THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 11, 1995 TAG: 9502110221
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: NASCAR '95: Season Preview
SOURCE: BY DENISE MICHAUX, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
Like the cereal sponsoring his car, there is nothing fancy about Terry Labonte.
The driver of the Kellogg's Corn Flakes Chevrolet goes about his business as quietly as anyone on the Winston Cup circuit, but that doesn't mean he doesn't get the job done.
Only Dale Earnhardt has a better average finish in the 500 than Labonte - 5.6 to 7.2. Labonte has six career top-five finishes here, including two seconds in 1986 and '90 and a third place last season. Earnhardt has seven top-five finishes in the same number of starts.
In the win category the total is the same - zero.
``Yeah, everybody talks about him, but that's good, then they're not thinking about me,'' Labonte said.
``We've been close. It's a hard race to win.
``Everybody comes out here early. A lot of the guys get down here for two different test sessions. Everybody puts more effort into this race, more than any other race of the year. That makes it tougher.''
At times that has Labonte looking ahead.
``Of course I'd love to win this race like everybody else here, and I think we've got a good chance at it, but honestly we've got a better chance at Rockingham or Richmond,'' Labonte said.
``So many things can happen here, you know, you get out of line, you lose the draft . . . sometimes you've just got to roll the dice.''
But when Labonte joined the Hendrick Motorsports team prior to last season, he was guaranteed some help on the track.
Car-owner Rick Hendrick fields the cars for Jeff Gordon and Ken Schrader as well as Labonte, and while Hendrick treats each team as if it were his only one, the drivers try to make sure one of them wins.
``I'm thinking OK, I'm not looking too good out here, but who do I want to win?'' Schrader said. ``If somebody leaves Jeff or Terry hanging (out of the draft), there will be a hole for him in front of me.''
That thinking gets tossed out the window on the last lap, however.
Labonte was among the testers trying out the new Monte Carlo last month.
``I think the car is really very similar to the Lumina,'' Labonte said. ``There's not a big difference in the way we'll run the car; basically we'll run the same chassis. The aerodynamics are maybe a little bit different.
``I'm just happy that they're as good as they are. A lot of times when you change models like that it takes a while to get back to where you were, I think with this one we are just as good as we were the Lumina. That's good. There are always some things we are going to learn about it and probably improve on it down the road just as we get some experience in it.''
Friday morning in practice, Labonte was turning laps around 192 mph. Dale Jarrett's Ford was hovering around the 193 mark, which is what Schrader thinks will win the pole today.
``It looked like the 28 (Jarrett) had everybody covered out there in practice,'' Labonte said.
``I don't know how we'll qualify. We were a little quicker than we tested down here, that's good to come back as good as you tested. Most people come back slower.''
Next Sunday's race will be the 39-year-old Texan's 476th consecutive NASCAR Winston Cup start, the longest active streak and the second longest in history to Richard Petty's 513.
``We've never had a season more competitive (than last season) since I've been in this sport, and the odds of winning a championship have increased so much since I won it in 1984,'' Labonte said.
Labonte produced a series-leading average finish of 6.16 during the final six events of '94 and finished in the top 10 five times, including a triumph at Phoenix in October.
``I think the second half of last year we really gained a lot, we got some of the consistency that we needed,'' Labonte said. ``That kind of makes you look forward to the start of this season and gives us some confidence.'' by CNB