Bobby Labonte will not have to qualify on time this weekend at Martinsville. Credit: Autostock

Fortunes finally starting to turn for Labonte

Top-five run at Bristol just what doctor ordered for hard-luck team

BRISTOL, Tenn. -- The half-glass at Petty Enterprises finally looks more full than empty.

Since preseason testing the team has been brimming with optimism. The additions of championship driver Bobby Labonte and crew chief Todd Parrott to the No. 43 team and former crew chief Robbie Loomis to executive vice president of operations provided a glimmer of hope to restoring the Petty mystique.

Credit: Autostock

Inside the Numbers No. 43 at Bristol Driver No. W T-5 T-10 R. Petty 60 3 26 37 W. Dallenbach 1 0 0 0 J. Andretti 12 0 2 2 B. Hamilton 6 0 1 2 C. Fittipaldi 1 0 0 0 J. Green 12 0 0 0 B. Labonte 1 0 1 1 No. 43 at Martinsville Driver No. W T-5 T-10 R. Petty 66 15 29 36 W. Dallenbach 0 0 0 0 J. Andretti 12 1 1 1 B. Hamilton 6 0 4 6 C. Fittipaldi 0 0 0 0 J. Green 5 0 0 1 Note: Petty had one top-five start in his No. 41 Plymouth

But four races into the 2006 season, Petty's two-car race team was at no closer to the front than it had been since the days of King Richard himself. Kyle Petty was an improved 24th in points, but Labonte was 38th, seven spots and 77 points behind the man he replaced in the 43, Jeff Green.

But all that changed on Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway. Labonte finished fifth in the Food City 500, the first top-five for the No. 43 since John Andretti finished second almost five years ago to the day.

"We had a good racecar," said Labonte, who started 30th. "Of course, that's what we needed. Everyone on the team did a great job."

Labonte moved up six spots in the standings to 32nd, important because from here on out the top 35 are guaranteed starting spots based on points.

Despite no finish inside the top 30 prior to Bristol, to say Labonte hasn't had a good car up until now isn't exactly fair, or necessarily true.

• A possible top-10 run at Daytona was short-circuited by an accident.

• A blown motor 56 laps into Atlanta turned a top-five start and early lead into a last-place finish.

"I was looking forward to [Bristol] after running 50 laps [at Atlanta]," said Labonte, who posted just his third top-five in 27 races at BMS. "Finishing felt good."

"After last week we were confident we could run good," Labonte said. "We just had to put everything together."

And for once, Labonte's luck seemed to turn for the better. On the final lap he was right there with Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth coming around Turn 2 when Kenseth tapped Gordon from behind.

"Those guys were racing pretty hard at the end," Labonte said. "I don't know if the 24 got into the 17 or the 17 got into the 24. I couldn't see that, but I wasn't involved in it. We had a little bit of luck [Sunday].

Labonte avoided the melee, yes, but ...

"I actually lost a position because Carl Edwards got by me," he added. "I got down in the flat and I got to spinning the tires. When I took off the tires kept spinning and Carl got by me."

If anything, Labonte says, the tires have been more problematic than the car.

"We didn't have many cars to start with," he said. "The guys are building better cars.

"This tire really buffaloed me at Las Vegas and Fontana," he added. "We had a little issue with that. I think I learned a little bit [Bristol] weekend. Martinsville is not the same tire, but it'll still give us a little confidence going into next week's race."

Before Sunday, Martinsville marked the last time the No. 43 had a top-10 run, when Green drove the Dodge to a seventh-place finish in October 2004.

For Labonte and the No. 43 team, they hope to mark down Bristol in March 2006 as a significant turning point.

"I think the guys in the pits stepped it up a little bit after we got going good," Labonte said. "They're working hard, and it was a good team effort."