Bobby Labonte still free agent, admits interest in Earnhardt Ganassi

By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
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Bobby Labonte says he has not finalized his 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup plans.

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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.”

Comments

20 responses to "Bobby Labonte still free agent, admits interest in Earnhardt Ganassi". Post a Comment.
  1. 1
    Lisa Fowler said:
    Dec 16, 2008 at 12:29 PM

    I have been so saddened by what is happening with Petty Enterprises and with Bobby Labonte. This is just proof of the fact that bad things happen to good people. I know times are hard all around but I hate to see this organization and the awesome people connected to it have to go through all this. I hope that all of you know how many of us you have supporting you and praying for better times to come.

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  2. 2
    Pat Draper said:
    Dec 16, 2008 at 2:50 PM

    Every one wants the times to get better its just not Nascar that is in trouble. Thousands of people are out of work with nothing in sight it is terrible. When you really think of it that way Nascar is not so important. I do feel for the Petty family. And hope they can come up with a deal with someone. As for Bobby don't jump from the frying pan into the fire. DEI is going down hill fast i could see that coming when Jr. left. Theresa sure hasn't helped matters, its odd no one ever sees her at the track anymore has she just given up? Bobby get with the best team you can in 2009 and sorry but thats not DEI.

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  3. 3
    Johnny Come Lately said:
    Dec 16, 2008 at 3:06 PM

    If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times....Labonte's Championship at Gibbs was a fluke. Bobby Labonte IS NOT a great race car driver. He's a name. A has-been name at that.

    Any team is going to be looking at sponsor pull right now instead of ability.

    Bobby Labonte can sell every Con-Agra food know to mankind, but he cannot drive a race car at the level the sport requires today!

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  4. 4
    J C said:
    Dec 16, 2008 at 3:52 PM

    As much as it makes me cringe thinking about the Chip & Dale merge I hope they hire Bobby to drive the 41. It would be a good move for both. Got to feel sick about the entire situation going on in NASCAR right now but hey at least they are still going to have a season. Just look at Arena Football.. They cancelled the entire 2009 season. Hopefully they will be back in 2010.

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  5. 5
    Rob Copeland said:
    Dec 16, 2008 at 4:30 PM

    Bobby Labonte, today, has every bit of the same talent that led him to a Cup title and THAT'S NO FLUKE! No one has won the Cup title on a "fluke" in the modern era. Luck always plays a role, but as the great baseball manager Branch Rickey said, "Luck is the residue of design." Bobby isn't the flashiest driver in the Cup Series -- and never tried to be -- but he's got more skill than most of the other 42 drivers on any given Sunday, and is still fully capable of winning races and championships. Bobby Allison, David Pearson, Harry Gant and King Richard, himself, were championship-caliber drivers well past their 40th birthdays. Rock on, Bobby! Show the "Young Guns" what a "Cool Hand" can do with the same equipment!

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  6. 6
    Georgia Ross said:
    Dec 16, 2008 at 5:17 PM

    #5 Rob--THANK YOU. VERY WELL SAID!!!

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  7. 7
    Werner Boehmert said:
    Dec 16, 2008 at 5:29 PM

    me thinks Bobby knows something we don't...
    we shouldn't let the Jr-Teresa fallout blind us to the fact that DEI-Gannasi is re-defining itself and may be a top contender...

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  8. 8
    Howard Englishman said:
    Dec 16, 2008 at 7:01 PM

    MR JOHNNY COME LATELY, you need to jump off a bridge or something. If you look at Bobbys 2000 season of 4 wins, 3 poles, 19 top 5s, 24 top 10s, 0 dnfs, and an avg finish of 7th, its right up there with Tonys 2 championships so I guess Tonys was a fluke too along with other champions. I think your a fluke.

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  9. 9
    Howard Englishman said:
    Dec 16, 2008 at 7:11 PM

    You put Bobby in good equipment and he will win races, he was goin nowhere in the 18 car the last couple years with JGR. And as far as the 3 years with Petty, well that speaks for itself, look where they are at right now. they have destroyed the company and I have a good friend who is proof of that after last monday.

