Bobby Labonte: “We had a really good car in clean air. On two restarts before the end I thought I had a tire go down. It just went straight getting into one and I just got all jacked up a little bit and had to race a couple of guys. Then that last restart with three or four to go, Carl had problem down there low and I got around the 24. I got by the 26 on the inside, which is hard because it takes all the air off your wing, and then I had the 00 in my sights there and almost had a fourth-place but still, all in all, it was a really good day. I’m really excited about it. These guys have done a great job. We’ve got so many great people there working for us and I just feel like we’ve got all this confidence on our side right now. I’m excited we got us a top five and we’re looking forward to each and every weekend. It’s going to be a builder for me.”
Click Here For More NASCAR Photos
HOW BIG IS THIS?
Bobby Labonte: “It’s really huge. I can’t say enough for this Ask.com Ford Fusion. We just had a great race car all day and all weekend for that matter. We were in really good shape there before that one caution came out. I thought we could make it all the way, but we were following Kyle there. The car was handling great and just hopefully taking care of the tires. We got caught up a little bit there on a pit stop. Jimmie came in a little bit late and I probably lost a couple of spots leaving, but that’s just the way it is. We rebounded to fifth. I lost a few on the one restart. I thought I had a tire go down and just went straight for the wall. I might have just bumped the splitter a little bit, but, all in all, I can’t thank Todd Parrott and all the folks at Hall of Fame Racing enough for giving me this opportunity. It’s a good top five, a good race car, a solid day.”
THIS RACE TOOK A LOT OF TWISTS AND TURNS.
Bobby Labonte: “It really did. We were back there a little bit on some cycles of tires and stuff like that and it was hard to get a good grip on things. My car was fast and all that stuff, but I couldn’t make a lot of headway. I’d make up a few positions and then get kind of stale, but, all in all, Todd did a great job on pit calls and we just stayed out and did the right things, I guess. We were really in great shape there before that one caution came out when we were behind Kyle. We had some good fortune, obviously, we didn’t pit that one time and the caution came out and got some guys a lap down. We just dodged all the trouble and it was a tough race because a lot of things happened today. The track is just right on the edge. You’re always right on the edge of it, but we’re really confident that we really have a lot of great things going for us right now.”
YOU SEEM ODDLY UNSATISFIED? I THOUGHT YOU WOULD BE MORE EXCITED.
Bobby Labonte: “I am down deep, but, dang it, just a little bit more. We had one more position we probably could have got in one more lap on the 00, but my car was really good. I just feel like I did all I could do, but I know there’s more for me to prove in these race cars and I can’t wait to do it.”
HOW GOOD DOES IT FEEL TO BE BACK UP THERE AGAIN?
Bobby Labonte: “I think I said the work ‘freaking’ in a press conference in late January and it’s pretty freaking awesome. I can’t wait to get back in it and go. We’re taking it one race at a time, so I’m excited.”
Click Here For More NASCAR Photos
HOW BIG OF A BOOST IS THIS FOR YOUR TEAM?
Bobby Labonte: “I think it’s a lot. The confidence it gives me and the confidence it gives all the guys. It’s just great. It’s awesome. We dug all day and really concentrated great and I think everything went good. We did all we could do and it was a good top five run for us. Through a cycle of stops there one time we could have been better than that. Obviously, we were worse than that for a while, so it’s just kind of one of those deals where you say, ‘Doggone it.’ We had one opportunity there for us that we really could have been in great shape, and then we passed two cars at the end. We came back and passed them on the inside off the corners, which is hard to do here because they take so much air off your wing and you get loose. We were able to clear them, flat on the gas and fast, so that was good.”
| 
|