Dodging Bullets
Dateline: 09/04/2000Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. For the last two weeks points leader Bobby Labonte has proven that he is both as he has avoided two potential catastrophes and strengthened his hold on the NASCAR Winston Cup Championship.
Bristol Bang-Up
Two weeks ago under the lights at Bristol Motor Speedway the Joe Gibbs team just didn't have the Interstate Batteries car quite perfect for qualifying forcing Bobby to start deep in the pack in 32nd position and pit on the backstretch.
Already behind the eight-ball Bobby's troubles were only beginning. Once the race started Bobby was apparently having a problem with his racing seat. Bobby suffered through the majority of the race with cramping and numbing in his legs which made for one miserable night of racing for him.
Given all of this, Bobby still had battled his way from the back up into the top ten before the halfway point and although he wasn't looking like a threat to Rusty Wallace's victory he did have a probable top five finish in hand. Then the yellow came out for a spin and Bobby slowed only to get run over by Mike Skinner who didn't get slowed down in time. Before Bobby could get it pointed in the right direction he was a lap down and relegated to the middle of the pack for the rest of the night.
But the frustrating night didn't turn out to be as devastating as it might have been. Bobby's car wasn't hurt badly and he managed to bring the car home with a 15th place finish and before the spin he had managed to collect the five bonus points for leading a lap. This tough performance kept Bobby in the hunt as he only lost twenty points to ninth place finisher Dale Jarrett.
Next page Darlington Damage Control >Page 1, 2
