Bobby Labonte will be making his 29th start at Bristol this weekend. He has three top-five finishes at the track including a fifth place finish in this race a year ago. It was the first top five for Labonte behind the wheel of the #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge. Labonte has also recorded nine top-10 finishes and has led 60 laps at the track.
Labonte had this to say about the upcoming race:
"[W]e’re heading to Bristol and good position with this Cheerios team. Bristol is always going to be an exciting race. It doesn’t matter what car we race. [E]veryone is going to walk out of there thinking it’s a great race.
Sunday's Food City 500 will be the first NASCAR event to feature the Car of Tomorrow, a wider-bodied car intended to increase the competitiveness of races as well as improve on driver saftey.