Transcript: Bobby Labonte

February 4, 2001
6:14 PM EST (2314 GMT)

Bobby Labonte's excellence in the 2000 season paid off, resulting in his first NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship. He capped his run for the title with a fourth-place finish in the Pennzoil 400 on Sunday. See what he had to say in chat!

Bobby Labonte at 1:30pm ET I am really, really glad to be on today. More so than ever! This is going to be fun!

Mick Taylor from [192.216.29.165], at 1:31pm ET First of all, congrats on your first Winston Cup title! My question is that now that you've won the title, is that going to affect the way you'll run at Atlanta this weekend? And After Atlanta how will you finally relax after a long, stressful championship season?

Bobby Labonte at 1:32pm ET I realized Monday that there was definitely a load taken off my shoulders. But at the same time I know we are really excited about going to Atlanta and running as fast as we can. After the season, I have a fishing trip planned to Brazil (if it all works out) and that is all that is planned right now.

Amy at 1:33pm ET I gave you a pat on the back before the Rockingham race and you won. I shook your hand at a Baltimore Oriole game and then you won at the Brickyard. Then I shook your hand again during qualifying at Charlotte and you won. Do you think you could hire me as your good luck charm? Now the real question, will you encourage Tyler to get into racing or let him do his own thing? Thanks for being a great champion.

Bobby Labonte at 1:34pm ET Thanks for being a good luck charm! I will let Tyler do his own thing. If he wants to race, I will supportt him and if he doesn't, I will supportt him in whatever he wants to do.

Melinda Baker from [12.6.38.99] at 1:34pm ET Hi Bobby, Congratulations, CHAMP!! I've decorated my office space, painted my fingernails green, and am planning a victory party Sunday w/Chef Boyardee pizza and a green cake. What will your family do to celebrate the championship? Have a wonderful off-season. You and Terry are the best!

Bobby Labonte at 1:35pm ET I am sure we will have our family get-togethers throughout the off-season. We will just try and spend every spare moment enjoying all the good fortune that we have had this year.

FinsUp328 from [168.159.37.18], at 1:36pm ET Bobby, congratulations on your 1st WC Championship!! I hope this is the first of many! Jimmy Makar made the statement that now that the title has been won, you're free to "race" in Atlanta. How much have you guys been holding back? What areas were you holding back in? I seem to recall Mark Cronquist saying earlier in the season (Martinsville?) that he had taken some horsepower away in favor of reliability. Is that what Jimmy was referring to??

Bobby Labonte at 1:36pm ET That is about 90 percent of what Jimmy was referring to. We just felt comfortable with what we had and we didn't want to change that.

carol.briggs@gnb.ca from 17.gnb.ca at 1:37pm ET Bobby, Congratulations on winning the Championship Sunday. Up here in Canada you have lots of race fans also. We watch the races every Sunday and root for your and Tony. How exciting was it to do the victory lap with Tony, after he won the race Sunday? We were hoping you guys would do that. Keep up the good work and we'll be watching the last race and rooting for your. Good luck in 2001.

Bobby Labonte at 1:37pm ET That was real exciting. I know Tony kept up on how I was doing during the day. It was very special for everyone involved in Joe Gibbs Racing.

b_lab18 from [63.24.141.210], at 1:38pm ET Congratulations Bobby on an awsome year! You and your whole Interstate Batteries team deserve it! My question is how difficult was it to not think about the championship this whole season when week after week it would always come up?

Bobby Labonte at 1:39pm ET Well it is real hard! But when you get back to focusing on racing week-in and week-out that helps. But you have to really work hard and try to finish well every week and just let the points fall as they do.

Tommy Wondra@CPK from proxy.aol.com at 1:39pm ET Will you be doing any TV appearences (Like Letterman) in New York City, that you know of?

Bobby Labonte at 1:40pm ET The plan is to be on Letterman Monday the 20th of November.

Tommy Wondra@CPK from proxy.aol.com at 1:40pm ET Is it special to be able to race against a legend like DW in his last race on Sunday?

Bobby Labonte at 1:41pm ET Definitely! For all that DW has done for the sport and from wearing his t-shirt when I was younger, it all has been special. Riding in the pace car with him and his family at Indy this year was very special to me.

Micki from arc1.sxl.pathwaynet.com at 1:41pm ET Michigan here, your favorite track! What kind of vehicle you drive off the track?