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  10. 10
    BOYD BRIGMAN said:
    Dec 16, 2008 at 8:12 PM

    BOBBY CAN GET THE JOB DONE IF HE HAS GOOD EQUIPMENT, WHICH HE HAS NOT HAD BUT LETS FACE UP TO THE FACTS NONE OF THE DODGE TEAMS SET THE WORLD ON FIRE, THEY JUST CANT MAKE THEM RUN, I DONT EVEN THINK THAT MAURICE PETTY COULD MAKE TODAYS DODGE WIN RACES, SO ALL OF THIS MESS IS NOT BOBBYS FAULT, WHO KNOWS MAYBE A DOOR WILL OPEN UP AT RCR, BOBBY WOULD BE A GOOD MAN TO PUT IN AN RCR CAR IF HE WAS GIVEN ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY

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  11. 11
    Betty Stoneman said:
    Dec 16, 2008 at 8:12 PM

    If you think that Bobby's championship was a fluke, do you also think that Terry's TWO championships were flukes? Make no mistake, the Labonte brothers can drive anything that will run as well as, and better than most, of the drivers on the circuit today. I just pray that Bobby gets with a good team that is willing to give him the wherewithal to do what he knows he can do!

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  12. 12
    chris welch said:
    Dec 16, 2008 at 8:48 PM

    post #3 needs to watch races from before this decade if he thinks bobby cant drive. who honestly could win and run up front in the 43 car? jimmie johnson in the 43 couldnt run up front.

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  13. 13
    J Smith said:
    Dec 16, 2008 at 9:22 PM

    Bobby absolutely can drive...Look at the great runs he had in the horrible PE equipment. Would have been great if he could have got a win in the 43. Hope to see him in the 41 or another potential good ride.

    EGR fan site at earnhardganassiracing.com.

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  14. 14
    BRIAN PECENCO said:
    Dec 17, 2008 at 5:45 AM

    Bobby i feel in my heart you will be in Daytona.
    ps. johnny come lately is a JERK!

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  15. 15
    Johnny Come Lately said:
    Dec 17, 2008 at 10:06 AM

    Perhaps, I've been mis-understood. I didnt say Bobby Labonte wasn't a good race car driver. I said he wasn't a GREAT race car driver.

    Ward Burton could take a hint and so should Bobby Labonte. There is no shame in retirement. Give him an Admin job or a Consultant position. I wouldn't advise a TV job because TV analysts require a personality.

    I'm just saying, when you think of the "good ole days" of NASCAR coming to an end...I think of departing drivers like, Bobby Allison, Richard Petty, Dave Marcis, Rusty Wallace, Bill Elliott, Mark Martin and I'll even give you Kenny Schrader when the time comes. But, the day Bobby Labonte retires, sports writers all across the country will not headline with: NASCAR roots are finally gone; Bobby Labonte retiring.

    Think about it.

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  16. 16
    Ashley said:
    Dec 17, 2008 at 2:55 PM

    Given the right team, Bobby Labonte could EASILY win another championship. It is an utter travesty that he's not with RCR... I wouldn't want a Harvick/Burton/Labonte combo pack bearing down on me in MY rear view mirror. Somebody needs to step up NOW and give this CHAMPION a CHAMPIONSHIP RIDE.

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  17. 17
    Priscilla Bartels said:
    Dec 26, 2008 at 8:41 PM

    I agree with you no.16 Ashly I have been a Bobby LaBonte since I first watched my first race and there is no better gentleman in racing than bobby and just because he doesnt put people in the wall or run them off the track ,people say he is getting old well if only he can get a decent car instead of using used parts he would be right back winning again.I am a 64 yr old native american woman who would do anything to meet him in person but thank goodness for TV. I dont miss a single race with him in it. whoever gets him is the better for it.
    Ashly

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  18. 18
    Priscilla Bartels said:
    Dec 26, 2008 at 8:45 PM

    Sorry about leaving your name ashly at the end of my comment I meant to say I agread with you. perry

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  19. 19
    johnny cunha said:
    Jan 2, 2009 at 1:59 PM

    I don't think there is better available driver for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing than Bobby. He gives them a veteran ex Cup Champion driver. But most of all he gives them a driver everyone knows and respects. Not to mention being a class individual.

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  20. 20
    Lynne Michelle said:
    Jan 8, 2009 at 10:43 AM

    I, too, have been a Bobby Labonte fan ever since my first race--what a great guy and driver! Little-known fact about this good guy: Bobby Labonte is the only NASCAR driver to have won both the Cup and Nationwide championships. He is respectful and deserving of respect! He was also sixth in the points when Gibbs fired his wonderful crew chief Michael "Fatback" McSwain midseason without explanation. Check your history, Mr. Come Lately! Bobby's the best! --Lynne Michelle

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