Conversation: Labonte

Former Cup champ on his year, baseball and the Chase

JOLIET, Ill. -- Bobby Labonte knows that he could easily have a win or two this year. Every third week or so, Petty Enterprises gives him a car capable of running up front.

He had a phenomenal car at Atlanta. Engine failure. He had a racy restrictor-plate machine at Daytona in July. Accident.

And so it goes. But Labonte, 42, knows it can't last forever. He spoke to NASCAR.COM just before the USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland to discuss his season, his family, and changes he'd make to the Chase.

Q: Bobby, we are at the halfway point. Can you grade your first half with Petty Enterprises?

	Credit: Autostock
	Inside the Numbers Bobby Labonte's Cup career Starts 456 Wins 21 Top-5s 111 Top-10s 187 Poles 26 Laps run 130,574 Laps led 3,951 Avg. start 15.7 Avg. finish 16.3 Lead-lap finishes 245 Life with PettyLabonte talks about how things have gone with Petty Enterprises Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

Labonte: I think it has been -- I could say a B and a D and probably average out to a C. Our performance has been a B, but our results have been a D. so, I will average it to a C because points-wise we are not where I think we should be.

But performance wise, it has not been all that bad. We just can't seem to get some breaks that we can use. But all in all, I think that we will overcome some of that and we will get better.

Q: How well does this team bounce back from all the DNFs that you have had?

Labonte: I think really good. We proved that this weekend. We qualified good and hopefully that will be good karma for us for the race.

Q: Can you talk about crew chief Todd Parrott? How have you worked with him? You are about the same age and have had the same success level.

Labonte: We are working really good together. He is really, I will tell you what, he is a very dedicated man as far as the race team goes.

He is really working hard at it and I appreciate his efforts in making the car go faster and looking at all the details to make it work. I can't ask for any better person than that.

Q: You guys have run so well -- in spots -- on every type of track this year. How much of a relief was that?

Labonte: [The Pepsi 400] was disappointing to our whole crew for the finish that we had, but I think that as far as going to bed at night and feeling good about yourself, it was a lot better last weekend than just running bad.

There is no fun in running bad. I struggled with that more than just having a problem like that, having an accident. It feels good to run well at all types of tracks and I think we can continue that.

Q: Your son is 12 and has grown up before our eyes. Is he going to be doing any racing in the next few years?

Labonte: He says he is not, and I don't really care. He can do whatever he wants. He is a kid. No sense in drafting him at 10 years old, 12 years old, and stuff like that. When you turn 18, you're history. I hope he does what he wants to do. He is just a kid.

Q: What have you and your son done all summer since he is out of school? You guys hang out a lot.

Labonte: Just hanging out. We have been to a few ball games. He is a big baseball player and we have been to the lake and just doing kid and dad stuff.

Q: What ballparks have you been to? I know you went to the White Sox game the other night.

Labonte: Yes. We went to Atlanta a couple nights. Last year we went to like five different ballparks. We have not been to too many ballparks, but we went to San Francisco and went downtown and hung out.

Q: You were on the Chase bubble for a couple of years. Do you think the system needs tweaking?

Labonte: No, I don't think so. It really does not need anything special done to it. I think it has worked out pretty good. This year, and I don't guess it has yet, but the 400 points is getting less and less. It is only a top-10.

If they change it to 800 points, for instance, that might work one year, but it might not another year. Mark Martin has said this a lot -- a guy may win a race by a foot one time and a guy may win a race by a half-lap sometime.

We don't make that happen, it just happens that way. If they change it because of something in the past two years, history says that it will be different next year.

Q: I remember the first year of the Chase, you were within 400 points during the actual Richmond race.

Labonte: Yeah, so, it is just a deal where I think that the element of it is OK when you get used to it and now, I don't see anything big, if they changed it, would it be better or worse? It was different to start with and it will be different if they change it.