Labonte improving after quickest Thursday speed

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Bobby Labonte ended the first day of NASCAR Preseason Thunder as the 21st-fastest driver. On the second day, he had moved up to 13th overall.

After posting the fastest speed Thursday at Daytona International Speedway, Labonte finished the test session as the fourth-fastest. If that improvement continues, maybe you'll see Labonte in Daytona's victory lane next month.

	Bobby Labonte is fourth overall in this week's testing session at Daytona. Credit: Turner Sports Interactive

Labonte, whose Joe Gibbs Racing team switched from Pontiac to Chevrolet in the offseason, jumped to the top of Thursday's speed chart with a lap of 183.539 mph to lead the day's non-drafting session.

"We're excited," Labonte said. "We spent two-and-a-half days trying to figure out what we have to make better. We had one car that we just stuck on the side. It didn't go fast at all. We worked on one.

"Today we put everything on it. We put it all together and came up a fast lap."

The "we" includes new crew chief Michael "Fatback" McSwain, who took over those duties when Jimmy Makar was moved to an overall management role. McSwain and Labonte never have worked together during a race, but their improvement at Daytona bodes well for 2003.

"We didn't have the fastest lap of the three days, but we had the fastest lap today, so that's good," Labonte said. "It was a competitive lap with what the other guys had run earlier in the week. We've probably got a little bit that we're holding back on, just like everybody else.

"Everybody's measured by the same thing. When we go through the template room when we come back here -- if they knock two-tenths off, we want to make sure we can at least run the same speed. That's what our goal is -- to run faster or the same speed, not slower."

THURSDAY AT DAYTONA  •  Morning Speeds  •  Afternoon Speeds    ALSO  •  Cumulative Speeds

Michael Waltrip certainly has run fast this week, and he was second to Labonte on Thursday, going 183.445 mph in the No. 15 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet. Elliott Sadler was third at 183.423, with Mike Skinner fourth and Ken Schrader fifth. Those four were consistently near the top in nearly every session this week.

Tony Stewart was sixth Thursday, followed by Steve Park, Mike Wallace, Rusty Wallace and Jamie McMurray.

Mike Wallace finished the first of the two Winston Cup test sessions as the fastest driver. He went 184.053 mph Wednesday in Phoenix Racing's No. 09 Dodge. Skinner was second-fastest overall at 183.786, with Waltrip third at 183.572, Labonte fourth and Sadler fifth.

Testing has been fairly clean, but there was a minor incident Thursday morning when McMurray scraped the outside wall. Damage was minimal to the Havoline Dodge, however, and returned to the track later in the day.

	Steve Park was seventh in Thursday testing at Daytona. Credit: Turner Sports Interactive

The drivers took to the track for a one-hour drafting session at 1 p.m., but that was cut short by fluid on the track. Kurt Busch led the abbreviated session with a best lap of 184.999 mph, edging Rusty Wallace. Christian Fittipaldi, who has been down the single-car speed list, was a surprising third in Andy Petree's No. 55 Chevrolet.

Labonte didn't participate in the drafting session. In fact, only nine drivers did. Instead, Labonte said his team had a meeting to talk about what they needed to do.

"We weren't as good as we needed to be at that time," Labonte said. "We needed to have all our ducks in a row. We said, 'OK, we need to get everything that we've done right in the past two days and put it all together.' "

NASCAR Preseason Thunder continues next Tuesday when drivers in the even-numbered points positions start their three-day test. Some of the drivers testing include Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and defending Daytona 500 winner Ward Burton. Also testing is Sterling Marlin, who returns to driving after missing seven races from a neck injury last year.