Those of you who know me, know that I've become a NASCAR fan over the past several years.
My son, Joseph, and I particularly like Bobby Labonte and we're members of his fan club. For many years Bobby drove the "green 18", the Interstate Batteries Pontiac (and later, Chevy) for Joe Gibbs Racing. I have quite a few green hats and t-shirts.
Last year, Bobby joined his good friend, Kyle Petty, at Petty Enterprises. He now drives the fabled 43 car which was made famous by "the King", Richard Petty. It was the STP 43 when Richard drove it to his hundreds of NASCAR victories. It is now the Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge. I'm starting to collect some yellow and blue attire.
Bobby was the 2000 Nextel Cup Champion (it was called the Winston Cup then) while still with Joe Gibbs. Tony Stewart was Bobby's teammate at Gibbs racing, but Tony and Bobby like different car set-ups. As Tony began to become the primary Gibbs driver, Kyle and Richard convinced Bobby to come over and help them restore the Petty team to its former prominence. 2006 was a rather tough year for Bobby and the 43. They had a lot of bad luck, starting with a crash at Daytona. They finished strongly, though, with 4 top-ten finishes in the last 5 races.
They've started off pretty well this year and had a nice run last week at Vegas (13th).This week-end, the Nextel Cup Series is racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Atlanta is Bobby's favorite track and he is the active wins leader there with six career wins on the 1.54 mile oval. Bobby seemed pretty optimistic about his chances this week in his pre-race report . I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this may be the week that Bobby and the 43 return to victory lane after rather long droughts for both.
My son, Joseph, and I particularly like Bobby Labonte and we're members of his fan club. For many years Bobby drove the "green 18", the Interstate Batteries Pontiac (and later, Chevy) for Joe Gibbs Racing. I have quite a few green hats and t-shirts.
Last year, Bobby joined his good friend, Kyle Petty, at Petty Enterprises. He now drives the fabled 43 car which was made famous by "the King", Richard Petty. It was the STP 43 when Richard drove it to his hundreds of NASCAR victories. It is now the Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge. I'm starting to collect some yellow and blue attire.
Bobby was the 2000 Nextel Cup Champion (it was called the Winston Cup then) while still with Joe Gibbs. Tony Stewart was Bobby's teammate at Gibbs racing, but Tony and Bobby like different car set-ups. As Tony began to become the primary Gibbs driver, Kyle and Richard convinced Bobby to come over and help them restore the Petty team to its former prominence. 2006 was a rather tough year for Bobby and the 43. They had a lot of bad luck, starting with a crash at Daytona. They finished strongly, though, with 4 top-ten finishes in the last 5 races.
They've started off pretty well this year and had a nice run last week at Vegas (13th).This week-end, the Nextel Cup Series is racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Atlanta is Bobby's favorite track and he is the active wins leader there with six career wins on the 1.54 mile oval. Bobby seemed pretty optimistic about his chances this week in his pre-race report . I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this may be the week that Bobby and the 43 return to victory lane after rather long droughts for both.
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