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RGM / Bobby Labonte Loudon Post Race Report
Robby Gordon Motorsports and Bobby Labonte Finish a Hard-Fought 30th in New Hampshire
Loudon, NH. (June 27, 2010) – Bobby Labonte, starting his first race for Robby Gordon Motorsports (RGM), helped wheel the No. 7 SpeedFactoy.TV Toyota Camry to a 30th-place finish at the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 Sunday afternoon at the 1.058-mile New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
RGM was forced to a back-up car Friday afternoon following an accident in the first practice session. Unfortunately, with only 30 minutes remaining in practice when the accident occurred, the team was unable to pass through inspection in time for a qualifying lap. Since RGM is locked into the top-35 in owner’s points, the team was given the 42nd starting position. However, the team changed their transmission before the race and had to start at the back of the field, in the 43rd position.
Labonte had no problem moving forward at the start of the race and had the No. 7 SpeedFactory.TV Toyota Camry up six positions by Lap 20 – one of the biggest movers of the race. Debris then brought out the first caution flag of the race on Lap 36. Labonte reported being too tight in the center and loose off the gas with no rear grip. He came down pit road in 34th position for a fresh set of tires, fuel and adjustments.
The team gained one position on pit road and restarted the race at Lap 39 in 33rd position. Through the first hundred laps of action, Labonte was running consistent and had moved himself up to 30th position. The first set of green-flag pit stops started and Labonte came down pit road on Lap 104. The team made another slight adjustment to help with the forward drive and took four tires and fuel.
At the halfway mark and still without another caution, the No. 7 Camry was in the 33rd position. Another green-flag pit-stop was made on Lap 172 where the team just took tires and fuel. Labonte posted his fastest lap on Lap 176.
With a little less than 100 laps remaining, and the race just setting a record for the most green-flag laps, the car was loose in, tight in the middle and loose off. Finally, the second caution came out on Lap 240 for oil on the track in Turn 3. At this point, the team came down for a new set of tires and to fill up on fuel. They restarted the race in 31st position and did not have to race for position as they were the only car three laps down.
Reed Sorenson and Juan Pablo Montoya were the reason for the third caution with 28 laps to go. Labonte entered pit road for the last time taking a fresh set of tires and enough fuel to go the distance.
On Lap 290, leaders Jeff Burton and Kyle Busch were racing for the win when the final caution came out for the two of them getting into each other. Bobby Labonte restarted Lap 293 in the 30th position and that was the position that he brought the No. 7 SpeedFactory.TV Toyota Camry home in.
Driver Bobby Labonte Comments on the Lenox Industrial Tools 301:
“First, I want to thank Robby Gordon and his team for giving me the opportunity to race their No. 7 SpeedFactory.TV Toyota Camry this weekend”, said Labonte. “We didn’t start off like we hoped on Friday, but we had a solid race and learned a lot about each other.
“Our goal was to learn as much as possible for Robby Gordon Motorsports and for me to be able to give them the best feedback I could. We wanted to keep the car in one piece and not race too hard where we would put ourselves in a bad position. We were able to maintain the No. 7 in owner’s points and keep them locked into the top-35.
“We did give ourselves a ‘Darlington Stripe’ but no big damage was done to the car. All-in-all, it was a good day for the team and I hope that they were able to learn from me being in the seat.”
Team Owner Robby Gordon comments on the weekend results:
“To be able to put Bobby, a past champion, in our car at Loudon was a great opportunity for our organization. I want to thank him for his help and giving us this opportunity. I think the information that we learned this weekend will be very valuable to our race team and will help make Robby Gordon Motorsports even better.”
Loudon, NH. (June 27, 2010) – Bobby Labonte, starting his first race for Robby Gordon Motorsports (RGM), helped wheel the No. 7 SpeedFactoy.TV Toyota Camry to a 30th-place finish at the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 Sunday afternoon at the 1.058-mile New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
RGM was forced to a back-up car Friday afternoon following an accident in the first practice session. Unfortunately, with only 30 minutes remaining in practice when the accident occurred, the team was unable to pass through inspection in time for a qualifying lap. Since RGM is locked into the top-35 in owner’s points, the team was given the 42nd starting position. However, the team changed their transmission before the race and had to start at the back of the field, in the 43rd position.
Labonte had no problem moving forward at the start of the race and had the No. 7 SpeedFactory.TV Toyota Camry up six positions by Lap 20 – one of the biggest movers of the race. Debris then brought out the first caution flag of the race on Lap 36. Labonte reported being too tight in the center and loose off the gas with no rear grip. He came down pit road in 34th position for a fresh set of tires, fuel and adjustments.
The team gained one position on pit road and restarted the race at Lap 39 in 33rd position. Through the first hundred laps of action, Labonte was running consistent and had moved himself up to 30th position. The first set of green-flag pit stops started and Labonte came down pit road on Lap 104. The team made another slight adjustment to help with the forward drive and took four tires and fuel.
