Bobby Labonte: Pennsylvania 500 preview

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. -- A month ago Bobby Labonte arrived at Pocono Raceway in the midst of a five-race streak of top-three finishes.

When he left the odd-shaped 2.5-mile oval, the streak was over thanks to a 17th place finish due to an ill-handling car. And while he was left scratching his head and wondering what happened that weekend, Labonte and the entire Interstate Batteries Racing Team feel as though they have a handle on what went wrong and hopefully have made the changes necessary to have a great run this coming weekend.

"We were really off the mark at the beginning of the race there," said Labonte. "I was so loose into turn one and the tunnel turn and then we ended up being tight up off of turn three which just kills your momentum for the long straightaway. Once we got the car driving a little better towards the end of the race it wasn't too bad, but we were not in the same class as Tony (Stewart) was that day."

While Labonte may not have been in the same class as Stewart was in the Pocono 500, he feels as though they have done their homework in preparing for this weekend's Pennsylvania 500.

"We went over that car with a fine tooth comb and we think we found out some things that hurt us during the race," admitted Labonte. "We feel as though we know what went wrong and what we need to have under the car this time around. I'd sure like to get another streak started this coming weekend."

Besides his 17th place finish at Pocono in June, Labonte finished 36th place at Chicagoland and a disappointing 14th this past weekend in Loudon. Those three finishes are Labonte's only finishes outside the top-10 in the last 11 races. Not too bad for a guy who captured only seven top-ten finishes all season last year.

"We've definitely made a turn for the better this year, but we're still not getting the job done week-in and week-out," explained Labonte. "I know luck plays a big factor in that and at Chicagoland we had none, but I feel as though you create your own luck by putting yourself into position beforehand. We'll just keep working at it and hopefully we can find that magic touch this weekend that I used to have when I would come to Pocono."

The magic touch Labonte speaks of was quite impressive. During a seven-race stretch from the second event of 1998 until the second event of 2001, Labonte recorded three victories, four top-five and six top-ten finishes during that stretch.

"It just seemed like we could do no wrong when we came up here," reflected Labonte. "I still like the track a lot, but back then, it's like we knew we were going to win when we came here. I guess I still feel that good about someplace like Atlanta and we're hoping to get it going again here this weekend."