| | |  | | The sky seems to be the limit for Bobby Labonte and his team this season. But 10 races remain between the 18 gang a a first Winston Cup title. |
Well it will certainly be hard to top the experience we all endured at Darlington last Sunday, but if there is a place that can provide plenty of excitement, Richmond is probably it. And after that unscheduled Sunday "night" race at Darlington, this week's stop is the usual second Saturday night race at the Richmond International Raceway.
I think I spent half of last week reviewing all the numbers that showed how Bobby Labonte had struggled in the past at Darlington. Then Sunday morning, as he prepared to start the race in a back-up car from the 37th spot, I said to him on NASCAR 2Day; "Some days you race to win, some days to race to survive. What's your plan for today?"
"Well," Labonte said. "We're still going to race for the win."
Man, was he right!
For those of you, and those of me, who have had concerns about the consistency of the Interstate Batteries team, let's point out clearly that they won the Southern 500 by not quitting on Friday morning after losing a car in practice. They didn't quit Saturday afternoon when their back-up car simply would not respond. They never gave up on Sunday, and led by Jeff Chandler, their outstanding pit stops won them a race.
Let me correct that, it didn't win them a race, it won them the Southern 500.
Bobby Labonte was standing in Victory Lane, or at least a make-shift Victory Lane at Darlington, 20 years and two days after his brother Terry had won the same race.
Just one more "stat" about last week: Bobby Labonte was the first driver to win the Southern 500 starting from outside the top 15 since 1954 -- that's 90 Winston Cup races.
In 1954 Buck Baker won from 23rd. The only other driver to win at Darlington in a Winston Cup race from outside the top 15 was Johnny Mantz. He won the first Southern 500 in 1950 from the 43rd starting spot, although the NASCAR Winston Cup Series 2000 Media Guide says he started 35th. Details. Details.
Now, why all this stuff about last week? Because I wanted to go through the records and see how GOOD Bobby Labonte runs at Richmond. Well, he finished 26th there in the May race and left as the point leader with a slim three-point lead over Mark Martin. But, he finished second in this race one year ago, and third in the spring of 1999. And in the past seven races at Richmond he has four top-eight finishes, but he also has finishes of 26th, 35th and 34th.
Labonte's teammate Tony Stewart won this race last September and I think that means a lot. Labonte now leads the points by 111 over Dale Jarrett. And the win in Darlington is an unbelievable confidence booster. I look for Labonte to be strong Saturday night.
One more thing, while Bobby and his boys have momentum on their side, they also have a lot of motivation on their side. A million dollars worth in fact. Labonte is one of five drivers eligible for the $1 million Winston No Bull Bonus in the Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400. Dale Earnhardt, his son Dale Jr., the other Dale, as in Jarrett, and Matt Kenseth are also eligible after finishing in the top five at Charlotte in May.
Jarrett and Earnhardt will also be motivated by the points picture. Earnhardt finished third at Darlington, while Jarrett finished fifth. But both lost ground to Labonte.
Jarrett now has 15 straight top-10 finishes, but in those 15 races he has only been able to make up 98 points. After Talladega, where Jarrett finished 17th, he was 203 points behind Mark Martin and 179 behind second-place Labonte. Now he sits second, still 111 out of first. Wow! That's a lot of work and so little ground. But there are 10 races left.
One guy that really took a hit on Sunday was Rusty Wallace. After back-to-back wins at Michigan and Bristol, Rusty got whacked at Darlington, finishing 30th and falling from 290 out of the lead to 397 back of Labonte. And he is just 43 points ahead of Tony Stewart. Wallace wants to be considered a championship contender, but not only will it be difficult to make up the 397 points, he has to leapfrog Jeff Burton, Earnhardt and Jarrett. That's just not going to happen.
Of course, Wallace is great at Richmond: fifth in the spring, 14th in this race last year, and before that, a run of 14 straight top-10 finishes. Eleven of those are top-five finishes, four of those are wins. The Miller Lite bunch will be on a mission. Rusty has four wins this year, and the last season he won five times was 1996. The last time he won the September night race at Richmond was Sept. 9, 1995 -- exactly five years ago this Saturday night.
This should be a night when some of the biggest stars in the sport shine. Most run well at this track. All of them have a little extra motivation, whether it might be the purse and the bonus prize, the points, or just pride.
It will also be our last ESPN race at Richmond. Hopefully we will shine, too. I assure you, we definitely have the extra motivation: To give you the race coverage from Richmond that you'll never forget. | |
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