From NASCAR.com
Claire B. Lang interviews Slugger Labbe
XM Satellite Radio
October 20, 2004
10:23 AM EDT (14:23 GMT)
Claire B. Lang is the host of "Dialed In", which airs Monday through Friday from 4pm-7pm ET on XM Satellite Radio's 24-hour NASCAR Radio Channel 144. This week Claire spoke to Richard "Slugger" Labbe, who recently left his crew chief position for the No. 15 NAPA Chevrolet driven by Michael Waltrip to assist the title efforts for both the Chance 2 Motorsports and No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet teams at Dale Earnhardt, Inc. He called in while testing in Atlanta on Monday.
Claire B. Lang: How did the testing go?
Slugger Labbe: We're at Atlanta Motor Speedway with Martin Truex in the Busch car today, and tomorrow Martin's going to be driving a Cup car, so we got a lot going on. Michael Waltrip's coming here tomorrow also, and Paul Menard's coming also, so we've got 5 cars running tomorrow. It should be a real busy day
Claire B. Lang: Talk to us what you're doing now. These tests are so key, not only to the development, but to how the teams, like Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip, perform. Tell us about the new job.
Slugger Labbe: Well, my job's basically just to roam from team to team to help Tony (Eury) Sr., Tony Jr. and Pete Rondeau, Tony Gibson and Bono. Just lend a hand if they need something, and just ...you know, if one car learns something, it's my job to make sure the other three learn it also and understand what's going on. It's a big job, going back and forth and keeping up with everybody, but I get along so good with all the people that I just mentioned, so ... so far it's going pretty good.
Claire B. Lang: Slugger, does that facilitate the sharing of info at DEI, because if you're there, you have no vested interest in one team or another. You're just the guy who has all the info.
Slugger Labbe: Well, it's neat that everyone's really open with their info. In the past they really...if you would ask they would tell you, but it seems like they really wouldn't offer much up unless you asked for it. But now it's my job to make sure that everyone understands what's going on, and it should be better for the company to make sure all the cars get all the right information and get what they need, and put us in Victory Lane and hopefully win a couple of championships here.
Claire B. Lang: Did you hear any of the conspiracy theories that said, "Oh, yeah, Dale Jr. wanted that to happen because Slugger was such a good crew chief, and he wanted him for his championship effort"? Can you straighten that out?
Slugger Labbe: No, there's no truth to that at all. You know, it was kind of funny. Thursday at Charlotte right before practice started he said, "Man, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be helping Michael?"
I said, "No, I don't work there no more."
So he didn't know anything about it 'til Thursday. It was a last-minute decision on Wednesday around lunchtime. I just told Richie (Gilmore) that, hey, I need to do something different, I'm not happy with what's going on. And you know, some people would just say, "Well, hit the road."
But Richie and Teresa (Earnhardt) got together and said, "Look, this is what we want you to do," and so that's what we're doing. I don't have a title yet because I haven't been back at the shop since all this went down. We raced at Charlotte Thursday-Friday-Saturday, and then left this morning to come to Atlanta, and I won't be home until Thursday. That position doesn't matter as long as the teams get what they need and we win races and championships, and that's what our goal is right now.
Claire B. Lang: Are you a crew chief who enjoys testing?
Slugger Labbe: You know, when I worked at Yates with Dale Jarrett, I was part of the test team there and I really, really enjoyed it because when you're at the race track you only have 45 minutes of practice, and you don't really have much time to find things out. You just gotta throw it at it, and look at it when it's all said and done. But when you come to a test you have a full 8 hours to analyze and digest it, look at computers, and that's kind of the stuff that I really like to do.
I miss sitting up on top of the pit box. It kind of bothered me a little bit Saturday night, but I know the guys believe me and what I tell them, and it's nice to know that people are supporting me also, because I'm trying to support them, and they're behind the deal. Hopefully, it'll all work out, but I miss sitting on the pit box, but that's okay.
Claire B. Lang: If the chemistry's not there on the team, and you're beating your head against a wall, and you know it, you've got to either leave that team, which you don't want to do ... you like DEI, that's how I'm seeing it ... but you have an opportunity there to fill another role, which is a bigger role, and broader, then you choose to do that. Maybe, even though you like being a crew chief, it's a great thing to do, and they need you there.
