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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Comments

2 Responses to “The Best of a Bad Situation for Labonte”

Marc on September 4th, 2009 4:19 pm

Chris, you’re right this change of drivers has brought out a butt load of “haters” of the drivers and their respective team owners. That said I have to disagree with this remark: “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.”

Darnell had nothing to do with the change, while his NNS sponsor is along for the ride so to speak, the driver change was totally hands of Roush and Yates and they did what they could to compete in 7 events not previously sponsored.

And it has to be said, while BL is a former champ his performance hasn’t exactly been of the quality to attract much attention. And frankly it can’t be laid at the feet of and underfunded team, BL didn’t exactly burn-up the track his last year at JGR, with four top-fives and seven top-10s, 24th in points in the same equip that carried his teammate to the championship that year.
Charlie Turner on September 5th, 2009 9:56 am

Unfortunately, Bobby wasted some of what should have been prime years driving for Petty. It was a noble effort – trying to bring back the #43 – but a “mission impossible” as it turned out.

Buckler and TRG upgraded drivers. Not sure that BL upgraded his ride though.

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