Labonte happy to sign with fledgling TRG Motorsports
Bobby Labonte will stare at anyone who asks why he would continue to drive for unproven teams instead of just retiring as a 21-time Cup winner and former NASCAR Cup champion.
In his opinion, why should he give up something he enjoys so much?
So Labonte will drive for TRG Motorsports in 2010. Yes, that TRG Motorsports, which team owner Kevin Buckler nursed through its first Sprint Cup season determined to go to every event even if he had to start and park a self-admitted 10 times.
But Buckler is a longtime and accomplished road racer, who as an owner/driver has won the Rolex 24 At Daytona and the 24 Hour of Le Mans. And Labonte is ready to see what he and Buckler can do at the Cup level, even if Buckler has yet to solidify sponsorship for the full season.
“It’s about people, it’s about the challenge, it’s about doing what you love to do, which is race,” Labonte said Nov. 15 after announcing he would drive for TRG in 2010.
“Sometimes you get caught up in the [junk] of it. But where you don’t have the [junk] of it, you do what you like to do – and that’s race. That’s what I like.”
Labonte certainly has a challenge ahead of him. When the 2000 Cup champion left Joe Gibbs Racing after the 2005 season for Petty Enterprises, it was to help rebuild that organization. After Petty could no longer pay him, he was without a ride for 2009, and he landed at Hall of Fame Racing, which was starting a new affiliate relationship with Yates Racing.
After a fairly forgettable year this season, Labonte is embarking on another building project, this time with TRG Motorsports. He will make his seventh start this year for TRG Nov. 22 at Homestead and then go full time in 2010.
“This is a good opportunity,” the 45-year-old Labonte said. “When one door closes, another door opens. You just never know where the doorway is.”
TRG Motorsports has primary sponsorship from TaxSlayer.com for “multiple” races, Buckler said. He pledges to run Labonte the entire season and not start and park.
The No. 71 team missed the Daytona 500 but has made every race since then and, at 37th in the owner standings, likely will have a guaranteed spot in the Daytona 500 as the result of mergers and other teams shutting down. Labonte also could possibly rely on his past champions provisional.
The manufacturer that Labonte will represent next year is still to be determined. The team is with Chevrolet this year, but Buckler said that could change. Richard
“Slugger” Labbe will remain the crew chief, Buckler said, noting the possibility that the organization will run a second car in select races next year.
“It’s always good when we can work toward the future,” Labonte said. “It’s almost mid-November right now. Going into the offseason, there’s a lot of work to do, and we’re all going to have to collectively do that together. That’s what we all want to do. So it’s a good feeling knowing that we have a great opportunity to proceed and make a really good impact next year starting off.”