Slugger Labbe: Yeah, it's something we needed. I hated to walk away from the 15 team. I was there for three and a half years, and I only lost 3 employees from the time I was there, so it was really a tight, tight group of people that really worked hard. But I was kind of let down that we didn't make the top 10 for the Chase for the Championship, and that wasn't fair to NAPA, and it wasn't fair to the people at DEI, so I said, "Shoot, let's just make a change here, and see if we get someone else to work with Michael and see if they can't get it figured out."
But it was fun, you know? I worked there three-and-a-half years with Michael, won 3 races, should have won more, but had a good time. Last year we were in the top 5 in points almost all the whole year, and we had some bad luck at the end. It's a really good race team, and we just lacked a few things, and it didn't work out, so Richie and Teresa thought the world of me to keep me employed and keep going, and so I think definitely I can help the organization, and they realize that, and that's why were' doing what we're doing.
Claire B. Lang: Can you help in the championship run, in your role, with Dale Jr.? I saw you when the Truex car crashed, and you really kind of helped lead the effort ... Bono was busy being the crew chief, getting the other guys to come and help. Some people, including Richie Gilmore, saw that and said, "Wow, this is some kind of coordination! If we had this all the time...." And that's where you fit in...
Slugger Labbe: I guess when you wreck like that you kind of shoot from the hip and try to fix it. You can try to say you're all planned and organized for a wreck, but you don't know how bad it's going to be when it happens, and it's just good having experienced people working on your cars. When it does happen, you make the best of a bad situation, which is what Bono and his boys did at Kansas City. It's nice, like Bono can concentrate on running his race team and I can just sit back and listen to Martin, and listen to Dale Jr., and just make suggestions, because I got a little bit longer time to think about it and not worry about all the little details of being a crew chief and running a race team. So just sitting back and analyzing everything and digesting it, and then making a suggestion really helps the team, I believe.
Claire B. Lang: Tell me how you think everything is going over there right now for a championship run. You're a very good crew chief. It seems to me now they've got an extra guy who can focus on that as well. You think these extra eyes might help?
Slugger Labbe: Like I said, it's nice having extra people around, and we're trying to win championships, but we're trying to make sure... you know, Paul Menard missed the race last week, and we've got to come here and prove that was just a fluke deal, and we're looking forward to working with Paul Menard and get him going again. You know he sat on the pole at Kansas, and missed the race at Charlotte, so we've got to make sure that every race when we unload, all our cars are very good and capable of sitting on the pole.
Claire B. Lang: What about Martin Truex stepping into a Cup car? I don't know what the current plan is, as it's been announced... I'm not asking for anything that hasn't been announced, but I know I've gotten questions. Where are they officially at right now?
Slugger Labbe: Well, I know he's running Atlanta, for sure, and I guess you guys will find out more here in a little bit. (laughs)
Claire B. Lang: (laughs) All right, sounds good. When you look at the race, since you were going in between various teams, what struck you about the race? You got a chance to lean back and watch it all... Gordon's comeback, Jimmie Johnson's always strong, strange occurrence with Kasey Kahne's car... what did you make of it? And the good finish for Dale Jr., of course.
Slugger Labbe: You know, it was weird to see Kasey Kahne, as good as... his Evernham car was really, really, good. It's very rare you see a car that's a half-second quicker than the field, and Kasey and Tommy (Baldwin) definitely had that going on Saturday night. I was kind of embarrassing, you know? But a lot of teams have had problems with this tire before, at Dover, at Charlotte, and Kansas City. It's a tire that doesn't like a lot of abuse on the right front, and they might have been abusing it too much, and that's why they were running fast. I hate that happened for them.
But it's just neat to stand back and watch, and watch how crew men work behind the wall. When you're doing pit stops you really don't have the time to see all that going on and realize how many people it takes to make a race team run... it's unbelievable nowadays...
And you know when cars wreck, like when (Greg) Biffle wrecked, I get to see how people fix cars, go in the garage and check things out, and just trying to make sure that if it happens to us again that we're prepared for it, by watching other people do what they do. It's neat to see people work, and I'm glad I get the opportunity to do this.
Claire B. Lang: Slugger, I'm going to call on you again, because I think you're in an interesting position to give analysis, given the fact that you're not over one team, but you've got your eyes over the whole garage. I wish you a lot of luck, and I will, as always, see you in the garage. Thanks for your time.
Slugger Labbe: Ok, Claire, thanks a lot.
