Catchfence

“Longhorn Chassis Debuts with Second and 12th”

Archdale, N.C. (August 17, 2010) – Bobby Labonte Racing (BLR) will go south this weekend to Batesville Motor Speedway in Batesville, AR., for the 18th annual Comp Cams Topless 100. This weekend’s event will be $2,000-to-start and $40,000-to-win. This weekend’s event will be taped and aired later this year on Speed Channel.

The Lucas Oil Late Model series is nearing the end of the season with only 11 events remaining. BLR has had a strong season thus far with team drivers Brad Neat and Earl Pearson Jr. The team has scored 37 top-10 finishes, 22 top-five finishes and taken eight trips to victory lane.

BLR has also found success with their new in-house Longhorn Chassis. The chassis made its debut during last weekend’s North-South Duel in Florence with a second-place finish by Pearson and 12th by Neat. The team again plans to race the chassis this weekend and finish the season with it.

The No. 44 Lucas Oil Dodge team is currently third in the Championship battle only 25 points out of second place, Jimmy Owens.

Neat posted another top-15 last weekend finishing 12th at Florence. The No. 41 Red Buck Filtered Cigars Chevrolet team is looking to break into the top-10 this weekend to gain momentum to finish the season in the top-10 in the Lucas Oil Championship standings.

Team Manager Jason Fitzgerald Comments on Last Weekend’s Results with the New Chassis and the Championship Standing Outlook:

“Both our teams did really well this past weekend and we’re happy with the new chassis. It kept up all night and proved that it’s fast and we can win with it. We’re going to keep tweaking on it, but out of the box we don’t have any major issues. Earl was really close to winning with it, but it’s going to come.

“We are happy with our results and hope to take this good luck to Batesville this weekend. We thought Earl had the win, but we got beat coming out of Turn Four with one to go. Once Jimmy Owens got past us he was gone. Still, it’s a good debut for the Longhorn.

“This weekend is another big money race for BLR. We were so close to it last weekend. It would’ve been nice to bring that back to the shop. We’ll definitely make a run at it again this weekend. We have two great drivers’ out there and the guys have done a great job back at the shop with all the changes and new chassis.

“We’re still aiming to win the championship. Earl has seven wins this year and we’ve proved that this team can win it. The competition is very tough in this series so it’s about being consistent. We’re happy with the way things are going.

“Brad had another good finish this weekend. We are having consistent finishes with his team, but would really like to get top-10 finishes. We are right on the outside, so a few changes, and I think we’ll be good. We are determined to get him in the top-10 in championship points and we aren’t far behind.”

About Bobby Labonte Racing:

BLR is located in Archdale, N.C., and owned by 2000 NASCAR Champion Bobby Labonte. The team was formed in 2007 and immediately won back-to-back Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series championships. The team will become a two-car operation in 2010 with the addition of driver Brad Neat. The organization is sponsored by Red Buck Filtered Cigars, Lucas Oil, Sunoco Race Fuels, Coca-Cola, ALLSTAR, Tiger Rear Ends, BERT, Butlerbuilt, Hyperco, SHY, Wilwood, Sweet, TWM, Dyers Top Rods, Weld Wheels, Bell, Hoosier Tire, PRC, Mechanix Wear, Braswel, Larry Wallace Engines, Dunn-Benson Racing Supply, ASI Racewear, Xtreme Graphics, Hank Thomas Performance, Wiles Drive Shafts, MasterBilt Race Cars, Bazel Race Fuels, Mason Racin, Racing Optics, TNT Energy, Cornet Racing Engines and WD Enterprises

- Breaking Limits Press Release