Doug Randolph and Bobby Labonte are a team once again.
TRG Motorsports picked Randolph as Labonte’s new crew chief, a position that Randolph held at Petty Enterprises before Labonte left and the team merged with the George Gillett/Ray Evernham team after the 2008 season. Randolph wound up at Richard Childress Racing, where he began as crew chief for the No. 29 Nationwide Series team and finished the year heading the No. 07 Cup team that does not have sponsorship for 2010.
“I’m excited to get started working with TRG. The new job brings me a new challenge, the opportunity to work with Bobby again and gives us the opportunity to bring that ‘David vs. Goliath’ story to life,” Randolph said in a statement. “Bobby and I are very similar individuals – we’ve always just clicked – and that’s something we hope to take advantage of.”
Driving for TRG, which has been in road racing for years, is resulting in a perk for Labonte – an opportunity to drive in the 24 Hours of Daytona.
Labonte drove one of TRG’s GT-category Porsches in open testing for the 24 Hour race this week. Labonte will team with Andy Lally, Spencer Pumpelly and Tim George Jr.
“Kevin really didn’t have to talk me into it,” Labonte said. “I’ve always been a big fan of the Rolex 24 since I started racing, and I raced a go-kart on the same track back when I was 15. He didn’t have to twist my arm.”
Labonte is looking to make his fourth start in the 24 Hour race. His other three starts were in the featured Daytona Prototype class.
“It’s just like driving the Daytona Prototype the three years that I raced it here,” Labonte said. “It’s road-course racing, which we don’t get to do a lot of in NASCAR, and the cars are getting stiffer and have less movement under braking and acceleration. These cars don’t move around as much as our NASCAR cars do.”
Paul Menard and AJ Allmendinger also participated in the testing that attracted 20 teams.
FIRST TIMER
Greg Biffle went from the Cup awards banquet on Friday to competing in off-road racing in the desert outside Henderson, Nev. In his first off-road start, Biffle was on the team that finished second.
“One thing that’s hard for me, and I probably would never get used to it, was running in the dust,” BIffle said “We literally had zero visibility two or three times for a couple minutes or more. It wasn’t just a few seconds, it was a couple of minutes, so that was really tough. Other than that, it was really fun.”
AILING CREWMAN
Richard Childress Racing pit crewman D.J. Richardson, who ended the season as a tire changer on Kevin Harvick’s car, is recovering in a Massachusetts hospital from severe complications stemming from the H1N1 virus. Richardson contracted HiNi during a trip to Massachusetts over Thanksgiving and his condition worsened when he developed pneumonia. He was placed in the intensive care unit of New Hampshire hospital suffering from acute respiratory syndrome.
gsmith@hpe.com | 888-3519
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