Inside the Garage: Slugger

He has worked with some of the biggest names in NASCAR, including drivers Kenny Irwin, Michael Waltrip and Dale Jarrett, and has been employed by Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Evernham Motorsports.

These days, Richard "Slugger" Labbe is crew chief for the No. 14 Dodge being driven by veteran Sterling Marlin for Ginn Racing. Both Labbe and Marlin have tasted success at Daytona International Speedway, with Labbe's first career victory as a crew chief coming in the July race there in 2002 when he helped Waltrip get to Victory Lane. Labbe and Waltrip followed that up with a victory in the 2003 Daytona 500 to open the next season.

Now in his seventh year as crew chief, we caught up with Labbe recently to talk with him about how much his job and the sport has changed since he first sat on top of the pit box for the late Irwin in 1998.

Q: What's it like working with Sterling Marlin?

Labbe: Having a veteran driver is a lot of fun. He's good. He'll take care of his car. He generally don't wreck a lot, and he knows how to take care of his stuff. Having said that, [two weeks ago] we blew up, but that's part of it. He didn't want to go to [Sonoma]. He's not a good road racer. But we kind of took him there and he was doing a great job; and then he missed a shift and it blew the engine up. That happens. Like I told him, 'Look, we support you no matter what. It doesn't matter. You're our guy. And no matter what happens, we're all in this together.' And I tell him that every week. No matter what happens, we do it together and we move on. He understands that.

Q: Sterling just turned 50 last weekend and has said he wants to drive a part-time schedule next year. How do you think that's going to shake out?

Labbe: He hasn't told me that's what he wants to do. I've read it and heard about it, but we haven't really discussed it because we're more concerned with the task at hand. I'm sure Jay [Frye, head of operations at Ginn Racing] will take care of him, whatever he wants to do -- because Sterling is a good guy and a good racer. He never says nothin' bad about anything.

Q: Never? About anything?

Labbe: Well, he's not a big fan of the Car of Tomorrow. I think he feels like it goes back in time, and I'm not so sure he wants to go back in time. I'm just glad he's at a point in his life where he can say, 'You know what? I don't want to drive 36 weeks no more. I want to drive 18 or 20.' That's good that he's got that in him where he can do that and he knows what he wants.

Q: Maybe NASCAR should start a Senior Champions Tour, where guys like Sterling can run 10 or 12 races a year once they turn 50?

Labbe: Like golf? The thing about it, if they did that, then all the crew chiefs would want to go race over there, you know?

Q: How much has the crew chief job changed since you came in?

Labbe: I was a car chief for a long time and then I became a crew chief, and I still worked on the cars. I still do that, but it's less and less every day. I'm a really hands-on person, but as the sport evolves you can only do so much. We've got 200-and-some people at our shop, and if you don't say hello to one, they get mad. So you've got to talk to everybody every day. It involves a lot of people management; a lot of time management.

We're always looking to make the Car of Tomorrow better. We're testing a lot, working a lot of long hours. ... Time management is important, and taking care of your people. All it takes is one bad apple to bring the whole place down. So we try to make sure our people are happy and taken care of. (Continued)