California Performance ‘Huge’ for Kellogg’s Team
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 8, 2004) – Terry Labonte and Kellogg’s Racing roared to life May 2 with a seventh-place finish in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series 500-miler at California Speedway, coming away from the 2-mile facility with a large dose of momentum heading into the month of May.
From the very start of the race, it was clear the two-time champion was on a mission.
After starting 29th, Labonte advanced nine positions in the first 10 laps and picked off eight more spots by Lap 20. The No. 5 Kellogg’s Chevrolet broke into the top 10 on Lap 32 and Labonte kept it there throughout the remainder of the afternoon.
It was the team’s first top-10 finish in 10 races this year and lifted Labonte from 23rd to 21st in the series standings.
“That was huge for our team at this point of the season,” Labonte said. “We’ve struggled and have been looking for a breakthrough. We had to travel all the way to California to find it, but I think we’ve got what we were looking for.”
It was a spark the team needed as it heads into the second quarter of the 2004 season. And with tracks in Richmond, Va., and Concord, N.C., next up on the schedule, Labonte has cause for optimism. He has totaled six victories and five second-place finishes at those two venues.
“We’re heading in the right direction and we’ve got tracks coming up where I’ve had success in the past,” he said. “This is a great chance to build some momentum and get back in the points race.”
Labonte is not far from the pace he set a year ago when a second-half surge lifted him into NASCAR’s Top 10. After the first 10 races of the 2003 season, he was tied for 18th place, 435 points behind leader Matt Kenseth. This year, the Corpus Christi, Texas, native is in 21st, 442 back of first-place Dale Earnhardt Jr. and just 239 behind 10th-place Elliott Sadler.
After an off-weekend to celebrate the Mother’s Day holiday, Labonte will get back in action with the May 15 Chevy American Revolution 400 at Richmond International Raceway. He won the pole position for last year’s race, but a broken shock relegated him to a 21st-place finish.
Labonte is bidding to become the first driver to win consecutive poles for Richmond’s spring race since Jeff Gordon went back-to-back in 1998-99. In fact, only three other drivers have accomplished that feat in 50 years of racing at the .75-mile oval: Bobby Allison (1972-74), Neil Bonnett (1977-78) and Darrell Waltrip (1984-85).