Bobby Labonte put together his strongest effort since the Coca-Cola 600 in May. Credit: Autostock

Labonte answers critics with third-place effort

LOUDON, N.H. -- No doubt the mood at the next all-staff meeting at Joe Gibbs Racing will be the lightest and brightest it's been in about six months.

Success will do that to a race team.

And about no one in the Nextel Cup garage needed a good run more than former Cup champion Bobby Labonte.

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Sunday at New Hampshire International Speedway, Labonte delivered with a third place finish in the New England 300 -- only his second top-five and fourth top-10 in 19 races.

"This will be big for everybody -- this is encouraging," Gibbs Racing president J.D. Gibbs said. "This was a huge day for JGR.

"This is one for the guys in the shop, because it's funny how that momentum works -- but you get a little something going and you kind of grow on it.

"We know we have the best group of guys we've ever had assembled, on all the teams and at the shop, and it's frustrating not to be able to show that. Now that we have, it's exciting for us and obviously, Home Depot and Interstate."

Tony Stewart is on fire, winning Sunday for his third victory in the last four races, and JGR newcomer Jason Leffler has shown steady improvement since being united with crew chief Mike Ford.

"On Monday, the morale for the race shop will be at an all-time high for the year," Stewart said. "I was hoping for a 1-2 finish. We used to be close (on the racetrack) in the past.

"Those were the fun days and I hope we can get Joe Gibbs Racing back to those days."

Sunday, unlike many other races this season, nothing cropped up to thwart Labonte's effort: No accidents, no mechanical malfunctions and no pit miscues -- at least nothing terminal.

"The alternator ran out on us with about 100 (laps) to go so we had to turn off all the fans and the front tires built up a lot of air pressure after that," Labonte said. "All in all, I can't complain a whole lot because we got a nice top-three finish."

Labonte was stout all day. He started 10th and was never out of the top 10, in fact being listed in the top five for more than two-thirds of the 300-lap event.

That was a stark contrast to the year so far.

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"It was a great run for us (and) we needed this," Labonte said. "We've had a lot of stuff going on all year that we couldn't control. When we lost the alternator with 100 laps to go, I figured I wouldn't finish because something would happen.

"Luckily we didn't have a problem. Third was good for points and we've gained a lot of momentum."

Labonte moved to 23rd in the standings, his best position this season. He, Gibbs and Stewart are aware of what it means to the organization.

"The big thing is for the guys who work on the car week in and week out and keeping their head up when we have bad finishes or bad runs," Labonte said. "Having a positive attitude is a big thing. We've had good cars -- not cars to win, of course, but cars that were competitive if we would have had track position.

"With the wrecks, blown motors and my mistakes, that's the first half of the year. And then we threw in a couple of races where we actually finished pretty decent.

"A lot of guys have a lot on us as far as the season. We got a late start because of all that. But I'm proud of all the guys (because) it's a lot of hard work -- it's not easy to win one of these.

"I finished third today but our whole team finished third today. The fact that our guys can hold their heads up high and get ready for next week and hopefully try to build and have some momentum is good."

The tone of Labonte's season was set when he finished 43rd in the Daytona 500, when his car's engine blew after only 14 laps. He's languished below 30th for more than half the year -- and that caused the inevitable talk.

Bobby Labonte was much calmer Sunday after venting about rumors earlier in the weekend. Credit: Autostock

It reached a head on Friday at NHIS, when Labonte, who could be likened to a volcano with a steaming cauldron of bubbling emotion beneath a placid, vine-covered mountain exterior, vented his spleen in public.

He'd had enough of an undeserved trip, he said, through the rumor mill that began in late June and heated up again at midweek before the series traveled to New Hampshire.

"It's one of those deals that any time you don't run well in this sport, you're going to be in the rumor mill -- that's just part of life, you know?" Gibbs said. "It's the same in the NFL, if you're not performing well.

"Here, you get a report card every week of where you rank-up; from first to 43rd, so you kind of can see that. What people don't see is the team and the teamwork behind it and all the work that goes into it.

"For us, this is a big deal for all our guys and it will help us get some momentum for the whole team."

"Like I said before on Friday, it's amazing how great the media is for you 90 percent of the time," Labonte said. "That 10 percent that I had on Friday disrupts the race team pretty bad.

"We're trying to make a better race team out of it. We're in a performance-based industry. If you don't perform, you look like you need to be out of there or it looks like you need to be out of there (so) you try to make it better.

"I've got strong ties at Joe Gibbs Racing so I'm not worried about that -- I just want to run good. There is no truth to the rumor (that Labonte is leaving)."

The Chase for the Nextel Cup is probably out of the question but Gibbs remains focused.

"I think the goal for us is that obviously, we want to keep having runs like this," Gibbs said. "And if we can, week in and week out, who knows what will happen the rest of the year?

"Stranger stuff has happened. And then really, we're setting the groundwork for next year, to be a great encouragement for Interstate, because they've been great partners all the way through this.

"We want to keep building on this. We've got the 20 and the 18 going and now we've got to get that 11 (Leffler) going -- that would be the ultimate goal.

"Just one big, happy family is all we want."