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LOUDON, N.H. – Biddeford’s Richard “Slugger” Labbe said things are going well in his first season as the Nextel Cup crew chief for Jeremy Mayfield in the Evernham Motorsports No. 19 Dodge.
Mayfield was eighth in points after the New England 300 Sunday.
“We’re getting there. We just trying to finish races and do well. We’re trying to get our cars right. They aren’t perfect yet. We have to keep working like everyone else. But we’ve been making some big gains,” said Labbe, who spent the previous four years as the crew chief for Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Incorporated. “We all work well together. We all believe in each other and if you believe in each other, things will work out.”
Mayfield added, “He’s good. He’s cool.”
Labbe was released by DEI in December.
He earned a measure of vindication on Friday when DEI released Waltrip.
“I told the director of motorsports at DEI last year that something had to give: him or me. It had gotten to the point where Michael and I weren’t getting it done any more,” said Labbe.
Waltrip stayed and Labbe was released.
“Now that they’ve released him, it makes me feel like they finally listened,” said Labbe.
He said they worked well together for three years “but last year, things didn’t start off well and it just kind of snowballed. That’s the unfortunate thing about this sport. The crew chiefs aren’t high profile like the drivers are. The drivers are everything so the first thing that goes is the crew chief. We suffer a lot through that. Finally, they [DEI] realized what was going on and it makes me feel better,” said Labbe.
Waltrip’s four career wins came with Labbe but there weren’t any wins a year ago and there were no top-10 finishes over the final nine races. Waltrip, who had finished 15th and 14th in points in 2003 and 2002, respectively, fell to 20th a year ago. He was 24th in their first season together.
Waltrip is currently 20th in points and doesn’t have any wins.
Labbe said working for Evernham Motorsports is a lot different than DEI.
“It’s been a big change for me. The Dodge camp is really technical. There’s a lot of engineers and a lot of support. No stone is left unturned. They look at every aspect of racing,” said Labbe.
He said the biggest adjustment is to having “a lot of support around me.
“How I utilize that support is a big job in itself. I’m just trying to keep everyone happy,” said Labbe.
Maxim concerned about Gordon
Augusta native Scott Maxim, the director of track support for Hendrick Motorsports, said he is concerned about the plight of four-time Nextel Cup points champion Jeff Gordon, who is 15th in points and a whopping 538 points behind leader and teammate Jimmie Johnson.
Only the top 10 drivers and any others within 400 points of the leader will qualify for the Chase for the Championship after the first 26 races. There are only seven left until the 10-race chase.
The new points format was implemented last season after a 36-race format in previous years.
. “Where we’re at right now, there’s no room for error,” Maxim said. “It’s still within our grasp but we have to have solid races from here on out to do something.”
In addition to Johnson and Gordon, 20-year-old Kyle Busch and 21-year-old Brian Vickers are also racing for Hendrick Motorsports and the youngsters are doing well.
Busch is 19th in points and the top rookie and Vickers is 22nd. Busch has seven top-10s and Vickers has five.
“They’re both doing very well,” said Maxim. “We’ve combined their two teams into a common facility and it has been more efficient and productive. We’re trying to duplicate the model of the 24 [Gordon] and the 48 [Johnson]. If you watch Kyle race and listen to him talk about the car, he’s very mature beyond his years. He’s very race-savvy. He has a wonderful feel for the car and how the race will play out. He’s very heady about that.”
Maxim is satisfied with the progress of the team.
“Things are going very well. We’ve had a few bumps in the road but, all in all, at this stage we’ve had good performances and good durability. This is where we’d expect to be at this time of year. Obviously, we need better consistency from the 24 team,” said Maxim.
Helton happy with Nextel season
NASCAR President Mike Helton said the radical decision to alter the points championship format last year has proven to be a plus for the Nextel Cup series this season.
“The momentum we picked up from the end of the year last year was obviously important to our start this year. The TV ratings are up and the energy around the conversation and dialogue is always about being competitive every weekend to tee it up for the chase. We’re pretty pleased with it,” said Helton.
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