DeHart Grabs Third RCA Award, Helps Labonte to Seventh Top-5 Finish IN PEPSI 400
13 July 1997
CHARLOTTE, NC - They haven't been making it very easy on themselves, but in
the end Terry Labonte and the Kellogg's crew keep finding ways to grab
top-five finishes.
The defending Winston Cup champion started the Pepsi 400 35th, but despite
hitting a tire on pit road and struggling throughout the day, Labonte's crew
chief Gary DeHart never let his crew give up. They made the right adjustments
and sent Labonte to a second place finish. For the efforts, DeHart picked up
his third RCA Pit Strategy Award of the season.
DeHart will be presented with a 36" Nipper dog and a check for $5,000 during
pre-race ceremonies at New Hampshire International Speedway this weekend.
The second-place finish was Labonte's second straight runner-up finish, and
seventh top-five of the season. He moved up to second in the points
standings, 54 points in arrears of teammate Jeff Gordon.
"Considering we struggled all week, it was a real good run," Labonte said. "I
hit a tire on pit road. I really didn't mess it up, it looked worse than it
was. We thought it was really going to be a problem for us, but it wasn't."
DeHart now owns the lead in the chase for the year-end $50,000 RCA Pit
Strategy Award. He has won the award for his and his crew's work in the
Daytona 500 and the Save Mart 300 at Sears Point this season.
POINTS LEADERS
CREW CHIEF CAR # POINTS
Gary DeHart 5 3
Jimmy Fennig 6 2
Jim Long 10 2
Robin Pemberton 2 2
Marc Reno 28 2
Paul Andrews 37 1
Ray Evernham 24 1
Larry McReynolds 3 1
Todd Parrott 88 1
Ryan Pemberton 36 1
By RCA Racing Public Relations
