Labonte Leads Hendrick at Pocono

POCONO, Pa. (June 9, 2003) – Two-time NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion Terry Labonte paced Hendrick Motorsports at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, finishing seventh in the Pocono 500. The performance marked Labonte’s second top-10 finish in as many races and kept Kellogg’s / got milk? Racing steady in the championship standings at 17th overall. After starting from the pole position, Jimmie Johnson finished 12th in the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet after leading twice in the opening laps. With one victory, two top-fives and six top-10 finishes, Johnson remains seventh in driver points going into Sunday’s race at Michigan International Speedway. Driving the No. 24 DuPont Chevy, four-time Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon was 13th at Pocono after starting 12th in the 43-car field. Gordon remains third in the driver standings, just 233 points behind leader Matt Kenseth. Joe Nemechek, who started 15th in the No. 25 UAW-Delphi Monte Carlo, finished 38th on Sunday after transmission problems sidelined the team for more than 30 laps. Team 25 finished the race, but slid five spots in Winston Cup points to 18th overall. The NASCAR Winston Cup Series will next visit the two-mile Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich., on Sunday, June 15. Scheduled for a 1 p.m. ET green flag, the event will be broadcast live on MRN Radio and the FOX television network.