Family focus led to Labbe's new role with RCR

Labbe, 46, will serve as crew chief for the Richard Childress Racing No. 27 team through next weekend’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway before moving into a research and development role for the Welcome, North Carolina-based organization.

Team engineer Justin Alexander will take over the reins the following week as the series prepares to travel to Talladega Superspeedway.

“I decided I’d been in the sport 28 years, been a crew chief for 16 and it was time to slow down a little bit,” Labbe said. “Richard (Childress) and (Mike) Dillon and Eric (Warren), they’ve created a good position for me at the shop to get the teams better. I’ll still come to the track occasionally. It was just time to slow down a bit basically.”

While it might seem reasonable to finish out the 2014 season before stepping aside, Labbe said by making the change sooner, he could get an early start on the organization’s R&D program while Alexander could get a taste of what lies ahead.

“He’s never been a crew chief before, never called Paul on the box,” Labbe said. “Never had to make decisions on the fly. This is like a five-race deal to give him something to think about over the winter. I’ll be there with him the rest of the year to help him out, mentor him, whatever he needs.

“This team means a lot to me. I started it when I came to RCR. It’s like how Richard is still passionate about the No. 3 car; I’m still passionate about the 27 car. It’s something I started from the ground up four years ago and I care a lot about it. I want to make sure I can help Justin and the team in any way I can to make sure it is successful.”

Labbe has enjoyed his share of success since moving south from Maine to begin his NASCAR career. In 1996, he served as car chief during Terry Labonte‘s championship season. Among the five career victories as crew chief are the Daytona 500 with Michael Waltrip in 2003, and the Brickyard 400 with Menard in 2011.

“Those are some pretty good stats; not a lot of people have them,” he said. “It’s just time to slow down. I miss my kids, my family. The kids, they don’t always remember when you are there, but they always remember when you aren’t.”

NASCAR’s ban on testing for 2015 will lessen the ability to confirm such things as qualifying and setup packages, the testing of parts and pieces on the track and put more of a premium on in-house R&D programs among the various organizations.

Goodyear tire tests will give the teams a limited number of opportunities, expected to be between 12 and 15, to be on the track in a non-competitive environment next year.

“It’s going to a premium,” he said of the R&D effort. “We’ve got to keep up with the Hendrick (Motorsports) teams, the Stewart-Haas teams, everyone. My job will be to provide better products, hopefully, for the crew chiefs.”

Alexander worked as a shock specialist for the No. 24 and 48 teams of drivers Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson in 2003, served as lead engineer for Johnson in 2005 and spent the following year as an R&D engineer before becoming lead engineer for Gordon in 2009.

“Justin is a good kid,” Labbe said. “When I interviewed him in November (of 2013) I flat-out told him ‘Look, I don’t know how much longer I want to do this. If you come in here and make an impact and do your job, one day it might be yours.’

“Eleven months later, here it is.”

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