Bobby Labonte at 1:42pm ET I have a Chevrolet Suburban and a GMC pick-up truck.

Howie Sussman from [155.91.6.20], at 1:42pm ET Now that you have won the Championship, What advice can you give to your teammate?

Bobby Labonte at 1:43pm ET Well, I think he has been doing everything pretty well. Tony runs most tracks pretty well, he just had some problems at a few tracks this year. My advice would be to just work on those little areas. He is doing pretty good right now!

Japan_Race_Fan from iwz.usmc.mil at 1:43pm ET Do you think it will be hard to repeat?

Bobby Labonte at 1:45pm ET I think that it will be difficult to repeat, but I also know that it is difficult to win one. I think you have to set your goals and focus on what you want to achieve and then go for it! I think it will be pretty tough!

Joel Munchel from proxy.aol.com at 1:46pm ET Congradulations on your championship. I am a Dale Earnhardt fan but i think you did a good job this year. But i am still not giving up on him winning his eighth chapionship. But i wanted to ask you how much did you worry about Earnhardt getting close enough to hurt you in the chapionship throughout the season?

Bobby Labonte at 1:47pm ET Thank you first of all! I thought and knew that every weekend he was going to be a threat. There was no doubt in my mind that he would be right there down to the wire. They don't call him the Intimidator for nothing!

Melinda from [142.214.254.10] at 1:48pm ET Do you feel more pressure now that you have gained this title?

Bobby Labonte at 1:49pm ET No, I don't think so. Not until we get to the track on Friday. So far, so good!

Rocky Stuffelbeam from geneseo.net at 1:49pm ET Congratulations, Bobby, on winning the Winston Cup title. It was certainly well-deserved. I noticed the top guy from Interstate Batteries was in your pit area Sunday. Was that just because of the circumstances or does he actively involve himself in the management of your race team?

Bobby Labonte at 1:50pm ET Well of course being the sponsor, they were excited to be there. But as far as managemnt of the race team - no he doesn't play in that role.

Jen from zoominternet.net at 1:51pm ET Congrads ! My husband is a Terry fan and I am a fan of yours. I know that we have our own friendly competitions, do you and Terry have your own family competitions?

Bobby Labonte at 1:51pm ET No, we don't have any competition between us. There is nothing more that we would like to see both of us running well each week.

Melinda Sule from [142.214.254.10] at 1:52pm ET Congrats on winning!! What track is your favourite track to race on??

Bobby Labonte at 1:52pm ET Michigan is my favorite track. I have just grown to like it over the years.

Ron, Cocoa,, FL from [204.128.64.100] at 1:52pm ET Great job this season! How long does it take to get a car ready for the race each week and do you have anything to do with the preparation? Keep up the great work!

Bobby Labonte at 1:53pm ET It takes about all day to set the car up after it is already done. Jimmy and I usually talk about the set-ups a couple of weeks before the race so that he can already have that to the guys before the week.

Japan_Race_Fan from iwz.usmc.mil at 1:54pm ET Did you and Earnhardt talk much when the title race started getting tighter?

Bobby Labonte at 1:55pm ET Not really. We didn't talk any more or less than we had during the year prior to that point.

Russ Covert from [208.137.159.26] at 1:55pm ET Will you be doing autographs this weekend in Atlanta. If so, what time and where.

Bobby Labonte at 1:56pm ET No, I don't have any scheduled appearances. But the champions Breakfast on Monday is from 7:30-10:00 and is open to the fans.

Mike Sandberg@yahoo from proxy.aol.com at 1:57pm ET What was the biggest change from this year compared to last year, that aided you in winning a championship?

Bobby Labonte at 1:57pm ET I would have to say not having any finishes out of the top-26 or so, but just being more consistent every weekend then we were last year.

Kevin S. from public.svc.webtv.net at 1:58pm ET congrats on a great season. What kinds of advise did your brother give you during the season.

Bobby Labonte at 1:58pm ET He just would talk to me about staying on top of things and focusing on each weekend.

Melinda Sule from [142.214.254.10] at 1:59pm ET Did Joe give you any words of wisdom before the race on Sunday?

Bobby Labonte at 2:00pm ET Yeah, Don't screw up!(laughing) We had a few moments to ourselves in the truck and we just talked about going out and oing what we knew we could do.

Bobby Labonte at 2:01pm ET I just want to thank everyone for logging on today. It has been a great season for the 18 team. It still hasn't sunk in yet that we won, but it will. Thanks for your support!