Labonte bonding with his new crew chief

Before heading for the sunshine in Las Vegas this week, NASCAR Sprint Cup star Bobby Labonte and new crew chief Jeff Meendering spent some time playing in the snow.

Following the extended race weekend in Fontana, Labonte and Meendering, hired away from Hendrick Motorsports by Petty Enterprises over the winter, broke away from racing to spend a little time bonding.

The pair, along with team owner Richard Petty, visited the stock car King’s ranch in Alpine, Wyo., to ride snowmobiles and get to know each other better before heading to Las Vegas for this week’s UAW-Dodge 400. Labonte, the 2000 Cup champion, is entering his third season with the Petty team and this is the second time he has taken part in a “team-building” exercise at the Wyoming getaway.

“It’s just beautiful out there,” Labonte said. “We use this trip as a way to get together and talk about ways we can get the season started on the right foot. Jeff Meendering was able to go with us this time and that was really important to me.

“We’ve hit it off well and we just wanted to continue to get to know each other better. That will be key in our communication. Jeff is going to be a top-notch crew chief for a long time. I see us having great runs and challenging for wins together in the future.”

In his first two seasons with the Petty team, Labonte has finished 21st and 18th in the Cup points. Hiring Meendering, car chief last year for four-time series champion and 2007 runner-up Jeff Gordon, is considered a big step toward continuing to move up the standings.

So far, the new combination has finished 11th in the Daytona 500 and 23rd in Monday’s rain-delayed race at Auto Club Speedway.

Meendering is a native of Grand Rapids, Mich., and knows his way around a snowmobile. He is also a veteran of late model stocks and super late models at Concord Motorsports Park in North Carolina.

“Being from Michigan, I have been on a snowmobile a few times,” Meendering said. “But going out to Alpine is amazing. We got on our snowmobiles right after breakfast and rode until dinner. There is so much land out there that you never cross the same path twice.

“It’s cool to see the King out there throwing snow around. It was just a great time to get away from racing after [Daytona] Speedweeks and California. Bobby and I are both racers at heart, but the way we communicate is a little different in some areas. These trips will go a long way in helping me get that part down.”

Mark Martin can be a pessimistic guy, especially when it comes to racing.

After many of his victories on track, Martin has lamented that he’d better enjoy the moment because it might never happen again.

Of course, the much-admired driver has had tremendous success over the years, winning 35 times in Cup, a series record 47 times in Nationwide -- formerly the Busch Series -- and seven times in Craftsman trucks.

But visiting Las Vegas Motor Speedway this week has made Martin just a bit nostalgic for one of those Cup wins.

“Very rarely in my career have I allowed myself to stop for a second and think about a win,” said Martin.

“But that day, as we left the track, I can remember looking down from the helicopter at the track and thinking, ‘Wow!’ This wasn’t some dirt track win. It was a big deal to win at Vegas and we had done just that. It was and still is a very special win for me.”

He hasn’t won there since, but Martin, in his second year of driving a part-time schedule, has scored more points at the track than any other driver and has eight top-10 finishes and five top-fives in 10 starts at the Nevada track.

He also has two poles, two wins and four top-10 finishes in four Nationwide starts at the track.

“Really it’s hard to believe it has been 10 years since that [Cup] win,” said Martin, who now drives for Dale Earnhardt Inc. “I’ve always loved the track at Las Vegas and we’ve had some great runs there over the years. We have not been able to get back to victory lane, but we’ve been really fast.”