Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 2, 1993 TAG: 9307020029
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. LENGTH: Medium
"It's just a real step up for me," Labonte said Thursday at Daytona International Speedway before Pepsi 400 qualifying. "They've got a great team and the Hendrick engine program is really good."
Labonte, winner of 10 Winston Cup races, confirmed he had signed a three-year contract Tuesday with Hendrick and team manager Jimmy Johnson.
The Hendrick stable also includes drivers Ken Schrader and Jeff Gordon, but the Corpus Christi, Texas, native who now lives in Thomasville, N.C., says he's happy to be joining a multicar operation.
"You've got to appreciate that all this could work more to your advantage than disadvantage," said Labonte, 36. "It gives each team more input from three different teams to make the whole program stronger."
That's what Rudd said, too. But in terms of performance, what if you're the bottom driver on the Hendrick totem pole?
"Even if that did happen and I was their third driver, the car is still going to be better than 70 percent of the cars out here today," said the 1984 Winston Cup champion. "They've got the potential at Hendrick to win championships, and I want to win another championship. That's got me excited. It's really frustrating not being in the points race and not having a car that is capable of that, week in and week out."
Johnson said Labonte was the only driver he and Hendrick interviewed to replace Rudd.
"He's got a great attitude and such a desire to win, something that doesn't come out sometimes in the `Ice Man, " Johnson said. "And Terry liked the idea of getting help from the other teams. That was one of the critical things when we're interviewing a driver - being compatible with the other drivers."
Johnson said he was still looking for a major sponsor to replace Tide detergent, which went with Rudd to his new self-owned operation.
"There's a sense of urgency about that," Johnson said, "because we want to assure our crew we're going to be running next year."
Gary DeHart, who worked on Labonte's 1984 championship team, will stay with the team as crew chief.
\ OH, THOSE INSPECTIONS: There were problems in the first NASCAR Winston Cup inspection Thursday morning, which can only mean we're back at Daytona.
The Chevrolet Luminas driven by Dale Earnhardt, Ken Schrader and Darrell Waltrip and the Ford Thunderbird driven by Brett Bodine initially failed the pre-practice inspection for Saturday's Pepsi 400. At Daytona, one or more cars always seem to fail the first inspection.
This time, NASCAR introduced a new template to check the shape of the Chevy headlight area just above the front bumpers, and the three Chevys failed.
"They just put a new template on us and nobody was ready for it," said an irritated Richard Childress, Earnhardt's car owner. "I don't care how many templates they have, just don't surprise us.
"We worked hard back at the shop to get ready and make our car right and look good. And now we have to tear up the front bumper. We lost 1 hour, 15 minutes of practice this morning."
"The Chevy nose pieces you saw here in February are the same exact ones everyone has now," said NASCAR Winston Cup director Gary Nelson. "We're just making sure the guys don't get creative there."
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB