Bobby Labonte to Drive for Robby Gordon Motorsports at Loudon

Bobby Labonte to Drive for Robby Gordon Motorsports at Loudon

Former Champ to Pilot No. 7 Toyota at NHMS

Charlotte, NC (June 23, 2010) – Robby Gordon Motorsports will put 2000 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Bobby Labonte behind the wheel of the No. 7 Toyota at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 this weekend in a current one-race deal.

“When we found out that Bobby was available to drive for us, we jumped at it,” said team owner Robby Gordon. “To have a past champion driving your car is a good opportunity. I think we can learn from him this weekend and it will help our program moving forward.”

Robby Gordon Motorsports finished second in last weekend’s race at the Infineon Raceway.

“I can’t thank Robby and his folks enough for this opportunity,” said Labonte. “We’re going to New Hampshire with the goal of having another solid run for his team. They had a great finish at Sonoma and have some momentum right now. I’m just thankful for the opportunity and hope to get another solid finish for his team.”

Labonte will be making his first start for Robby Gordon Motorsports and plans on running the full race this Sunday.

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Permalink Reply by Blues on June 23, 2010 at 2:35pm

I was just going to replay Sears Point this Sunday, now I'll have to watch an oval race...

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Permalink Reply by Ben Cartwright on June 23, 2010 at 2:40pm

just a tidbit: Labonte is moving over to the 09 car after this weekend's race

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Permalink Reply by Matt Gruber on June 23, 2010 at 2:49pm

That would make a ton of sense. Past Champ provisional lets them make races and build points for Kahne to be in safely next year ...

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Permalink Reply by Ken on June 23, 2010 at 2:45pm

Whats the point of running the in house sponsor now. He could have done that with PJ and run the whole race. Is it just because the money is better spent with Bobby. Seems if their was no money for PJ????

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Permalink Reply by jack on June 23, 2010 at 2:51pm

speedfactory.tv was designed to give robby more coverage to help lure more sponsers. with Bobby it will bring more coverage to speedfactory.tv. Think about it.. Bobby has alot more fans in the nascar scene than PJ does. therefore more people will go to speedfactory.tv. with increased hits on the webpage robby will be able to prove how many people watch and therefore sell more sponserships in the future.

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Permalink Reply by Sean O'Neill on June 23, 2010 at 2:53pm

TOG, When is that race thread going to be posted? (approx.)

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Permalink Reply by TOG on June 23, 2010 at 2:56pm

around 6:00 pm/et

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Permalink Reply by Sean O'Neill on June 23, 2010 at 3:14pm

Thanks for the info dude......

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Permalink Reply by TOG on June 23, 2010 at 3:15pm

last year he was, and it was unreleated to what people thought.

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Permalink Reply by Alex on June 23, 2010 at 3:26pm

Bobby left his golf clubs at Robby's shop

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Permalink Reply by fanof7 on June 23, 2010 at 3:27pm

as per nascar.com

this gives a little more insight:

Labonte terminates deal with TRG Motorsports
RGM will put 2000 Cup champ behind wheel of No. 7

Bobby Labonte just couldn't bear to become a start-and-park driver.

"I just don't want to do it," the 2000 Cup Series champion said. "I don't want to do the start-and-park thing."

Labonte
And yet that was the direction his former team was evidently headed, a move that led Labonte to terminate his contract with TRG Motorsports and agree to a pair of short-term deals. Labonte will drive Robby Gordon's No. 7 car this weekend at New Hampshire, and then move into James Finch's No. 09 for Daytona and Chicagoland, with the possibility of more starts in the Phoenix Racing vehicle if sponsorship can be found.

Labonte started 23 Sprint Cup events for owner Kevin Buckler's TRG organization dating to late last season, but has been unable to crack the top 20 this year and has dropped out of four recent races with mechanical trouble. At the idea of becoming a start-and-park driver, the 21-time race winner on the Cup circuit blanched.

"We didn't have the success that we really wanted, and kind of got to the point where Kevin was in a position that he was going to have to do some start-and-park races," said Labonte, 46. "He's in a little different place right now with his race team, and I felt I had to find different opportunities that would allow me to race. That's what we were supposed to do to start with, and that's what we were doing up until then. I just felt like we needed to go down different avenues so he would do what he needed to, and I could race."

Labonte said he made the decision about noon Tuesday, and three hours later was on the phone with Gordon, who will be unable to compete at New Hampshire due to what he called a "personal and private" conflict. Gordon, who finished second Sunday at Sonoma, Calif., said after that race that he would put P.J. Jones in his car and run only 20 or 30 laps because of a lack of sponsorship. When Labonte became available, that plan changed.

"We're just committed," Gordon said. "And the other side of this, we can learn a lot from this as a race team, and that has to have value as well."

To Gordon, having Labonte shake down his race car and evaluate how it can perhaps be made better evidently seems worth the financial hit he'll take in fielding the vehicle for the entire event. "I thought it would be a great evaluation of my race team with somebody else driving the car," he said. "I really look forward to the feedback that Bobby gives us."

The deal with Labonte is only for one race, Gordon said, but he didn't rule out the idea of teaming with Labonte again later in the summer. Gordon added that his team is good on funding through Indianapolis, and shouldn't have to entertain the idea of a start-and-park entry until after that race. If he can get the money together, he's toying with the idea of putting Labonte in a second Robby Gordon Motorsports car for the Brickyard 400.

"I'd be very interested to run Bobby at Indianapolis," Gordon said. "I think by that time we'd be prepared enough to run two cars. We have enough equipment, we have enough have pit stuff, we have enough guys, we have the facility obviously. Hopefully he has a good weekend [at Loudon]. Let's take one step at a time and see how the weekend goes with Bobby. But if it goes good, I'd love to have Bobby as a teammate. I think it would help me to have a teammate, and I think it would help Bobby, too."

For now, Labonte prepares for the next three races with two different teams, and an uncertain future beyond next month. Even without a full-time ride, the idea of retirement seems the last thing on his mind.

"I'm a racer, first of all," said Labonte, whose old seat at TRG reportedly will be filled by sports-car racer Andy Lally. "I want to race and I want to win. There is no more special feeling than wining races and being competitive. That's what you do. Bottom line, that's what you do."