Bobby Labonte still free agent, admits interest in Earnhardt Ganassi
Bobby Labonte reiterated Tuesday he is a free agent and said he might end up driving for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing next season. But Labonte pointed out he has not yet signed a contract to drive for any NASCAR Sprint Cup organization in 2009.
The 44-year-old Labonte, who parted ways with Petty Enterprises last week, wouldn’t list the teams he has talked to but did say Tuesday that he has not had any discussions with Joe Gibbs Racing about driving a Cup car for that organization. He did confirm interest in the No. 41 Target-sponsored ride that remains unfilled after Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Chip Ganassi Racing announced a merger last month.
“The DEI-Ganassi deal, I think there’s a lot of things that still have to develop over there to make it happen,” Labonte said during a conference call with reporters. “It’s a deal where, I’m not sure, but I think everybody had me leaving the Pettys to go to the 41.
“Well, I left the Pettys not really having anything because I needed to make myself available. … I feel like that a lot of people don’t know what Bobby is doing. I don’t have a signed [contract or anything]. There [are] talks happening, but that [contract] has not happened yet. A phone call might happen in the next five minutes, but it might not. I need to make sure that people do know that that’s not happened yet.”
So where else might he end up?
“I’m not really at liberty to say [who I've talked to],” Labonte said. “I feel like they’ve got a great program [at Earnhardt Ganassi]. It’s just a matter of putting things together for them.
“They’ve got to get everything put together with their deal first before I can come into the picture.”
While he has talked to teams about driving for them in 2009, Labonte said he has not talked to team owner Joe Gibbs or his son, team President J.D., about returning to the team where he won the Cup title in 2000. There are no current Cup driver openings with the team, but there had been speculation that JGR might make room for his return.
“I can say that I do talk to Joe, and I do talk to J.D., and I’ve always continued that relationship for years after I quit driving for them, but that’s all it is, is just the friendship that I’ve had with them, and there’s nothing to that nature that I know of,” Labonte said. “I wouldn’t be able to hold that in if I could tell you if that was even the truth of the matter.
“If you check my phone records, I have talked to them. But it’s more about advice or what their thoughts are [on] what’s happening here, how’s it going there, stuff like that. If I knew that [I was going back to JGR], I wouldn’t be able to keep that secret probably.”
Labonte doesn’t believe he is ready to retire after 546 career Cup starts and 21 career victories. Labonte’s marketing agency indicated that he ranked eighth overall among Cup drivers in an index that evaluates a driver’s marketability. The index was done by Millsport.
“Physically [and] mentally I’m ready to go, and I know that’s what I want to do and that’s what my family wants me to do, and there’s way more thoughts of racing than anything else,” said Labonte, who spent the last three seasons at Petty with finishes in the points of 21st, 18th and 21st.
“I want to get back on the race track. It’s like Daytona can’t come soon enough this winter, where sometimes you wish the offseason would last longer. I am working hard every day to make sure that I’m ready for February when it comes, no matter what happens.”
The veteran driver indicated that he wasn't in position to make the choice to leave Petty prior to December. In June, he had signed a four-year deal to drive for Petty Enterprises after Boston Ventures bought a majority interest in the team.
“September would have been a whole lot better [to leave], and things didn’t work out,” he said. “I saw the light at the end of the tunnel, which was dark. In September, I had no chance. I couldn’t make a move at that point in time knowing that the chances would be narrower [in December].
“I’m optimistic that something will shake out. I know that I’m ready. I know that I’m capable.”
Labonte also knows this isn’t the best time to be looking.
“I’m not sitting here telling you today that if I don’t get a ride, that’s fine,” Labonte said. “Well, that’s not fine. I’m not sleeping well at night because I don’t have one. I want to race, and I want to make sure that I can be in the best position that I can be in, and I know that I can bring a lot to the table.”
