New crew chief: Dillon is 'a champion and hopefully we'll get him there again'
RELATED: Dillon gets a new crew chief
Richard "Slugger" Labbe was preparing to go to a test at Richmond International Raceway when he was summoned to the Richard Childress Racing office and his work and life changed pretty quickly, the new crew chief of the No. 3 told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Monday.
RELATED: Ten teams to test Richmond
"It caught me by surprise as well," Labbe said. "I was on the shop floor trying to get the truck loaded up to go to Richmond to test (Tuesday and Wednesday) with Brian Scott, and I got called in the office and (they) told me this is what's going on."
For the final five races of 2014, Labbe ended a five-year run atop Paul Menard's pit box to head up RCR's research and development group. In the new role, Labbe worked with RCR affiliate Furniture Row Racing and Martin Truex Jr. last October at an Auto Club Speedway test, which Truex credits with helping spark his record-tying run of 14 top-10 finishes in the first 15 races of 2015.
The garage veteran, who first crew-chiefed at the national series level in 1997 for Kenny Irwin Jr., will hit the road again full time as Austin Dillon's crew chief, a move which will require a lifestyle change.
"It's time to get off the semi-retirement gig and get back after it so I've still got to call my wife, daughter and my son and let them know what's going on and go from there," Labbe said. "My son's got nine baseball games in the next two weeks I'm not going to attend, but it's part of it. It's what we do. We're racers. I've spent 30 years in this sport, and without the sport, I wouldn't be where I'm at today."
On Sunday, Labbe spent his 47th birthday at Michigan International Speedway as Ty Dillon's crew chief, leading him to a 14th-place finish, his best Sprint Cup Series result in six races. A five-time winner in NASCAR's premier series, including a 2003 Daytona 500 victory with Michael Waltrip and a 2011 Brickyard 400 win with Menard, Labbe also won a race and made the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup with Jeremy Mayfield in 2005.
His Great American Race win came at Dale Earnhardt Inc., where he started in 2001 after the company's namesake died in that year's season-opening race. Now he's charged with getting the ride that "The Intimidator" made famous back to its winning ways with victories every year but 1997 from 1984 to 2000, en route to 67 victories. The car returned to the track in 2014 on the Coors Light Pole for the Daytona 500 with Austin Dillon behind the wheel.
RELATED: Full coverage of RCR '3' announcement
"The last couple of weeks, I've had a ball working with Ty, and if we can get Austin running like we have with Ty, I'm looking forward to getting this No. 3 car back in Victory Lane where it belongs," Labbe said. "That's the challenge, that's the goal and I'll be pissed if we don't get there."
While the man he is replacing, Gil Martin, and Austin Dillon are on vacation, Labbe will work with Scott this week and looks forward to catching up with Martin and Dillon upon their return. He provided an early diagnosis of the team's ills and how he plans to reach his goal of winning races.
"It just seems like they've always qualified very, very well, and it seems like they seem to struggle when they throw the green flag on restarts," Labbe said. "And they get behind for four or five laps, lose track position and they just seem like they struggle making that up.
"I haven't talked to Austin yet. He's off on vacation as well. There's certain things I need to discuss with him and see what his thoughts are. But from me looking back from the outside in, they just need a little bit of love here and there in certain areas and get everyone pointed in the same direction."
The Richmond test and new responsibilities mean Labbe will have to skip his planned vacation during the Sprint Cup off-week, but that's fine with him.
"I've always had the mentality that if you're not working, someone else is working, trying to beat you," Labbe said. "I work my ass off every day, and I try to come up with the things that put speed in the race car. I'm not going to stop now. Back at it full time and that's what we've got to do. That's what they've asked me to do, and that's what I'm going to do.
"I just look forward to getting to Sonoma, and then actually getting to Kentucky and try to figure out this new rules package that we've got to work on."
Most of all, Labbe looks forward to returning Dillon to the championship form that saw him earn titles in the Camping World Truck Series (2011) and the XFINITY Series (2014) as the grandson of owner Richard Childress attempts to become the first driver to win all three national series titles.
VIDEO: Top three moments of the No. 3
"He's a champion, and hopefully we'll get him there again," Labbe said. "But the first thing we've got to do is lead some laps and get him to Victory Lane. That's the goal. If I don't do that, Richard will be all the way up my butt so I've got to work very hard to get that done."