'Iceman' stays cool; W. Burton battles back

FONTANA, Calif. -- They call Terry Labonte "the Iceman," presumably because of his quiet, calculating nature; but the name might come from how he handles the heat.

	Terry Labonte ran in the top 10 for much of the race. Credit: Autostock

Simply put, it didn't bother him.

Labonte walked away from the garage on Sunday with a seventh-place finish at hand, looking none the worse for wear.

It was Labonte's best finish of the year, and his first top-10 run since last fall.

Dressed in a baseball cap and jeans, he looked like he was headed to a softball game, albeit a softball game that would have been contested in 100-degree weather.

"Wasn't bad (out there)," said Labonte. "It was hot, but it wasn't that bad."

Labonte's run gave Hendrick three of the top seven spots.

AUTO CLUB 500  •  Results  •  Standings

"Our car was loose all day long, never got it tight enough, but great day for Hendrick Motorsports," Labonte said. "Jeff (Gordon) and Jimmie (Johnson) finished 1-2 and we got a top 10. Good day."

W. Burton battles back after Lap 63 spin

Ward Burton scored his second top-10 of the year after battling back from trip to the infield grass.

Burton was running 19th when he deliberately looped his Chevy around to avoid rear-ending another car.

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"Everyone stopped right in front of me, I had to jerk it down and spin me out," Burton said.

Burton dropped back to 34th, but his car got better and better as the race wore on.

The car got excellent gas mileage, and Burton's Haas CNC team gave much of the credit to gasman Robby Maschhaupt, who packed the fuel cell during the team's final stop on Lap 203.

He wound up 10th, his second top-10 of the year. He moved up to 24th in the points.

But Burton is still disappointed about Talladega, where he was forced out with engine failure.

"If that junk hadn't happened to us last week we'd be in pretty good shape in the points," Burton said. "Last week, we were all down on ourselves."

Burton was another driver who didn't seem bothered by the heat, but he said he would go to Hendrick Motorsports' shop this week to examine their cool-suit technology.

"I am normally 100 percent after the race, but I got to make sure we stay that way," Burton said.