Gibbs duo gives boss good show at Richmond

Stewart, Labonte both finish in top five

RICHMOND, Va. -- Tony Stewart didn't really have a point to prove, but he drove like it Saturday night.

Bobby Labonte didn't wheel his car that poorly either.

The result was top-five finishes for both Joe Gibbs Racing drivers in the Chevy American Revolution 400 at Richmond International Raceway, the first time in 2004 that Stewart and Labonte ended up in the top five in the same race.

But Stewart wasn't exactly in a smiling mood, at least when the subject of television came up.

	Tony Stewart had plenty to say about FOX commentator Darrell Waltrip throughout Saturday's broadcast. Credit: Autostock

FOX analyst Darrell Waltrip has suggested that NASCAR sit Stewart down for his rough driving this year, but Stewart clearly disagrees. Just past the halfway point Saturday night, Stewart was trailing leader Michael Waltrip for several laps, content to follow Waltrip for several laps.

Why was he so patient?

"You've got to keep in mind, I've got his brother up in the booth," Stewart said. "He's been carrying a hatchet on me the last couple weeks. You don't dare touch his little brother out there for fear that he was going to crush you in the media."

Eventually, Stewart passed Waltrip and went on to lead 59 laps.

"I thought we put on a pretty good show of it," Stewart said.

Indeed. He could have been talking about Joe Gibbs Racing, too. Gibbs himself came down from Washington on a break from his regular job as coach of the NFL's Washington Redskins.

"We always enjoy when Joe's here," Labonte said. "Our good friend Oliver North was here, too, tonight. It was good to see him. But Joe able to come here this weekend -- obviously to have Tony and I to finish in the top five was really good for us and good for him.

CHEVY 400 Earnhardt Jr. cruises to the checkers at RIR Play video Johnson, B.Labonte and Stewart review the Chevy 400 Play video Contact with Nemechek sends McMurray to the garage Play video Green, Kahne tangle early Play video R.Gordon has problems shortly after the green flag Play video Stewart has harsh words for D. Waltrip and the FOX crew Play video  •  Results  •  Standings  •  Junior rolls to victory

"It's business as usual with (team president) J.D. (Gibbs) at the shop. Joe seemed pretty relaxed tonight."

Gibbs wasn't making any pit calls Saturday night, so maybe that explains his seemingly peaceful demeanor.

His teams, however, needed to make crucial decisions all night, especially during the final caution period that started when Scott Riggs blew an engine on Lap 344.

Both Stewart and Labonte headed to pit road, with Stewart giving up the lead and Labonte surrendering third.

When asked whose decision it was, Stewart said, "You'd have to ask the crew chief."

OK.

"It was mine," crew chief Greg Zipadelli said. "We came here to win, and we weren't going to win the way we were. The 8 and the 48 were a lot faster than we were at the time. Our car had tightened up trying to catch them guys. ... We figured we'd give up a few spots, but I felt like we were going to get beat by the 8 car. He was closing the gap as it was.

"We came here to win today. We fell short, but it wasn't because we didn't try."

Stewart restarted fourth but got into third after making contact with Jeff Gordon. But the two drivers slipped, and Labonte got by both of them.

While Zipadelli made the decision to bring Stewart in, Labonte said he was responsible for pitting, not crew chief Fatback McSwain.

"It was more my decision, really," Labonte said. "I figured we'd lure everybody else in after we pitted. And then Tony came in, it made good sense to me. My car was giving up a little bit there. I figured with 50 more laps to go, that I could run 20 laps pretty good.

"When the 20 and the 24 got together a little bit, I was able to get by them. I had a little bit of a vibration at the end, so I couldn't really make any hard efforts the last 10 laps."

	Bobby Labonte has four consecutive top-10 finishes. Credit: Autostock

Labonte was closing on second-place Jimmie Johnson before the vibration, but settled on finishing third. Stewart, meanwhile, couldn't charge back to the lead.

Still, it was an impressive performance by Stewart, who seems to be involved in something controversial each week. But he also seems to thrive under that kind of pressure.

Well, maybe that's not it, Zipadelli said.

"We just came back to a racetrack we run really well at," Zipadelli said. "We came up and tested, and our test was OK. We took a new car and worked with it. We just came here and did our job. That's what we need to do: put the blinders on and focus on what we're supposed. That was to come here and run in the top five and have an opportunity to win. We did have a chance to win tonight. We just got a little tight at the end."

The fourth-place finish was Stewart's first top-five since Las Vegas and he moved up three spots to fifth in the Nextel Cup standings. With Charlotte and Dover coming up, Stewart's team is in good position to get on a roll.

So is Labonte's, for that matter.

ALSO  Join Bobby Labonte's Fan Club

"It's been pretty good the last few weeks," Labonte said. "I'm really excited about that. The guys really came around pretty good, just putting things together. There's really nothing we've been doing any different in the first part of the year, but things aren't happening kinda crazy."

Things got a little crazy at Richmond, as Labonte had a rough Friday, qualifying 27th and not running as many laps in Happy Hour as the team wanted because of a fuel pickup problem.

Then when the race started, even with an educated guess on the chassis setup, things weren't perfect.

"We were too slow," Labonte said.

So slow that he lost a lap. But Labonte and McSwain didn't give up, making adjustments to the No. 18 that made it faster. On a restart later in the race, Labonte was able to pass Kurt Busch to get back on the lead lap.

ANOTHER PROBLEM  After an incident late in Saturday's Chevy 400, Jeff Gordon became the latest driver to have a problem with Tony Stewart's driving style.  •  Full story, click here

In the end, Labonte rallied back to run in the top five.

"We just were not quite good enough to pass the 8 and the 48 there at the end," Labonte said. "Still, we were good enough to finish third."

And Stewart was good enough to finish fourth.

Not a bad night for Joe Gibbs Racing, Darrell Waltrip or not.