Kyle Petty and Bobby Labonte have both had Atlanta Motor Speedway circled on their calendars, but for slightly different reasons.
Labonte, who was the 2000 NEXTEL Cup champion, feels that the time is right to score a win for Petty Enterprises, which would be their first since John Andretti took the famed No. 43 to victory lane in 1999.
“The track has been good to me and our team has a good chemistry right now, ” Labonte said. “We’re probably at our strongest point right now in the season. I don’t think we’ve come close to hitting a peak either. We’re getting better.
“We feel good about the program right now, ” Labonte continued. “We’re just excited to get to Atlanta and take our next step. ”
Labonte will be making his 30th start in a NEXTEL Cup car at AMS and he leads all active drivers in victories at the track with six wins.
Kyle Petty, who serves as CEO of Petty Enterprises as well as wheel-man for the No. 45 NEXTEL Cup car, finds himself locked in a fierce battle to maintain his position in the top-35 in owner points. The top 35 cars in owner’s points are guaranteed a starting spot in each NEXTEL Cup event as well as the first five races of the 2008 season. Currently, Petty is a mere six points ahead of owner Bill Davis and driver of the No. 22 car, Dave Blaney.
“Our team has been good recently, but we’ve seen some great runs from the No. 22 team too, ” Petty said. “We had some bad luck and got caught up in wrecks and just didn’t finish in front of who we needed to, but we’ve been pretty strong the past two or three weeks.
“Sure, when you think about Atlanta you think of pure speed. Atlanta is wide and you can race three abreast with no problem. That’s what happens when you leave a track alone. I think we’re feeling good about this weekend.
“Each track that we go to is unique in its own way and Atlanta is no different. When we come down here we are racing in front of what could be the biggest corporate audience that we have. A lot of the sponsors that you see on Sunday have a huge presence in Atlanta. I’m fortunate enough to have been associated with Coca-Cola for many years now and they’re headquartered down there. That gives me extra motivation when I go to Atlanta because I get to see a lot of the great people from Coke. ”
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