Labonte hungry, excited heading to next season

CONCORD, N.C. -- As the Winston Cup Series Awards Ceremony puttered along last week, Bobby Labonte grew increasingly more uncomfortable with each passing moment -- and not just because a scantily clad gentleman in tights was fluttering around on the television monitor before him.

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Labonte's discomfort centered on his whereabouts. Rather than attending his teammate Tony Stewart's championship celebration, Labonte watched the festivities from his couch -- both by his own doing and with assistance from Mother Nature.

An ice storm canceled his travel plans. Had he made it to the Big Apple, a dismal season prohibited his presence onstage, anyway.

"That was not fun," he said. "No. Not at all."

Just two years removed from a lofty perch atop the Winston Cup mountain, Labonte finished 16th in the 2002 standings, by far his worst finish in a Joe Gibbs Racing machine.

"Down years like I had show you how much you don't want to be (down) again," said Labonte. "After being where we were two years ago, a down year really frustrates you bad.

"But it gives you a different appreciation for what you had before. It was pretty bad not being (in New York). And as much as that's a needle in the side to do all that -- because that's not what I planned on doing when I was racing Carraway (Speedway) -- you sure do enjoy it and sure do want to be a part of it.

"It's a whole lot more fun to be the center of that attention than sitting at home wishing like heck you were."

	Bobby Labonte's No. 18 team finished 16th in the 2002 Winston Cup standings. Credit: Autostock

Labonte posted just one win and five top-fives this year, down from four wins and 24 top-fives during a 2000 championship run that saw nary a setback. The 2000 campaign was so good, in fact, that Labonte finished all but nine laps of competition, a NASCAR record.

"You're sitting here 16th in points and you've been the champion before, and you're wondering what's different, what's changed," Labonte said. "Sure, it gives you a different perspective. It builds character in you. But you sure don't want to be there again."

Judging by the outcome of the postseason test at Homestead-Miami Speedway, he won't be there again any time soon. Labonte, piloting a 2003 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, posted the fastest overall time at the 1.5-mile track. His ride was some three-tenths of a second faster than anyone else on the track.

"I knew after the first lap we were pretty good," Labonte said. "We were way better than we were in the race. I felt a little nervous to begin with, just not knowing what to expect. But as soon as I sat down in it, it was like, wow.

"From Sunday to Monday, I went from the bottom to the top. Literally, that's what it was."

During the session, Labonte's Chevy was three-tenths of a second faster than the Pontiac Grand Prix he drove a day earlier in the race.

And though it was just a test, the success Labonte and his team enjoyed at Homestead filled their collective lungs with a huge breath of fresh air.

	Bobby Labonte led the field in two days of testing recently at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Credit: Autostock

"It really was promising for us. It was a two-day test and we only had one car there, and we just tried some basic stuff, but we're very excited about what we saw," Labonte said.

"It drove real good, and I think the aero package on it is maybe more efficient than what we've had in the past, just because the Pontiac was the oldest car out there. That was good for us. We really needed it. We need some positive things to happen. I hadn't felt that good in a while."

Currently, good karma is evident at JGR. Stewart, obviously, is the champion. Labonte has a new crew chief in Michael "Fatback" McSwain, who takes over for recently promoted team manager Jimmy Makar.

McSwain's leadership style differs quite a bit from that of Makar, who was Joe Gibbs' first employee and has served as Labonte's crew chief since 1995.

With McSwain, Labonte doesn't foresee the dreaded rebuilding period that plagues so many teams facing change. The No. 18 team already has four '03 Chevys -- two speedway cars and two downforce cars -- on the verge of completion, and a test at Las Vegas is being planned.

"Well, if you consider rebuilding the same as working on it as you go, I sure hope the rebuilding part has already been rebuilt," Labonte said. "When we start the year off, I hope we're fantastic.

"I'm really looking forward to getting started right away because of our test at Homestead, because of things I see happening, because of things I see that are being looked at and changed and addressed and improved upon. No stone seems unturned.

"I feel like it's a whole lot more of a step forward. Last year, we seemed like we were only 50 percent throttle at times. This year, we're full bore all the time."