Labonte eyes No Bull Million.

Bobby Labonte's quest for the prestigious No Bull 5 Million dollar bonus will begin from the third row of the grid in Saturday night's Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 after the driver of the Joe Gibbs Racing No.18 Interstate Batteries Pontiac scored his seventh top ten start in the Fall event at Richmond International Raceway.

While he has never won a short-track race in his NASCAR Winston Cup Series career and he has yet to win a segment of the Winston No Bull 5 $1 million dollar bonus, Bobby Labonte says he is actually looking forward to Saturday's under-the-lights Chevy Monte Carlo 400 at the three-quarter mile Richmond International Raceway after qualifying sixth in the 43 car field.

"I am not one who spends a lot of time looking at records and past history," said Labonte who has yet to win the $1 Million No Bull bonus despite being eligible nine times previously. "If I did, I would be very nervous. My finishing record in this event [just one top ten in eight previous starts] has not been the best, but the records do not tell how well we have run."

In his previous nine attempts at the No Bull Million, Labonte has finished second on three separate occasions, but feels that this 10th time might be a charm with the added benefit of sixth place in the starting field.

"We just seem to be running pretty well right now," explained an excited Labonte. "Last week in Darlington was good for us even though we didn't win the race. We were in the race and had a chance to win. And as bad as we have been at times this season, I was pretty pleased with that. As the saying goes, 'Good things come to those who wait.' Well I have waited a long time to try and capture one of these Winston No Bull 5 races and I can think of no better place to do it than at Richmond."

Running 26th in the 47 car qualifying line, Labonte used his second qualifying lap to vault him onto the front row alongside Darlington winner Ward Burton who is another NB5 contender this weekend. Good late runs from eventual pole sitter Jeff Gordon, Rusty Wallace, Sterling Marlin and Ward's younger brother Jeff relegated the elder Burton brother and Labonte to fifth and sixth places respectively.

Labonte's Bud Pole time was 21.797-seconds, almost two tenths slower than Gordon but faster than his own time from the Spring race at RIR that put him ninth on the grid.