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By Rupen Fofaria
Special to ESPN.com
Bobby Labonte might be the only Winston Cup driver who knows just what points leader Matt Kenseth is going through. After all, if Kenseth rounds out the season as he has performed thus far, he will better Labonte's astounding 2000 campaign, in which Labonte won the title by completing all but nine laps.
But Labonte isn't giving Kenseth any pointers. Not this year. This year, and in fact during the past two seasons, he's getting to know how the other half lives.
"We haven't been running terrible, but have had no real racing luck on our side the last month or so it seems," Labonte said. "It's like we can't seem to make the right call at the right time. I'm confident that we'll get back up there and run up front, but it's been frustrating for sure."
Five races into this season, just after finishing 37th in the spring race at Darlington Raceway, Labonte was 14th in points. It was a continuation of the past two years, during which he's struggled to find the title-contending form of consistency he displayed in 2000.
Still, Labonte felt confident that things were on the verge of changing. He and crew chief Michael McSwain were clicking and the team was feeling upbeat despite its difficulties on the race track.
Sure enough, about midway through the year, the No. 18 Chevrolet team found its stride. With five straight top-five finishes, and eight top-10s in nine races, Labonte was able to crack the top five in the points standings.
But his hopes for maintaining that consistency have since been dashed. His best finish in the past seven races has been 14th (twice), and no other finish cracks the top 20.
His luck, as well as his team's self-imposed struggles, was summed up two weekends ago at Michigan. Labonte sat on the pole for the race. Spirits were high. But he got in the car for the race and it was ill-handling. The team worked vigorously to correct their mistakes and finally did, but then the motor in the Monte Carlo failed.
Labonte is currently seventh in points.
"You get pretty frustrated when you're bad, when your chassis isn't good," he said. "You blame yourself for not getting it as good as you should have. When you do get it better and you get up there and this happens ... at least we're getting better. We had five good races in a row, now we've had (some) bad ones, so we hope it'll go back to five more good ones."
And he hopes the good ones start coming this weekend at Darlington. The South Carolina race track, which will hold its final Labor Day weekend race this year, isn't a favorite on most drivers' lists. It's an ornery old venue whose walls get quickly and closely acquainted with the race cars.
But Labonte likes the place. He was there in 1980, working on his older brother Terry Labonte's pit crew when Terry won here. Since then, he's become a Darlington victor, as well.
"It was pretty cool," Labonte said. "Now to think we have both won NASCAR's oldest and most prestigious races is a great feeling. This track has so much history and I know it may not be as old as Indianapolis is, but to have a win at Darlington on your résumé is something any driver would be proud to have. I know I am."
Labonte believes this track is as good a place as any for him to begin a resurgence. He likes driver tracks, places where his skills are going to be called upon more than the car's setup.
"Darlington is such a tough place to figure out," he said. "The surface is so coarse that it just eats the tires up. ... You are having to concentrate so hard every lap at this place because on any given lap, Darlington will remind you who's still in charge.
"It may not be one of the newest facilities on circuit, but the history that place has and the type of racing you see is just great. Some of these younger drivers may not like it too much as the surface is very worn out, but I like it when the tires wear out and we're sliding all over the place.
"I feel like I have more input in terms of how well we run when the conditions are like that. There is nothing mechanical or that an engineer can do for us to smooth out the surface of the track, so it's up to me to drive it as hard as I can and find a line that will work around there. The thing about Darlington is that you can try and drive every lap perfect, but sooner or later you're going to touch the wall and get a one of those stripes on the car. It's just part of racing there."
Labonte had a hunch when his season was going so well that there was trouble ahead. Now, he's got that same hunch, but with a positive spin. The man who knew so much about consistency three seasons ago has got the inconsistency down cold, too. But he'll work it in his favor, he hopes. Knowing that there might be another good streak in this veteran team has been enough to keep the crew working hard.
And he'll do his part to try to climb back up the standings.
"Realistically we're all racing for second-place," Labonte said, with a nod toward Kenseth's gorilla grip on the Cup. "We just need to avoid any more mistakes or problems. I think we are capable of winning at least two or three more races before the end of the season and feel confident we can get back up there in the middle of the points chase. We've just had a tough run of luck lately, but it isn't anything that can't be overcome.
"We're still having fun and enjoying coming to the track each and every week. That makes a big difference when you're in the middle of this 20-race stretch. It can be a huge factor when we get down to four or five races to go."
