Labonte to Petty

UPDATE #5 This rumor is upgraded to 'fact' today. Bobby Labonte said Friday that he's "looking forward to being a part of the race team" when he joins Petty Enterprises to drive the No. 43 Dodges in 2006. "Being able to be part of the team is huge to me," said Labonte, the 2000 Cup Series champion who'll leave Joe Gibbs Racing after 11 seasons to replace Jeff Green in the Petty team's car. "I know about race cars and I still think I know what I want in a car. Sometimes you don't get that."

"We have some work to do," Labonte said. "We think we have all of the ingredients to get better and work in that direction. We know we can do it, it's a matter of getting everything together.

"Will that take one week or 10 weeks? I don't know that answer, but our heart is in this. That's how we got together."

"I haven't done this (change teams) in 11 years and back then it wasn't this big of a deal," Labonte said. "I am not used to this. … Whatever you've read in the paper didn't come from my mouth. My mom didn't even know about this until this morning. My dad knew, but I told my mom, 'You know how you keep a secret? You don't know the secret.'"

Kyle Petty said that when Petty Enterprises employees were told that Labonte was coming to the team they cheered.

"Even when the rumor got out that a driver of Bobby Labonte's caliber could come to Petty Enterprises, the morale went sky high," Petty said. "Now we've got momentum going into this winter."

11/10/05 Bobby Labonte will be introduced as driver of the No. 43 Dodge fielded by Petty Enterprises for the 2006 Nextel Cup season during a news conference Friday at Phoenix International Raceway, an industry source said Wednesday night. Labonte, the 2000 Cup champion, announced Monday he would be leaving Joe Gibbs Racing at season's end. Jeff Green will vacate the No. 43 – made famous by seven-time Cup champion Richard Petty – at season's end. ThatsRacin 11/10/05 Petty Enterprises is scheduled to make an announcement on Friday, Nov. 11th at Phoenix International Raceway. Could this be to announce Bobby Labonte as their driver? 11/07/05 Bobby Labonte has refused for several months to talk about his future plans, and he has become increasingly testy when pressed on the issue. Labonte is being actively wooed by both Bill Davis and Kyle Petty for 2006, and Joe Gibbs, Labonte's current car owner, has been told that Labonte won't be back, according to sources. Gibbs has tentatively set a press conference for next week at Phoenix to announce J. J. Yeley as Labonte's replacement, regardless of which direction Labonte takes. Winston Salem Journal 11/01/05 Latest word is that Labonte is headed to the No. 42. 10/31/05 Bobby Labonte might be the most popular driver in the garage right now when it comes to teams that need drivers. What team wouldn't want to tease potential sponsors with a former champion? He has been mentioned as a candidate to drive the Nos. 43, 42 and 22. If Labonte drives the No. 43 for Petty Enterprises, Shell looks good as the sponsor. If Labonte jumps into the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing ride, that opens the door for Jamie McMurray to move to Roush Racing to drive the No. 97 (which could switch numbers and become the 28). Kurt Busch could in turn take over the No. 2 Penske Racing car after Rusty Wallace retires. Roger Penske admitted in Atlanta that he had spoken to Ricky Rudd about possibly doing a one-year deal if Busch were not released, but the surest bet in the driver's roulette would be on Busch in the No. 2 at Daytona. Sporting News