McCumbee, T. Labonte to fill in during Petty hiatus

MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- Petty Enterprises on Tuesday announced its driver lineup for the No. 45 Dodge for the races beginning with the June 1 event at Dover through the July 12 race at Chicago.

Kyle Petty is scheduled to step away from the car at Dover to attend his daughter's wedding. Petty also will return to the broadcasting booth to cover the Sprint Cup races for TNT, which begin June 8 at Pocono.

Petty will return when the series makes its annual mid-summer trek to Indianapolis.

Chad McCumbee and Terry Labonte

NASCAR on TNT

Date	Track	TV Time
June 8	Pocono	12:30 p.m. ET
June 15	Michigan	12:30 p.m. ET
June 22	Sonoma	3:30 p.m. ET
June 29	New Hampshire	12:30 p.m. ET
July 5	Daytona	6:30 p.m. ET
July 12	Chicago	6:30 p.m. ET

Chad McCumbee will bookend Petty's hiatus by getting behind the wheel at Dover and Chicago.

For the remaining five races, two-time Cup Series champion Terry Labonte will become a teammate to his younger brother, 2000 series champion Bobby, for only the second time in their Cup careers. The Labontes are the only brothers to both win the series championship and have combined to win 43 Cup races.

McCumbee previously filled in for Petty at Pocono and Michigan in 2007 and at Texas last month. McCumbee's best finish for Petty Enterprises came at Pocono (25th).

"As a father there aren't many days more special than the day you get to give your daughter away in marriage," Petty said. "I appreciate Chad jumping in the car at Dover to allow me to do that. He is strong on the intermediate tracks and I'm confident that he will do a great job at Dover as well as Chicagoland. It's just another part of our evaluation process of him.

"It is an honor for me, personally and professionally, to have Terry drive my car," Petty added. "He is a longtime friend and one of the true gentlemen to ever compete in our sport. Everyone at Petty Enterprises is excited to have he and Bobby in our Dodge Chargers. I know Terry will do a great job for us and all of our partners over this five race stretch and I look forward to covering it from the TNT booth."

In addition to his 1984 and 1996 Cup championships, Labonte is a 22-time winner in NASCAR's top division. His most recent track time came when he competed in three races during the 2007 season.

"Bobby and I have always enjoyed the time we have spent together on the race track," Labonte said. "We haven't been teammates very much, but when we are it makes that time even better. And I'm honored that Kyle would ask me to get behind the wheel of the 45 car for these five races. I feel confident that we can go out and have some good runs."

Bobby Labonte agrees that his older brother can still get the job done.

"This was a great move by us because Terry is the same driver today that he was when he won the 2003 Southern 500 or when he finished third at Sonoma a few years ago," Bobby said. "When he jumps behind the wheel of a racecar he is still the 'Iceman.' To have him as a teammate again is special for our whole family. It means a lot to me because I grew up wanting to be just like him."