Terry Labonte Is Glad to Be Back at Pocono

Terry Labonte figures he’s got an edge when the Texas racer and the rest of the “Good Ole’ Boys” roll into Pocono International Raceway for Sunday’s AC Spark Plug 500.

“It’s a good omen. I’m looking forward to going back to Pocono because I won the last race there,” Labonte said of his Miller High Life 500 victory last month. “Anytime you win a race at a certain track, you look forward to going back.

“I like Pocono. It’s the only racetrack on the circuit that has three different turns, three different straightaways. Even though it is 2.5 mile long, you actually run a short track setup.

“It is always a good race. It is a good competitive show and there’s always lots of passing. You can lead the race two or three times in a lap but not be in front at the finish line where they score so that isn’t counted as leading officially,” he said.

“Our victory at Pocono was our first of the season and it was the first for our new Ford Thunderbird. It was also the first time that a Junior Johnson car won the June race here. That was the only race that we’ve run for five years or more and hadn’t won. It was time for a break,” Labonte said.

The “break” had been a long time coming for Labonte. He finally won a Pocono race after 18 attempts, and started 23rd, the furthest any winner has come from behind for a Long Pond win.

“Our Thunderbird was strong all day,” Labonte said. “But the crew did a tremendous job on our pit stops. On the first stop, we came in 12th and went out fourth. Then there were two four-tire stops under caution late in the race that were completed in 20.6 and 21.3 seconds.

“With that kind of pit work and this car, it makes a driver look pretty good,” Labonte said.

The June $54,800 win over Harry Gant by 1.88 seconds was his sixth superspeedway victory in 209 starts and ninth Winston Cup first. Labonte has averaged $13,000 in each of his Pocono starts and has finished in the top five four times and in the top 10 on nine occasions.

Bill Elliott, the defending AC Spark Plug 500 champ after beating Ken Schrader by 8.27 seconds last year, will be among the favorites when the green flag is dropped for the $633,907 run.

Also hoping to keep Labonte from back-to-back Long Pond wins are Winston Cup points leader Dale Earnhardt and front runners Rusty Wallace and Darrell Waltrip.

Mark Martin, running for Stroh’s Light, and Sterling Marlin, with a Sunoco ride, are looking for their first Winston Cup wins. Alan Kulwicki, Davey Allison and Richard Petty have run strong at Pocono.

NASCAR’s 16th annual summer race at Pocono marks the longest break of the Winston Cup season that ended with a six-week coast-to-coast swing. NASCAR drivers have had a three-week break from the 29-race schedule.