Conversation: Bobby Labonte

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Go ahead and overlook us, Bobby Labonte said. We'll just sneak up and snatch the NASCAR Nextel Cup championship.

That's nothing new for Labonte, who doesn't seem to generate the attention other drivers do, even though he's won 21 races and the 2000 championship. Labonte is seventh in the Nextel Cup points standings as the season nears its halfway point, and Labonte has yet to show his best.

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But off the track, Labonte is one of the best. Kyle Petty praised Labonte for being the first driver to get involved in fund-raising for the Victory Junction Gang Camp, even though Labonte shrugs it off as a "no-brainer."

Lee Montgomery of NASCAR.COM spoke with Labonte recently about his off-track activities, which also includes helping build a quarter-midget track in North Carolina, and, of course, his team's on-track progress.

Q: Kyle Petty has said you were the first driver to get involved in the Victory Junction camp, to get everything going as far as getting drivers involved. Do you remember talking to him the first time about that? What was that like?

Labonte: I know we did that first commercial way back with Halie and the boy that had spina bifida. We did that commercial a couple years ago. It was just one of those deals. They asked, "Hey, could you do this?" "Well, of course."

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Knowing Adam -- he lived in the neighborhood and he was moving into a house that was in our neighborhood. We walked through the woods to Kyle's house two days after Adam got killed because we lived that close. We sat on their back porch. It was kind of one of those deals where you wanted to be there. We talked to a lot of people that had come by and friends of theirs, just to show support.

Not that it started there. We might not talk for eight races here for a stretch about racing or anything like that. But it's a deal where you can walk through the woods and talk if you need to. That goes back to a little history of it.

The deal with Victory Junction Gang was, on their part, "Hey, can you help out and do this?" I think I was probably one of the first guys they asked to do that commercial, I suppose. It was a no-brainer, of course. I just feel very fortunate that we live that close and were close enough to be thought of to be able to help out. We've helped out every since, as much as we could. Can't wait to the next thing to do more.

I feel pretty cool to be able to be a part of that big event that was unveiled (two weeks ago) that was so huge. Now that it's done, it's like, "Wow." It's way more than I ever thought it would be when we sat in a little blow-up swimming pool with two kids in the middle of a field two years ago. It's pretty amazing.

Q: You said it's a no-brainer. But why be a part of it? Some folks aren't big into charity. Do you consider that part of your Christian service?

Labonte: Well, I think you give back to the community. We're all family here in this garage area. That's part of your family. That's your first and foremost thought. But at the same time, we make pretty good money. I'd rather see it go to good services than blow it on something.

If you put 25 percent away to charities, you get more out of that than you do buying a trick something of the week that the newness for a little bit, and then you're like, "Well, I don't know why I did that? Chances are I didn't learn anything from it either, and I'll do it again if I'm not careful."

It's a whole lot more fun to be able to support other good organizations.

Q: How is the quarter-midget track going? Have you been spending much time over there at all lately?

Labonte: Not a whole lot of time. Yes and no. I mean, I don't have much time to spend over there, but every time I get a chance, I stop by over there. I look on the website. We've got a web cam up there. It's on ncqma.com. You can watch it being built. That's what I've done when I'm out of town, so I've got my computer where I can hook up online anywhere I go so I can look at it.

	Credit: Autostock

It's going pretty good. In the next few weeks, it's really going to take shape with fencing, the grass is growing, the tower's being done, a building is going to be erected, and an awning deal is here. The next few weeks are really going to be exciting to -- it's already come up out of the ground, but it's going to be exciting to see some detail stuff being finished.

It's going to get real busy here, and I don't know how I'm going to have time to go down there. Obviously, I've got good people working with me to do this, Josh Neelon being one of them, and on down the list.

A lot of people are starting to help out now. It's kind of like the Victory Junction Gang Camp. Once it kind of started coming out of the ground, people are wanting to help out. When it was a piece of dirt, everybody wants to know, "When are we going to get to race?"

Well, the first thing is we've got to build it, then we'll see about it. But I think now that everybody sees what's going on, they're willing to help out.

Q: The website you go to for that, that's after NASCAR.COM, right?

Labonte: Exactly, yeah. You have to do that. NASCAR.COM/ncqma.com.

Q: Are Tyler or Madison both going to race there? Or just one of them or what?

Labonte: I think both of them are. We haven't raced since about February, so I don't know where the interest level is on both of their part. Madison wants to do it. Tyler, he's been playing baseball, so right now he's focused on that. They've got one more game.

I'm sure we will. I'm not sure how much their interest level has stayed into it. When you keep doing things, you kind of get going. Kids of that age, obviously they could change their minds on what they want to do pretty easy.

