The Best of a Bad Situation for Labonte

by Chris Leone, Special To NASCAR commentary and driver pictures, 2012 NASCAR schedule, video, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

I do weekly Fantasy Pick'Em columns here at OPR, as well as the occasional opinion and analysis piece. I also provide the IZOD IndyCar Series coverage. For more on that, head to my site, OpenWheelAmerica.com. My Twitter handle is @christopherlion.

September 4, 2009 10:05 am UTC 2 Comments

Talk about a hectic week for Bobby Labonte.

On Monday, the former Cup Series champion found out that, due to a lack of sponsorship on his No. 96 Hall of Fame Racing Ford, Yates Racing (tasked with filling any sponsorship gaps on the car) was replacing him for seven races with Erik Darnell, who drives part-time for Roush Fenway Racing in the Nationwide Series. The move was unpopular with most in the garage, with some wondering how a former champion with a seemingly committed sponsor (Ask.com) could be replaced so easily – at Atlanta, a track he used to dominate, no less.

Now, that’s not a knock against Darnell, and nobody has any ill will for him. In limited Nationwide starts this year, he’s shown prowess on most tracks, scoring five top-10s in 10 starts with an average finish of 12.3. Last year he finished 4th in the Truck Series standings, with one win and 12 top-10s. The sponsors like him, and he can flat-out drive. He’s earned his shot.

But the way in which Labonte was replaced – especially the sudden nature of the move – left a lot of folks with a bitter taste in their mouth. Those cynics who used to scoff at open-wheel racing’s practice of hiring pay drivers are now faced with NASCAR teams ousting former champions to do the same thing.

Worst of all for Labonte, it looked as if his start streak of 568 consecutive races, second only to Jeff Gordon (569) for most consecutive starts by an active driver, was going to come to a close.

Luckily for Labonte, this story has a happy ending. Kevin Buckler, a prominent sports car team owner who put together a Sprint Cup team for this year, decided that Labonte was an upgrade over David Gilliland behind the wheel. He came calling, and by Thursday Labonte had a ride for the seven races he was previously scheduled to miss. He’ll drive the No. 71 TRG Motorsports Chevrolet.

In this scenario, everybody wins in some way or another. Given the grassroots nature of Buckler’s team, putting a past champion behind the wheel accomplishes two things: first, it gives the team a shot at the past champion’s provisional in future races, and second, it makes the team more attractive to potential small sponsors.

If Labonte can attract one or two companies to support TRG, either by his resume or his on-track performance, it could eventually help Gilliland run full races instead of starting and parking. Gilliland has been a loyal soldier to the team’s efforts this year, running respectably when he’s been able to and refusing to bail on his team (a la Scott Riggs) during the tough times. He, too, deserves a shot at running well.

Kudos to Buckler for making a move with benefits for everybody. We’ll see how it works out in the coming weeks.

Filed under: Ask.com Racing, Bobby Labonte, david gilliland, Hall of Fame Racing, TRG Motorsports

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The Sporting News’ Matt Crossman: Danica is Probably Coming to NASCAR

by Charlie Turner

Thanks for stopping by OnPitRow.com and the Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie blog. The best NASCAR and IndyCar news and opinion, exclusive pictures and video. I'm Charlie Turner. Follow me on Twitter @onpitrow

May 27, 2009 12:36 pm UTC 1 Comment

Matt Crossman - one of our favorites – was a guest On Pit Row Tuesday night. The conversation covered two of the biggest stories in the Kingdom of France. Will Rick Hendrick try to fix the dysfunctional no. 88 team and will Danica Patrick jump to NASCAR?

I told (tweeted) some followers on Twitter during the show that I’d get the podcast of Matt’s interview up as quick as I could. Here it is below.

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Matt is always great and our other guests last night were as well. Listen to the whole show here, featuring Mike Allgaier of Justin Allgaier Motorsports, Austin Dillon - grandson of Richard Childress – and David Gilliland. David was fresh from the big meeting that NASCAR held with all the drivers to discuss – mostly – the New Car (or Ugly Little Freakin’ Toad if you prefer).

Photo credit: Icon Sport Media, Inc and the Dani-Cam (look closely)

Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Danica Patrick, david gilliland, NASCAR, NASCAR Rumors, On Pit Row The Fastest Two Hours on Radio

Tagged with: austin dillon, Justin Allgaier Motorsports, Matt Crossman, Mike Allgaier, podcasts

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