At the halfway mark and still without another caution, the No. 7 Camry was in the 33rd position. Another green-flag pit-stop was made on Lap 172 where the team just took tires and fuel. Labonte posted his fastest lap on Lap 176.
With a little less than 100 laps remaining, and the race just setting a record for the most green-flag laps, the car was loose in, tight in the middle and loose off. Finally, the second caution came out on Lap 240 for oil on the track in Turn 3. At this point, the team came down for a new set of tires and to fill up on fuel. They restarted the race in 31st position and did not have to race for position as they were the only car three laps down.
Reed Sorenson and Juan Pablo Montoya were the reason for the third caution with 28 laps to go. Labonte entered pit road for the last time taking a fresh set of tires and enough fuel to go the distance.
On Lap 290, leaders Jeff Burton and Kyle Busch were racing for the win when the final caution came out for the two of them getting into each other. Bobby Labonte restarted Lap 293 in the 30th position and that was the position that he brought the No. 7 SpeedFactory.TV Toyota Camry home in.
Driver Bobby Labonte Comments on the Lenox Industrial Tools 301:
“First, I want to thank Robby Gordon and his team for giving me the opportunity to race their No. 7 SpeedFactory.TV Toyota Camry this weekend”, said Labonte. “We didn’t start off like we hoped on Friday, but we had a solid race and learned a lot about each other.
“Our goal was to learn as much as possible for Robby Gordon Motorsports and for me to be able to give them the best feedback I could. We wanted to keep the car in one piece and not race too hard where we would put ourselves in a bad position. We were able to maintain the No. 7 in owner’s points and keep them locked into the top-35.
“We did give ourselves a ‘Darlington Stripe’ but no big damage was done to the car. All-in-all, it was a good day for the team and I hope that they were able to learn from me being in the seat.”
Team Owner Robby Gordon comments on the weekend results:
“To be able to put Bobby, a past champion, in our car at Loudon was a great opportunity for our organization. I want to thank him for his help and giving us this opportunity. I think the information that we learned this weekend will be very valuable to our race team and will help make Robby Gordon Motorsports even better.”
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by 7gason7 on
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I think it does. The Phoenix chassis was a good car. Robby was very happy with it. They cloned it for Indy #1. If Robby wants to have Bobby in one of his flat track cars for Indy It will most likely be Indy #1 or Phoenix #1. If the primary car was totaled on Friday it may change things a bit. Contrary to the COT model, the cars are not all equal. On Nascar Performance Chad Knaus says they have a different car for every type of track. I know that's the 48, but one thing is for sure other than the road course car RGM has had the best results out of their flat track car this year.
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Permalink Reply by EWF on
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You may find this interesting: http://www.nikonmetrology.com/case_studies/optical_cmm/rcr/
This was the most interesting part to me:
While tight regulation applies to most parts of the vehicle chassis, the suspension system represents a relatively unrestricted zone that leaves plenty of opportunity to engineer inherently faster race cars. After establishing subtle compromises between vehicle aerodynamics and handling performance, detailed suspension design and tuning begins. Chris Hussey explains that consistent tire patch contact with the track can be maintained under all racing circumstances, by adapting suspension characteristics to align the driving behavior of the car to the size and banking of the oval track. “Besides focusing on designing for lighter vehicle weight, we modify the suspension design, all within the design boundaries imposed by NASCAR. We tune caster and camber in the asymmetric suspension along with toe, and design the right amount of toe out that can be gained on the inside tire in a turn. Following our strategy to bringing more engineering in-house, we take full control over chassis/suspension engineering and safeguard our technical expertise.”
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Permalink Reply by Billy on
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Are teams allowed to make adjustments to the back-up car while the primary car is running practice?
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Permalink Reply by jack on
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I see alot of questions about the back up car. While I'm not an insider or have first hand knowledge.. I'm sure there are alot of different things that go into consideration for what to use as a backup.
First off we know that Robby doesn't have the money or resources as the mega-teams. The big teams bring exact replicas of thier primary car. RGM doesn't do that.. they are still building new cars all the time and trying to improve on that.
Other considerations: they may have a car that would be a better back up, but they have that one getting preppared for the next race. ... I'm sure thier are many many more considerations on what to use as a backup than I or any of us really know. I'm sure that once RGM hits on a chassis build that they really like, then they will start making exact duplicates...(well as close as you can for an exact duplicate)
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Permalink Reply by Keith Stone on
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Right on..
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Permalink Reply by gorobbygo7 on
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Regarding the back up car, have to keep in mind the beginning of last week the #7 was a S & P. Based on that you have to assume that there was not much prepping of the back up car as the assumption was they would not even need it.
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Permalink Reply by Steve Lorenz on
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I think, loose in, tight in the middle and loose off is a characteristic of the COT. Listen to other driver some times and they all complain about that. Just to different degrees. I'm sure HMS and some of the others have it better to some extent. Doesn't take much to look like a lot on the track. Eventually everyone will catch up, but the have's will get that much better.
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Permalink Reply by Ms Gibby on
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Well, I just hope they are able to put Bobby's feedback to good use and improve their situation to the benefit of all parties concerned.
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