ARCHDALE, NC (May 6, 2008)- Earl Pearson Jr. driving in his first event with a cast on his broken right wrist from a wreck in early April was able to extend his points lead in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series national points standings with a solid 5th place finish at last weekends "Kentucky 99" event in Calvert City, KY. Earl driving the Bobby Labonte owned Mastersbilt Chassis finished 3rd in his heat race to earn a 12th starting position for the 50-lap feature event. Earl would advance into the top five by halfway and was running as high as 3rd place before finishing a solid 5th place at the checkers. Earl now leads the series points standings by 45 points over Steve Casebolt. "It was a good finish for us with the circumstances we were under. It was a little uncomfortable at times in the car trying to drive with the cast but I was able to get the job done a get a top 5 finish", stated Earl.
Earl Pearson Jr. and the Bobby Labonte Racing Team will travel this weekend to the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, MO. and compete in the "Super Clean Diamond Nationals" this Friday and Saturday. The 100-lap feature event sanctioned by the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will pay a whopping $40,000 to win. In association with this huge event Earl and the team will compete for additional cash awards in the Integra Crew Chief Competition on Friday night as the Bobby Labonte Racing Team will compete in a pit stop competition against the other teams that should be entertaining for the fans on Friday night.
Earl and the Bobby Labonte Racing Team are excited to announce a special color scheme for this weekends events at the "Diamond Nationals" and the remaining ten (10) selected events for broadcast on SPEED Channel on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series in 2008. The special color scheme will be a familiar one for Earl Pearson Jr. fans as the team will debut a mostly red car with primary sponsor Lucas Oil logos on the front hood and quarter panels similar to Earls cars when he drove for Carlton Lamm and the Dunn-Benson Ford Motorsports team. Bobby Labonte and the Lucas Oil company agreed to a contract to bring back the red car for the TV shows along with a special red Lucas Oil car for Bobby Labonte to drive in the Nextel Prelude later this year at Eldora Speedway. In addition to these events Bobby Labonte and his team will assemble a new dirt late model racecar with the red color scheme and Lucas Oil logos that will be displayed in the new Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN where the Indianapolis Colts will play beginning this season. The new stadium will have a special motorsports display area where fans can tour at every event at the new stadium. The car will represent the four national touring series national championships Earl has won sponsored by Lucas Oil.
"We've been working on this deal for a while now and were excited to bring back the red car that everyone was familiar with that I drove for so many years. Lucas Oil will be the primary sponsor on the red cars with LifeLong Locks as the associate sponsor. When were not racing the TV events we will be back in the blue cars with LifeLong Locks as the primary sponsor and Lucas Oil as the associate sponsor. Bobby and myself are also excited to get to display our car in the new Lucas Oil Stadium. Forest Lucas and the Lucas Oil Company have been great supporters of my career over the past 6-7 years and it's a great honor that he wanted to include our car in the new Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Hopefully we can put the red car in victory lane this weekend", stated Earl.
The popular internet website www.Dirtondirt.com that covers dirt late model racing from all over the country recently visited the Bobby Labonte Racing Facility in Archdale North Carolina and took a video tour of the shops showing the inside of Bobby Labonte Racing. Last week the website also added a two part one-on-one interview with team owner Bobby Labonte and talked about various topics and how he came about owning a dirt late model team.The informative website has posted the video shoot and the Bobby interview on the video page of their website www.dirtondirt.com. To view the video you must have a paid subscription to the website. The dirt on dirt website is one of the leading sources for dirt late model coverage in the country and offers numerous features not found anywhere on the internet. The small subscription fee is well worth the investment if you want up to the minute news and coverage of dirt late model racing. To view the feature video go to www.dirtondirt.com.
Earl and the Bobby Labonte Racing Team would like to thank all their sponsors in 2008 for their support including LifeLong Locks, Lucas Oil, Mastersbilt Race Cars, Larry Wallace Engines, Mopar, Sunoco Race Fuels, Allstar Performance, Tiger Rear End, BERT, Butlerbuilt, Hyperco, SHY, Wilwood, Woodward, TWM, Dyers Top Rods, Weld, Hoosier Tire, PRC, Wrisco, Sparco, Bell, Mechanix Wear, Oakley, Cheerios, Coke, Dunn-Benson Racing Supply, ASI Racewear, WRT Web Designs, The Decal Source, Rick Schwallie Photography and WD Enterprises.
To learn more about the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series visit www.lucasdirt.com. For more information about LifeLong Locks and the strongest locks on the market today, visit www.lifelonglocks.com. For more information about Earl Pearson Jr. and the Bobby Labonte Racing Team visit their official website at www.bobbylabontemotorsports.com.