Courtesy of XM
Claire B. Lang interviews Slugger Labbe
XM Satellite Radio
October 20, 2004
10:23 AM EDT (14:23 GMT)
Claire B. Lang is the host of "Dialed In", which airs Monday through Friday from 4pm-7pm ET on XM Satellite Radio's 24-hour NASCAR Radio Channel 144. This week Claire spoke to Richard "Slugger" Labbe, who recently left his crew chief position for the No. 15 NAPA Chevrolet driven by Michael Waltrip to assist the title efforts for both the Chance 2 Motorsports and No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet teams at Dale Earnhardt, Inc. He called in while testing in Atlanta on Monday.
Claire B. Lang: How did the testing go?
Slugger Labbe: We're at Atlanta Motor Speedway with Martin Truex in the Busch car today, and tomorrow Martin's going to be driving a Cup car, so we got a lot going on. Michael Waltrip's coming here tomorrow also, and Paul Menard's coming also, so we've got 5 cars running tomorrow. It should be a real busy day
Claire B. Lang: Talk to us what you're doing now. These tests are so key, not only to the development, but to how the teams, like Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip, perform. Tell us about the new job.
Slugger Labbe: Well, my job's basically just to roam from team to team to help Tony (Eury) Sr., Tony Jr. and Pete Rondeau, Tony Gibson and Bono. Just lend a hand if they need something, and just ...you know, if one car learns something, it's my job to make sure the other three learn it also and understand what's going on. It's a big job, going back and forth and keeping up with everybody, but I get along so good with all the people that I just mentioned, so ... so far it's going pretty good.
Claire B. Lang: Slugger, does that facilitate the sharing of info at DEI, because if you're there, you have no vested interest in one team or another. You're just the guy who has all the info.
Slugger Labbe: Well, it's neat that everyone's really open with their info. In the past they really...if you would ask they would tell you, but it seems like they really wouldn't offer much up unless you asked for it. But now it's my job to make sure that everyone understands what's going on, and it should be better for the company to make sure all the cars get all the right information and get what they need, and put us in Victory Lane and hopefully win a couple of championships here.
Claire B. Lang: Did you hear any of the conspiracy theories that said, "Oh, yeah, Dale Jr. wanted that to happen because Slugger was such a good crew chief, and he wanted him for his championship effort"? Can you straighten that out?
Slugger Labbe: No, there's no truth to that at all. You know, it was kind of funny. Thursday at Charlotte right before practice started he said, "Man, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be helping Michael?"
I said, "No, I don't work there no more."
So he didn't know anything about it 'til Thursday. It was a last-minute decision on Wednesday around lunchtime. I just told Richie (Gilmore) that, hey, I need to do something different, I'm not happy with what's going on. And you know, some people would just say, "Well, hit the road."
But Richie and Teresa (Earnhardt) got together and said, "Look, this is what we want you to do," and so that's what we're doing. I don't have a title yet because I haven't been back at the shop since all this went down. We raced at Charlotte Thursday-Friday-Saturday, and then left this morning to come to Atlanta, and I won't be home until Thursday. That position doesn't matter as long as the teams get what they need and we win races and championships, and that's what our goal is right now.
Claire B. Lang: Are you a crew chief who enjoys testing?
Slugger Labbe: You know, when I worked at Yates with Dale Jarrett, I was part of the test team there and I really, really enjoyed it because when you're at the race track you only have 45 minutes of practice, and you don't really have much time to find things out. You just gotta throw it at it, and look at it when it's all said and done. But when you come to a test you have a full 8 hours to analyze and digest it, look at computers, and that's kind of the stuff that I really like to do.
I miss sitting up on top of the pit box. It kind of bothered me a little bit Saturday night, but I know the guys believe me and what I tell them, and it's nice to know that people are supporting me also, because I'm trying to support them, and they're behind the deal. Hopefully, it'll all work out, but I miss sitting on the pit box, but that's okay.
Claire B. Lang: If the chemistry's not there on the team, and you're beating your head against a wall, and you know it, you've got to either leave that team, which you don't want to do ... you like DEI, that's how I'm seeing it ... but you have an opportunity there to fill another role, which is a bigger role, and broader, then you choose to do that. Maybe, even though you like being a crew chief, it's a great thing to do, and they need you there.
