Notes: Leicht eager to learn from Labonte, RCR bunch

LAS VEGAS -- Although Stephen Leicht is currently scheduled to race in just two events this season for Richard Childress Racing in the Nationwide Series, he looks at the opportunity with great anticipation.

"RCR is a great organization," Leicht said. "I've always wanted to be a part of it. I'm finally getting that opportunity with Richard. I can't thank him enough for that. I'm really excited, because the [No.] 21 car is one of the best cars out here in the series, if not the best car. To get to drive it, if only for a little bit, is going to be pretty neat."

Wins and losses

In 2007, Stephen Leicht won a race, finished seventh in points and was invited to the postseason awards banquet. In 2008, the preseason finds Leicht without a full-time ride, writes David Caraviello.

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Leicht was part of a contingent of Nationwide Series drivers at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Thursday for the second of two days of NASCAR Preseason Thunder testing at the 1.5-mile track. As part of a team that won the championship in 2006 and tallied six wins in 2007, the 21-year-old from Asheville, N.C., hopes to capitalize on this chance by learning from teammate and former champion Bobby Labonte and the other drivers at RCR.

"Look at all the guys on the team, not just Bobby -- but Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick," Leicht said. "To be able to talk to these guys and learn from them each week is going to be big. I'm looking forward to it."

Labonte -- who won the then-Busch Series championship in 1991 and the Cup Series championship in 2000 -- downplays his role as a mentor to the younger driver, meanwhile. "I'd like to think if there are any questions he might have, I could possibly help him out," Labonte said. "Stephen's a very talented young man. I think he's got a lot of potential. He's already proven it on the racetrack. I don't think there's anything he can do, other than get experience, that I can tell him. Some of it just comes down to getting more laps."

Leicht joins RCR after spending the past three years at Robert Yates Racing. Although coming off his first full season in which he scored his first career victory and finished seventh in the championship standings, changes within the Yates organization at the end of the season eliminated that entry and left him without a ride. RCR, which had previously named Labonte to drive 15 races in the No. 21 Chevrolet in 2008, opted to add Leicht to the lineup for at least two events.

Leicht, who was 15th-fastest on the speed charts for Thursday morning's testing session at Las Vegas (speeds), finished 18th in last year's series race at LVMS. He went on to register his first career win at Kentucky Speedway in June. In addition to the victory, he recorded three top-five and seven top-10 finishes. (Continued)