| | HAMPTON, Ga. -- Crew chief Jimmy Makar is convinced that his driver, Bobby Labonte, is the reason for the team's recent success at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Heading into the Cracker Barrel 500 on Sunday, Labonte has won four of the last seven races and finished fourth or better in all
but one of them on the 1.54-mile tri-oval.
Atlanta, with top speeds about 195 mph, is the fastest track in NASCAR because carburetor restrictor plates are not needed to slow
the cars down in the interest of fan and driver safety.
|  | | Bobby Labonte won last year's season-ending race in Atlanta -- his fourth win in the past seven races on the track. |
Makar says that's a factor for Labonte.
"Bobby likes speed," Makar said. "There are certain people that can race comfortably at 150 miles an hour, and that's fine.
But you get a little bit faster and it takes a little nerve and a different mindset.
"Every since Bobby has been driving for us, he has never been a person that shies away from speed. Any place we go fast, he enjoys. ... If you are comfortable in a situation, you can adapt and you
can excel."
Labonte, who won last month on the much slower oval in Rockingham, N.C., goes into Sunday's race leading Dale Jarrett by
four points in the series standings.
Although only three of 34 races have been run, that's significant because it's the first time Jarrett has not led the
points in 25 races, dating to last May.
"It's way too early in the season to be worrying about the points," Labonte said. "But we are pretty happy that we've gotten
off to a good, strong start. Nobody wants to put themselves in a hole at the beginning of the season."
Jarrett won the championship going away last year, thanks to consistently running at or near the front.
So far this year, Labonte's Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac has finishes of sixth, first and fifth.
But Jarrett is close behind with a win and a seventh-place finish. His team has proved it knows how to win a title. He thinks
Labonte's team also has figured out the formula.
"It's going to be a dogfight all year, and not just between those two teams," said Jarrett, Makar's brother-in-law and
Labonte's predecessor in the Gibbs car.
The 2000 season began with Chevrolet teams complaining that their new Monte Carlo was at an aerodynamic disadvantage to both
the partially redesigned Fords and the virtually unchanged Pontiacs.
After two visits to the wind tunnel with each of the three makes, NASCAR has given the Chevys two more inches on the front air
dam beginning with the Atlanta race. That change will almost certainly give the Monte Carlos more front downforce, making them
faster and more competitive, particularly on fast tracks like Atlanta.
"That could certainly change things," Makar said. "We won't know how much until we get onto the racetrack."
Meanwhile, Labonte appears to have an edge going into the Atlanta race.
"We don't do anything special or different or unique that we don't do every other week," Makar said. "I think probably it's a
combination of being able to make the right decisions at the right
time as the track has changed.
"I think the other key is the driver we've had here likes the
place and gets around the racetrack very well."
Practice and the opening round of qualifying are scheduled Friday, with Labonte the defending pole-sitter. He took the top
qualifying spot last year with a lap of 194.957 mph. | |
ALSO SEE
Weber: Good times ahead for Gordon
Gordon keeps himself, team calm during slow start
 |