Slugger Labbe: Yeah, it's something we needed. I hated to walk away from the 15 team. I was there for three and a half years, and I only lost 3 employees from the time I was there, so it was really a tight, tight group of people that really worked hard. But I was kind of let down that we didn't make the top 10 for the Chase for the Championship, and that wasn't fair to NAPA, and it wasn't fair to the people at DEI, so I said, "Shoot, let's just make a change here, and see if we get someone else to work with Michael and see if they can't get it figured out."
But it was fun, you know? I worked there three-and-a-half years with Michael, won 3 races, should have won more, but had a good time. Last year we were in the top 5 in points almost all the whole year, and we had some bad luck at the end. It's a really good race team, and we just lacked a few things, and it didn't work out, so Richie and Teresa thought the world of me to keep me employed and keep going, and so I think definitely I can help the organization, and they realize that, and that's why were' doing what we're doing.
Claire B. Lang: Can you help in the championship run, in your role, with Dale Jr.? I saw you when the Truex car crashed, and you really kind of helped lead the effort ... Bono was busy being the crew chief, getting the other guys to come and help. Some people, including Richie Gilmore, saw that and said, "Wow, this is some kind of coordination! If we had this all the time...." And that's where you fit in...
Slugger Labbe: I guess when you wreck like that you kind of shoot from the hip and try to fix it. You can try to say you're all planned and organized for a wreck, but you don't know how bad it's going to be when it happens, and it's just good having experienced people working on your cars. When it does happen, you make the best of a bad situation, which is what Bono and his boys did at Kansas City. It's nice, like Bono can concentrate on running his race team and I can just sit back and listen to Martin, and listen to Dale Jr., and just make suggestions, because I got a little bit longer time to think about it and not worry about all the little details of being a crew chief and running a race team. So just sitting back and analyzing everything and digesting it, and then making a suggestion really helps the team, I believe.
Claire B. Lang: Tell me how you think everything is going over there right now for a championship run. You're a very good crew chief. It seems to me now they've got an extra guy who can focus on that as well. You think these extra eyes might help?
Slugger Labbe: Like I said, it's nice having extra people around, and we're trying to win championships, but we're trying to make sure... you know, Paul Menard missed the race last week, and we've got to come here and prove that was just a fluke deal, and we're looking forward to working with Paul Menard and get him going again. You know he sat on the pole at Kansas, and missed the race at Charlotte, so we've got to make sure that every race when we unload, all our cars are very good and capable of sitting on the pole.
Claire B. Lang: What about Martin Truex stepping into a Cup car? I don't know what the current plan is, as it's been announced... I'm not asking for anything that hasn't been announced, but I know I've gotten questions. Where are they officially at right now?
Slugger Labbe: Well, I know he's running Atlanta, for sure, and I guess you guys will find out more here in a little bit. (laughs)
Claire B. Lang: (laughs) All right, sounds good. When you look at the race, since you were going in between various teams, what struck you about the race? You got a chance to lean back and watch it all... Gordon's comeback, Jimmie Johnson's always strong, strange occurrence with Kasey Kahne's car... what did you make of it? And the good finish for Dale Jr., of course.
Slugger Labbe: You know, it was weird to see Kasey Kahne, as good as... his Evernham car was really, really, good. It's very rare you see a car that's a half-second quicker than the field, and Kasey and Tommy (Baldwin) definitely had that going on Saturday night. I was kind of embarrassing, you know? But a lot of teams have had problems with this tire before, at Dover, at Charlotte, and Kansas City. It's a tire that doesn't like a lot of abuse on the right front, and they might have been abusing it too much, and that's why they were running fast. I hate that happened for them.
But it's just neat to stand back and watch, and watch how crew men work behind the wall. When you're doing pit stops you really don't have the time to see all that going on and realize how many people it takes to make a race team run... it's unbelievable nowadays...
And you know when cars wreck, like when (Greg) Biffle wrecked, I get to see how people fix cars, go in the garage and check things out, and just trying to make sure that if it happens to us again that we're prepared for it, by watching other people do what they do. It's neat to see people work, and I'm glad I get the opportunity to do this.
Claire B. Lang: Slugger, I'm going to call on you again, because I think you're in an interesting position to give analysis, given the fact that you're not over one team, but you've got your eyes over the whole garage. I wish you a lot of luck, and I will, as always, see you in the garage. Thanks for your time.
Slugger Labbe: Ok, Claire, thanks a lot.
Courtesy of XM
