Teamwork puts Gibbs Racing back in spotlight
LOUDON, N.H. -- Bobby Labonte switched his radio to Tony Stewart's channel after he crossed the finish line yesterday, wanting to congratulate his teammate, the winner of the New England 300, during the cool-down lap.
''How'd you finish?" Stewart asked Labonte.
Labonte informed Stewart he had finished third, meaning Joe Gibbs Racing had captured two top-three finishes.
''That," Stewart said, ''was the best news I'd heard all day."
Gibbs Racing needed a day like yesterday at New Hampshire International Speedway, having been subjected to rumors -- untrue according to the driver -- of Labonte's imminent defection and the domination of superteams Hendrick Motorsports and Roush Racing. For at least one race, Gibbs catapulted those powers and claimed supremacy.
''It was awesome," Stewart said. ''It's finally showing that it's not just one of us that can do it. We can get it done as a team, as a whole organization. When these guys get back to the race shop, the morale is going to be at an all-time high for the year."
That's a stark contrast from Friday, when Labonte had to quash a printed report that he would soon be leaving Gibbs Racing. When Labonte faced similar gossip in 1999, he walked in the shop and noticed a downswing in the mood of the crew, and he tried to rectify it by explaining he will be staying with Gibbs. He did the same this weekend.
''It disrupts the race team when there's rumors like that," Labonte said Saturday. ''People don't realize how much it disrupts the race team. It's pitiful. It's so far from the truth.
''I've got a multiyear contract. I'm happy with what I've got. I just want to perform better. There's always speculation when a team isn't performing good."
The speculation can cease. Labonte registered his best finish this season, only his fourth top-10.
''Throughout the whole weekend, it felt a little bit weird, but Steve [Addington, Labonte's crew chief] and I know that we were trying to make a better race team out of it," Labonte said after the race. ''Running good today, we just needed this for a long while."
He credited, in part, a trial run Stewart took at NHIS July 5 and 6 with crew chief Greg Zipadelli. The
''We had a really good test," Zipadelli said. ''Any time you can come here and run as good as we tested, you take and give that to your teammates. They did a great job finishing third today."
The finish was a flashback to the span of 1999-2002, when Gibbs dominated NASCAR. Stewart and Labonte finished first or second each year, with Labonte winning in 2000 and Stewart claiming the Cup in 2002.
The past two years, larger teams, particularly Hendricks and Roush, took over. Equipped with more drivers, more money, and more resources, they lapped the two-driver Gibbs team on the Nextel level.
But yesterday, at least, that changed.
''They've got great cars," Zipadelli said. ''They're not stopping. Their cars ran well today. Ours just ran better."
Fluto Shinzawa of the Globe staff contributed to this report. 
