Labonte lands in Petty's No. 43 Dodge
By Mark Spoor, NASCAR.COM
November 11, 2005
01:25 PM EST (18:25 GMT)

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Bobby Labonte will drive the No. 43 Dodge for Petty Enterprises beginning in 2006, the team announced Friday at Phoenix International Raceway.

"It's an exciting day," Labonte, the 2000 NASCAR champion, said. "I'm very thrilled about this," Labonte said. "I just feel very fortunate that I was picked by Kyle (Petty) and Robbie (Loomis) to drive their race car.

"To have the opportunity to drive Richard Petty's No. 43 car is something I could not have imagined growing up."

Labonte's 2005 season with Joe Gibbs Racing likely is something else he could not have imagined. He has just six top-10 finishes in 34 starts this year, the best finish being a second in the Coca-Cola 600.

His average finish this season is a disappointing 22.9, the worst since his rookie year in 1991. Labonte hasn't visited Victory Lane since the 2003 season finale at Homestead.

He said that next year, he's hoping for solid communication from the Petty team to stem the tide.

"The biggest thing that I want to do is communicate really well with Kyle and Robbie and get our offseason program together as far as getting ready for the season.

"The communication is the big part," Labonte said. "I think that being able to be part of the race team is going to be huge for me and I want to be able to give everything I can back to that as far as the communication goes with the race cars.

Labonte said communication -- or lack thereof -- is one of the things he feels stalled his final few years at Joe Gibbs Racing, where he spent 11 seasons.

"I know about race cars," Labonte said. "I still think I know what I want in a race car, but sometimes you don't get it."

Labonte said Joe Gibbs Racing, his current team, might literally be too big for its britches.

"There's a lot of employees there, just a lot of stuff going on and it was just hard to get a hold of," he said. "I had it (the feeling of being a big part of the race team) in the earlier years at Gibbs Racing, but there was only 18 people ... 20 people ... 30 people ... 40 people ... 50 people.

"When it adds up to 300 employees, it's a little more difficult."

Kyle Petty said Labonte can expect the dynamic he's looking for with the Petty team.

"At Petty Enterprises in a lot of ways, we're more about relationships than we are about anything else," Petty said. "Bobby was one of the first guys that jumped on the (Victory Junction Gang) camp with us," he said. "I'm excited on a multitude of levels here.

"I'm excited to have Bobby as a teammate, that's our whole deal," Petty said. "I'm really excited to work with Bobby Labonte personally. I think Bobby brings a huge amount of talent and a huge amount of experience to that seat, which will hopefully also bring the No. 45 team up."