Labonte Finishes 12th in O'Reilly Challenge at Texas

Kevin Harvick won the 200-lap event.

Labonte started 26th in the No. 19 SlimJim Chevrolet and fought a little bit of an ill-handling race car throughout the event. The SlimJim crew, along with Labonte, could never quite crack the top 10, but managed a respectable 12th.

“I don’t know what to say,” Labonte said. “The car wasn’t really bad, but we just couldn’t get a good enough handle on it to get it in the top 10. The guys worked hard and we’ll see if we can put the SlimJim Chevrolet Monte Carlo in victory lane next week at Phoenix.”

Labonte will start 17th in Sunday’s Dickies 500 NEXTEL Cup Series event at Texas. Labonte qualified the No. 18 Main Street Getty/IBS of Massachusetts/Interstate Batteries Chevy at 28.398 seconds, 190.154 mph.

In Happy Hour on Saturday, Labonte 35th fastest with a lap of 29.707, 181.775.

The Dickies 500 starts at 3:50 p.m. (EST) and will be broadcast live on NBC and MRN.