Long Day at Atlanta Continues Long Year for Labonte

Labonte started 35th and fought an ill-handling race car throughout the 500-mile distance. He struggled so much with the car that he brushed the SAFER Barrier on the outside retaining wall of Turn 2 on Lap 120.

Labonte had to pit several times after brushing the wall, and that is where he lost a majority of the nine laps.

“It was just a long day,” Labonte said. “From the start we couldn’t get a handle on the car. It was frustrating to say the least.”

The 31st-place finish in the No. 18 AsthmaControl.com Chevrolet caused Labonte to lose one spot, unofficially, in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup points standings. He fell from 24th to 25th and has 3,187 points and is 28 points behind Casey Mears.

The next NEXTEL Cup Series event is the Dickies 500 Nov. 6 at Texas Motor Speedway. The race starts at 3 p.m. (EST) and will be broadcast live on NBC and PRN. The day before, Labonte will compete in the O’Reilly Challenge NASCAR Busch Series event in the No. 19 SlimJim Chevrolet. The race starts at 2 p.m. (EST) and will be broadcast live on TNT and PRN.