you're leading or whether you're in the middle of the pack just because it's a short track and lapped traffic becomes an issue fast."

As fortuitous as Stewart's outing at Charlotte was, Labonte's may have been more promising. It's been a dismal year for the 2000 champion, and Charlotte provided assurance that they could still get it done.

"Everyone in the shop is really pumped up about how well both teams ran in Charlotte, and they also know that either Tony (Stewart) or I could come home with a victory this weekend," Labonte said.

Labonte's win last spring marked his first career short-track win.

"It's kind of ironic, but it seems the better I ran at other tracks it seemed like wasn't very good at short-tracks," Labonte said. "But the better I got at short-tracks, the worse I got on other tracks.

"I don't know if it's that I look more forward to going to a short track 'cause I feel like I'll run better there now. The 20 car has helped out. Our own testing that we have done has helped out. Just a lot of little things.

I can't put my finger on any one thing. Several things have helped us out at short tracks such as Martinsville especially."

To win this weekend, Labonte and Jimmy Makar will have to collaborate on a unique setup. Martinsville's concrete corners have been ground down since the spring, which could alter tire wear and shock setup.

	Last weekend at Charlotte, the No. 18 team had it's best finish since its win at Martinsville in April. Credit: Autostock

"I have heard it's really ground down and that things may be pretty good once some rubber gets laid into it, like by the end of Friday," said Kevin Harvick, who will see Martinsville for the first time this year in a Winston Cup car Sunday.

"It could be that by Saturday things are back to some sort of normal and our notes from the last time we were there turn out to help. But I really don't know. We're all going to be thrown for a loop, and whoever gets it figured out first might go home with the clock."

Qualifying will play a significant role this weekend. With such a tight pit road, pit selection is crucial. And few tracks on the circuit require optimum track position like Martinsville.

"Obviously it is critical everywhere," Makar said. "From a place like Charlotte, where it's very important, I think it gets to be more important as the track gets smaller. It gets even more difficult to pass and I think it does increase at places like Martinsville, Loudon and Richmond, tracks of that nature. Just because it does get that much harder and the cars don't string out as much as they do on the bigger tracks."

The Old Dominion 500 gets underway Sunday at noon ET (NBC, MRN Radio). Bud Pole Qualifying is set for Friday at 3:05 p.m. ET (SPEED Channel, MRN).