Labonte Hopes for Smooth Run in Road Race at Sears Point

Terry Labonte’s first look at Sears Point International Raceway was irrelevant because he already knew how he would attack the demanding road course.

“Being smooth is the key,” the former Winston Cup champion, one of the best road racers in NASCAR’s premier stock car series, said. “You’ve got to be smooth running on a road course, maybe more so than on an oval track.”

Labonte is seeking his first victory of the season today on the 2.52-mile circuit in the Banquet Foods 300-kilometer (187-mile) race.

It’s the first of only two road races on the 29-event NASCAR schedule and the first Winston Cup event ever at Sears Points.

“When you watch drivers on a road course, I guarantee you all the people who run fast look like they’re running slow,” Labonte said. “The ones who are all over the place and look like they’re really running--smoking the tires, throwing it sideways in the corners--aren’t going anywhere.

“When you go into a corner and downshift, you have to do that smoothly so that it doesn’t upset the car,” he added. “You’ve got to know when to use the brakes going into the corner, and when to get off of them.”

Labonte, who got in his first practice laps Thursday, said, “I love going to a track for the first time. Everyone is equal as far as experience on that track with these cars. If I had to make a choice of racing one weekend on a new track, I’d pick a road course every time. I wish we had a few more on our schedule.”

Another of NASCAR’s best road racers, Rusty Wallace, got an early look at Sears Points, a factor which could give last year’s second-place finisher in the Winston Cup points race a little edge in today’s opening round of qualifying.

Wallace, defending series champion Bill Elliott and Mark Martin tested their cars here in May, while several other drivers took the Sears Point driving school.

“Testing with my own car is going to mean everything here at Sears Point,” Wallace said. “I expect that the three cars that tested here will be up very, very high in qualifying, if not on the front row. Even those who took the driving school will have some advantage of at least knowing the track.

“It requires different driving tactics that those of us who tested will know going into practice.”