Labonte Moves to Ninth After RIR Top-10

RICHMOND, Va. (Sept. 8, 2003) – For the second consecutive week, Terry Labonte led the teams of Hendrick Motorsports, posting an eighth-place finish at Richmond International Raceway and jumping to ninth in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship standings. Saturday evening’s performance marked Labonte’s eighth top-10 finish of the 2003 season and his second in the last two weeks after winning at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway on Aug. 31. “We’re starting to get our consistency back and this finish tonight put us in the top 10 in points, which is where we want to be and where this team belongs,” said Labonte, driver of the No. 5 Kellogg’s / got milk? Chevrolet. “We had a vibration with the front brakes from about halfway through the race, which upset the car and really prevented us from running through the corners as smoothly as we needed to. “We got out front there and led some laps (10) and had another strong finish to keep our momentum going into Loudon.” The two-time Winston Cup champion, who started 32nd at Richmond, is now ninth in the driver standings, sandwiched between eighth-place Kurt Busch and 10th-place Michael Waltrip. It is Labonte’s highest ranking since leaving Richmond in May of 2000 in 10th overall. Jeff Gordon earned his 12th top-10 finish of the year at Richmond, finishing 10th in the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet after starting fifth and leading the most laps. Still fifth in championship points, the four-time Winston Cup champion goes into Sunday’s event at New Hampshire International Speedway with three victories and 10 top-10 finishes in 17 career races at the venue. Driving the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, Jimmie Johnson finished one position behind Gordon, coming in 11th at Richmond. It was his 11th top-10 of the year. Johnson currently has a streak of 59 consecutive weeks in NASCAR’s Top 10, dating back to Atlanta Motor Speedway in March of last year. He remains fourth in points. Joe Nemechek, who won at Richmond in May, suffered a setback at Lap 119 of the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 on Saturday when an accident caused damage to the left-front fender of the No. 25 UAW-Delphi Chevy. The incident hurt the car’s handling and relegated Team 25 to a 26th-place finish. “We were really good in ‘Happy Hour,’ but just a little too free for the start of the race,” Nemechek said. “We got it tightened up and were passing cars, but then we got in a wreck there off of Turn 2 that totally demolished the front end of the car. “It was very unfortunate for the UAW-Delphi Chevy. We were hoping to come back here and make the sweep.” Nemechek, who started 11th on Saturday, slipped two positions in championship points to 26th overall. Ryan Newman won at Richmond for his sixth victory in 2003. The NASCAR Winston Cup Series will next visit the 1.058-mile New Hampshire International Speedway on Sunday, Sept. 14 for the New Hampshire 300. Broadcast live on TNT and MRN Radio, the race is scheduled for a 1 p.m. ET start.