Race Preview: Bobby Labonte

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. -- Not every driver on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit enjoys racing at the historic North Carolina Speedway.

	Bobby Labonte

And while that is not a slam against the facility itself, it shows that just maybe some drivers are not comfortable with the rough paved surface that makes up the 1.017-mile oval.

For 2000 Winston Cup Champion Bobby Labonte, he feels very comfortable on the track and says he can't wait to get out there and see how good his new Chevrolet handles 'The Rock'.

"We've done really well here in the past and I am looking forward to the race this weekend," said Labonte. "We thought we would have finished better at Daytona, but we will just have to rebound this weekend and climb up out of the hole we have created for ourselves. Rockingham provides us with a chance to do that I think."

Speaking of doing well, Labonte knows what he speaks of. Having scored top-10 finishes in seven of the last eight races run at Rockingham, including one victory in 2000, Labonte has good reason to be excited about hitting the track this weekend.

"We were really good in our Pontiac that we had here in the past," admitted Labonte. "But we had to do so many things to the car to get it to run that way. The new Chevrolet feels like it is a little bit better balanced and I hope that will help us keep the handle on the car as the track continues to change as the race wears on. With as quick as the tires wear out, you have to be thinking 50-laps ahead if you want to have any chance at winning the race."

It's not a hidden fact that at some tracks, drivers try to drive every lap in a race like it's a qualifying lap. Labonte knows however, that no matter who's turning the wheel, Rockingham's surface will end up being the great equalizer in the end and for some, it will come back to bite them if they push it too far.

"We're fortunate because Goodyear has made such a good tire that is of a harder compound," explained Labonte. "But no matter how hard they made it, the surfaces at Rockingham and Darlington will end up eating the tires up. We have some tracks where we get a decent amount of tire wear, but nothing like what we experience at Rockingham and Darlington."

"For me, I think it's great and wish we had them wear like that every weekend," added Labonte. "It takes the racing away from which car make has an aero advantage or who's car has this or that and puts the racing back into the drivers hands where it should be. Of course the car needs to handle good and all, but it also makes the driver really get up on the wheel and drive the thing instead just relying on the conditions and the car to always be perfect. I love this type of racing."