Special to ESPN.com
Bobby Labonte might be the only Winston Cup driver who knows just what points leader Matt Kenseth is going through. After all, if Kenseth rounds out the season as he has performed thus far, he will better Labonte's astounding 2000 campaign, in which Labonte won the title by completing all but nine laps.
But Labonte isn't giving Kenseth any pointers. Not this year. This year, and in fact during the past two seasons, he's getting to know how the other half lives.
"We haven't been running terrible, but have had no real racing luck on our side the last month or so it seems," Labonte said. "It's like we can't seem to make the right call at the right time. I'm confident that we'll get back up there and run up front, but it's been frustrating for sure."
Five races into this season, just after finishing 37th in the spring race at Darlington Raceway, Labonte was 14th in points. It was a continuation of the past two years, during which he's struggled to find the title-contending form of consistency he displayed in 2000.
Still, Labonte felt confident that things were on the verge of changing. He and crew chief Michael McSwain were clicking and the team was feeling upbeat despite its difficulties on the race track.
Sure enough, about midway through the year, the No. 18 Chevrolet team found its stride. With five straight top-five finishes, and eight top-10s in nine races, Labonte was able to crack the top five in the points standings.
But his hopes for maintaining that consistency have since been dashed. His best finish in the past seven races has been 14th (twice), and no other finish cracks the top 20.
His luck, as well as his team's self-imposed struggles, was summed up two weekends ago at Michigan. Labonte sat on the pole for the race. Spirits were high. But he got in the car for the race and it was ill-handling. The team worked vigorously to correct their mistakes and finally did, but then the motor in the Monte Carlo failed.
Labonte is currently seventh in points.
"You get pretty frustrated when you're bad, when your chassis isn't good," he said. "You blame yourself for not getting it as good as you should have. When you do get it better and you get up there and this happens ... at least we're getting better. We had five good races in a row, now we've had (some) bad ones, so we hope it'll go back to five more good ones."
And he hopes the good ones start coming this weekend at Darlington. The South Carolina race track, which will hold its final Labor Day weekend race this year, isn't a favorite on most drivers' lists. It's an ornery old venue whose walls get quickly and closely acquainted with the race cars.
But Labonte likes the place. He was there in 1980, working on his older brother Terry Labonte's pit crew when Terry won here. Since then, he's become a Darlington victor, as well.
"It was pretty cool," Labonte said. "Now to think we have both won NASCAR's oldest and most prestigious races is a great feeling. This track has so much history and I know it may not be as old as Indianapolis is, but to have a win at Darlington on your résumé is something any driver would be proud to have. I know I am."
Labonte believes this track is as good a place as any for him to begin a resurgence. He likes driver tracks, places where his skills are going to be called upon more than the car's setup.
"Darlington is such a tough place to figure out," he said. "The surface is so coarse that it just eats the tires up. ... You are having to concentrate so hard every lap at this place because on any given lap, Darlington will remind you who's still in charge.
"It may not be one of the newest facilities on circuit, but the history that place has and the type of racing you see is just great. Some of these younger drivers may not like it too much as the surface is very worn out, but I like it when the tires wear out and we're sliding all over the place.
"I feel like I have more input in terms of how well we run when the conditions are like that. There is nothing mechanical or that an engineer can do for us to smooth out the surface of the track, so it's up to me to drive it as hard as I can and find a line that will work around there. The thing about Darlington is that you can try and drive every lap perfect, but sooner or later you're going to touch the wall and get a one of those stripes on the car. It's just part of racing there."
Labonte had a hunch when his season was going so well that there was trouble ahead. Now, he's got that same hunch, but with a positive spin. The man who knew so much about consistency three seasons ago has got the inconsistency down cold, too. But he'll work it in his favor, he hopes. Knowing that there might be another good streak in this veteran team has been enough to keep the crew working hard.
And he'll do his part to try to climb back up the standings.
"Realistically we're all racing for second-place," Labonte said, with a nod toward Kenseth's gorilla grip on the Cup. "We just need to avoid any more mistakes or problems. I think we are capable of winning at least two or three more races before the end of the season and feel confident we can get back up there in the middle of the points chase. We've just had a tough run of luck lately, but it isn't anything that can't be overcome.
"We're still having fun and enjoying coming to the track each and every week. That makes a big difference when you're in the middle of this 20-race stretch. It can be a huge factor when we get down to four or five races to go."