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Notebook Defending champ out of the gate slowly
NEW YORK(AP) -- Bobby Labonte is officially in a slump. The defending NASCAR Winston Cup champion, only four races into a 36-race schedule, is 26th in the standings, trailing leader Jeff Gordon by 245 points. During his magical championship season of 2000, the younger of the racing brothers from Corpus Christi, Texas, finished worse than 15th only three times. A 26th-place finish in Richmond in the spring race was the worst of those three. So far in 2001, Labonte has rung up finishes of 40th (crash), second, 29th (handling) and 33rd (engine failure). "We're all right," Labonte said, still sounding confident. "We've just had some bad breaks and it's a very long season. This team has still got the right attitude, the people and the equipment to run consistently up front. We just have to start doing it." The next opportunity to do that will be Sunday in Darlington in the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400. Labonte won the rain-shortened Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway last September. It was an event in which he never led a green-flag lap but found himself out front when the rain came. That kind of luck hasn't been with him so far this year. But the champ isn't throwing in the towel. "We're going to need that same type of teamwork and luck this weekend, as we have to regroup after the last two weekends we've had. I know as a team we can do it, but luck, especially at Darlington, does play a part in the outcome there." When asked about how he and the team will approach this event in light of their finishes the last two weeks, Labonte said, "We are approaching this weekend like we would any other. We are not trying to lay back and be conservative, but we are not going to try and knock the wall down either. "Tire wear is always a factor at Darlington and this weekend will be no different. After about two to three laps, the tires go away and you start sliding around. If anything, I think it caters to my style of driving. I like to slip and slide a little bit and not always running on a rail. I think it separates who the better drivers are a little bit. You can see who really can get up on the wheel and make the car handle consistently during the course of a tire run." Milestone for RuddSunday's race in Darlington will be the 700th career start for Ricky Rudd. The 44-year-old racer joins only Richard Petty (1,177), Dave Marcis (878), Darrell Waltrip (809) and Bobby Allison (717) at having achieved that lofty number in NASCAR Winston Cup competition. The other four drivers are all retired. "That's a lot of races,' Rudd said. "I'm really happy to be sitting where I'm sitting for my 700th start. There are a lot of drivers now in our mid-40s and it's great to be in such a competitive car." Rudd, who sold his own team at the end of 1999 to join Robert Yates Racing, enters Sunday's race ninth in the standings after a sixth-place finish in Atlanta. "We've been really good all year," Rudd said. "We came out of Daytona with a fourth-place finish. We had mechanical problems at Rockingham and Las Vegas that dropped us back in the standings. Then we rallied at Atlanta for a solid finish. "The down side is that we're only ninth in points. The up side is that in both the Rockingham and Las Vegas races we were definitely a top-five car with a shot to win. We all want to win races and it's great to be in a position to do that." Wallace tamed by DarlingtonRusty Wallace has won races on tracks of all shapes and sizes during his illustrious NASCAR career. But his 53 victories do not include any on Darlington's 1.366-mile, egg-shaped oval. The former series champion is 0-for-34 at the "Track Too Tough to Tame." "We've been close through the years with some seconds, thirds and a bunch of top-fives, but its true that were still looking for our first win in Darlington," said Wallace, who has a pair of runner-up finishes and three thirds among his 11 top-fives at NASCAR's oldest superspeedway. "We've struggled at Darlington for the past couple of races, so we decided to burn a test there last week. With the new Goodyear tire and all, we thought it was the smart thing to do. "After testing there for two days [March 6-7], I'm fully convinced that it was the smart thing to do ... maybe the smartest thing weve done all year,' Wallace added. "We spent most all of the two days on the race setup and, wow, it's different than anything that's ever worked there before." But Wallace knows the realities of Darlington. "I mean I don't want to sound too cocky or overconfident, because it's still the same tricky old Darlington," offered Wallace. "It's true that you have to concentrate on beating the track first. You have to establish a rhythm and focus on your line lap after lap. You do that all day and race the competition for the win at the end of the day."
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