Bobby Labonte disappointed about lack of success, sponsor at Petty Enterprises
Bobby Labonte says that he can’t be angry over his departure from Petty Enterprises but is disappointed that the 2008 purchase of a majority of the team by investment company Boston Ventures didn’t produce the NASCAR Sprint Cup results he had anticipated.
Labonte announced last week that he would leave the Petty Enterprises on the same day the organization announced it had entered into talks with Gillett Evernham Motorsports about a possible transaction that could roll the No. 43 car into the GEM fold.
Labonte won the 2000 Cup title at Joe Gibbs Racing and had won 21 races during 11 years there, and he had hoped a move to Petty in 2006 would rejuvenate his career and give him the opportunity to rebuild the sport’s oldest and winningest organization.
“It’s very disappointing,” Labonte said. “Everybody there gave me a great opportunity … [Petty executives] Robbie Loomis and Kyle [Petty], they sold me on the program three years ago, and at that point in time, … we made it a step forward.
“There were a lot of things that happened from that point on – other teams getting stronger and they were grouping together or whatever, and it hurt us. Boston Ventures came in, and we had high expectations to proceed on and keep doing it, and I can say it was something that we all had in our minds and our hearts to help out and be a part of that program. It just didn’t work out. It is disappointing, but we gave it our best shot, and that’s the way it is.”
Petty Enterprises has not been able to get a sponsor for the No. 43 car to replace General Mills, which announced in April that it would leave the team for Richard Childress Racing.
“I thought back in March and April that if the economy turns sour, these guys have got all these connections, and hopefully we can get a sponsor, keep a sponsor, blah, blah, blah,” Labonte said Tuesday during a conference call with reporters. “But it seemed like a perfect storm [with the economy]. They had great intentions and meant well, but obviously they don’t have 20 years of racing knowledge, either.
“That probably hurt them some because I think there was some [financial] surprises that anybody would get that was just getting into it. Unfortunately, they’re not experienced in racing even though they’re great probably in business. … It’s not like they did anything per se wrong."
Labonte said he was unsure if a merger with GEM will be finalized.
“I have no idea,” he said. “I haven’t talked to those guys about it. There is obviously talks about it. … I’m not really sure what’s going to happen.”
When Boston Ventures first arrived, Labonte said that he wrote a list of things that needed to get done, and those things started to happen. But then everything seemed to hit a wall – the bleak economy – that they couldn’t get through.
He said if Boston Ventures had gotten involved two years ago when the economy was better, it could have helped the organization grow.
“It sounded great, and I signed a contract for a lengthy period of time, and it was going forward from there,” Labonte said. “Unfortunately, their crystal ball got kind of cloudy, too. They weren’t able to do the things that they had wanted to do, and trust me, I know they feel bad about that.
“Nobody would want to get to that point. To a certain point there, and it just happened to be last week, it was going to be tough for them to go on like they had planned on, and the scenarios that were set out in front of me and the contract that I had, there was a lot of implications, a lot of stuff happening that it was probably best to agree to shake hands and part ways.”
The veteran driver indicated that Petty Enterprises might not have been able to fulfill his contract without sponsorship, and it was beneficial for both sides to move on without the other.
“Their direction today is probably different than when they had me,” he said. “I had a contract with them that was obvious [it] was going to be for more than six months or a year, and it was kind of expensive.
“So it was going to be hard for them to make sure – how are they going to uphold that? It was a tough decision for them. It was a tough decision for me.”
So is Labonte angry that he is left searching for a ride in December after there was so much hope just six months ago?
“I’m not angry,” Labonte said. “I can’t be angry. It’s just the way it is. If I could do things over again, I’m angry more over what I could have done before, but I thought I was doing all the right things. I don’t think I did anything wrong, and I’m not angry because of what I did or didn’t do, and I’m not angry where I’m sitting at today.
“I’m more focused today than I was probably Sunday morning before [the finale at] Homestead because I feel like I’m in a better position in one way, but I’m not in a better position in another way. My anger is I wish I was working towards February whatever the date is [for the Daytona 500], and I’m disappointed or not happy about that. But I’m probably more relieved and more focused on getting to that point than I ever have been.”
