Daytona Shootout: Bobby Labonte preview

Bobby Labonte

* Bobby Labonte gained the manufacturer's wild card entry into the Budweiser Shootout; the No. 96 Ask.com Ford Fusion will be the seventh Ford entered in the Shootout.

* Labonte has 32 starts at Daytona International Speedway and has completed 4,973 of 5,636 possible laps; an 88.2 percent consistency.

* Labonte has two pole awards at Daytona, one for the Daytona 500 (1998) and one in the Pepsi 400 (1998).

* Labonte has five top-five and eight top-10 finishes at Daytona International Speedway with a best finish of second at the Daytona 500 (1998) and again in the Pepsi 400 (1998).

* Labonte will begin the season 28th in points after a points transfer from the No. 38 Yates Racing Ford.

* Labonte's start on Saturday night will mark his first race with Hall of Fame Racing and the No. 96 Ask.com Ford Fusion.

Shootout Chassis: RK-519 Last outing: XXX
Back Up Chassis: RK-527 Last outing: XXX

Bobby Labonte on racing at Daytona International Speedway in the Shootout:

"I am counting the days until I'm on the track in the No. 96 Ask.com Ford Fusion with Hall of Fame Racing. Yates and Ford have a lot of power. It's been a while since I've driven a Ford and I'm looking forward to getting my sea legs with it at a fast superspeedway like Daytona. I've had some great success over the years in Daytona and I'm looking to match that in the No. 96 Ask.com Ford Fusion. Our goal is to go out and not make any mistakes and get a solid finish under our belts."

Crew chief Todd Parrott on racing at Daytona International Speedway in the Shootout:

"Bobby has lots of experience at Daytona. We're sure we can get the car exactly where Bobby needs it to win the pole and get a solid finish in the 500. Even better, because of the rule change, we'll get to race in the Budweiser Shootout and get even more track time than we had anticipated."

-credit: yr/hofr