Former champion Terry Labonte among 48 entries for Sprint Cup race at Richmond
There are 48 entries, including a former Cup champion who has not raced this year, for the Air Guard 400 Sprint Cup race this weekend at Richmond International Raceway.
The 44 full-time teams are entered along with the debut of Stavola Labonte Racing with Terry Labonte behind the wheel as well as the part-time Braun Racing, Gunselman Motorsports and K-Automotive Motorsports teams.
Labonte, who last raced in Cup at Homestead last year, isn’t guaranteed a spot in the field. Although he is a past champion, his brother, Bobby, is entered in the Phoenix Racing car, which does not have one of the 35 guaranteed spots.
If Bobby Labonte doesn’t make the 43-car field on speed, he would be eligible for a past champion’s provisional as the most recent past champion (Bobby won in 2000). If he makes it, then Terry Labonte, the champion in 1984 and 1996, is eligible for a provisional.
Terry Labonte is one of 12 drivers vying for seven open spots in the field. The others include Jeff Green (Latitude 43 Motorsports), Travis Kvapil (Front Row Motorsports), Casey Mears (Germain Racing), Michael McDowell (Whitney Motorsports), Dave Blaney (Tommy Baldwin Racing), Joe Nemechek (Nemco Motorsports), Mike Bliss (Prism Motorsports), Scott Riggs (Prism), Jason Leffler (Braun), Todd Bodine (Gunselman) and Brian Keselowski (K-Automotive).