It doesn't really matter to me. I'd like for 'em to do it because I can relate to 'em. I don't know what I'm doing there, but I know how it feels, and I can relate to driving the car moreso than hitting a ball or playing soccer.

I think they will. For how long, I don't know. There's tons of other kids who are going to be there, so that'll be just fine.

Q: So you didn't play baseball when you were little?

Labonte: No. I played a little soccer actually, down in Texas. It was way before soccer was very, very popular, as long ago as that was. But actually, I did play a little bit. Didn't do any sports in school because I was always busy racing.

Q: If Tyler or Madison one day down the road came to you and said, "Dad, I want to be a Nextel Cup driver"? What would you say to them? Stay away? Here's what I can do to help?

Labonte: I'd probably say both. I'd probably say, "You don't want to do that." Then I'd be like, "Do you really want to do that? OK, cool." I'd guess the heartaches that I know and understand and feel, I'd say, "You don't want to do this." But the passion and excitement and love you have for the sport, you want to go, "That's cool. I'm glad you want to do that. That's right up my alley."

	Credit: Autostock

But it's hard. It'd be like a deal like I was with Terry. Having the right last name and the right brother opened the door for me. That was the best thing that happened. On the flip side of that, they weren't going to stay open long, and they were going to shut a lot harder being who I was.

It has good and bad to it. In Tyler's case, one day, hopefully, if he was wanting to do this and he had talent, then maybe I could open doors for him. But on his part, either he'd have to be able to do that too because the door will slam on you faster just because you're riding off your brother's coattails or your dad's coattails.

If you're making your way in and you're trying your best and you don't really have any ties anywhere, then it seems like it might just be a tick easier.

Q: On a more serious note, what's the best Jimmy Buffet song?

Labonte: Tin Cup Chalice.

Q: What makes that so good?

Labonte: It's just laid-back. It's get a Corona Light and sit back on the beach and listen to it, I guess.

Q: Have you been to a Buffet concert lately? Have you seen him the last six months or something?

Labonte: No, I haven't. Our schedule hasn't really permitted us to go a whole lot. I saw him at Homestead when he was there visiting. But I haven't been to a concert. Sometimes we have flown to concerns. Terry and I have rented helicopters and gone down and try to scalp tickets -- and couldn't get in. We bought T-shirts and left.

My wife and I and more groups of people flew to places to watch him and had tickets and limousines. We landed our plane right beside his. "This is the only way you can go to a concert right here. This is all right."

But we haven't been able to go lately. When you're kids are growing up, the 25 percent time you had to go do things like dwindles away.

Q: Talking about racing a little bit. There was a lot of talk before the season about Joe going to coach the Redskins and how would affect the team. We're almost halfway through the season. What's your take on that now?

Labonte: I don't really see any huge conflicts or huge things going on there. J.D.'s done a good job. He's just like his dad, just a little younger. He approaches things the same way.

Joe has been gone, but he's also been there a lot of ways, too, a lot of times he could be there. It's not like he's missed a whole lot. If he walks in the shop right now, yeah, he hasn't been there in awhile, but it's not like he'll be like, "Wow, everything's changed." He's informed quite a bit on what's going on.

All in all, I think it's been pretty good. I think we've got everything under control.

Q: Are you satisfied with the way things are going for your team right now? Are you where you need to be at this point in this season? What are some things you guys need to work on?

Labonte: Well, I think we've got some good things. We've done some good things. We've been pretty consistent, but not quite as consistent as we need to be. We've had some good runs, and we've had some bad runs. So we've kind of had two sides to the story here, two sides to the year.

Fortunately, we're (seventh) in points, so we've got to maintain that and build off that. We have to be more consistent than we have been to be a contender. And we haven't won a race yet, so that bites. We've got to get that fixed.

Q: What has been your approach to this 10-race thing? Some teams are saving tests for later in the year. Is that what you guys are doing?

Labonte: I don't want to sway I'm not really sure, but I'm not really sure. We have tested, but we haven't tested all of them. In comparison to other people, I don't know if we have tested as much or not as much or whatever. I just know that we do have some left. We've got it scheduled out where we're going to test Indy, we're going to test (Michigan), so that leaves us with a day here and a two-day there. I don't know in relation to everybody else if that's a lot.

Q: Do you think people are overlooking you guys a little for the championship. No. 1 does that matter, No. 2. could that be an advantage?

Labonte: I know we're being overlooked. We always are, so that really doesn't matter. We're just not usually flamboyant or whatever. But that's probably not a bad thing that we're being overlooked, either. We'd rather be in the stealth mode than being in the whatever mode. That's OK with me.