Bobby Labonte - 2010

2010

Feb 2010 - June 2010, Labonte drove for TRG Motorsports and its #71. TaxSlayer was the primary sponsor for 14 of the first 16 races. Even though TRG's 2009 owner points were not enough to make the field guaranteed for the first 5 races of '10, Labonte's past championship provisional gave the team that to fall back on, in the case that Labonte's qualifying runs are not fast. For 2010, Labonte was also reunited with Doug Randolph as his crew chief. Randolph finished the 2007 season with Labonte in the #43 for Petty Enterprises, posting 2 of 3 of Labonte's top-10 runs. TRG also announced an alliance with Richard Childress Racing for 2010. RCR shared technology and equipment with TRG for the season. They also formed an alliance with Stewart Haas Racing, as Tony Stewart will provide a pit crew to the team.

In his first race in the TRG, Labonte finished 21st in the Daytona 500 after he started 42nd with a champions provisional. For much of the race Labonte was a Top 25 car. Labonte would end up fading back over the next few races, as he and the team would struggle for consistency. On the May 16th Dover race, due to lack of sponsorship, Labonte and the 71 team parked the car after 66 laps. Arguably, some people might say that this season is the worst of his full-time career, as he only had two top 20's finishes in 2010 one at the Daytona 500 and one at the Sears Point Raceway road course event.

On June 22, 2010 it was announced that Labonte would be leaving the #71 due to team being unable to secure sponsorship. On June 23, Labonte was hired to drive car #7 for Robby Gordon Motorsports at New Hampshire in a one race deal. Phoenix Racing hired Labonte to take over the #09 car beginning at Daytona and Labonte split the rest of the 2010 season between Phoenix Racing and TRG Motorsports. On October 11 Stavola-Labonte Racing hired Bobby to drive its #10 car at Charlotte and Texas in a two race deal. The team is co-owned by Bobby older brother Terry. Despite bouncing around, Labonte competed in every race for the 2010 season.

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