Press Release

For Immediate Release

Earl Pearson Jr. and Bobby Labonte Racing Earn Two Top-3 Finishes
Gain One Spot in the Lucas Oil Championship Point Standings

Trinity, NC (September 3, 2013) - Earl Pearson Jr. and Bobby Labonte Racing (BLR) had a busy Labor Day weekend with three races in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series (LOLMDS). The first of three races took place at Attica Raceway Park, Attica, OH on Friday, August 30.

Pearson Jr. started the night off on a good note, winning Heat Race # 4. This gave EPJ and his No. 44 Lucas Oil Longhorn Chassis a fourth-place starting spot among 31 entrants in the feature race Friday night at Attica Raceway Park. Pearson Jr. drove hard all night and ended with a podium finish of third place behind Jimmy Owens and Brian Birkhofer. The team loaded up Friday night headed for the second of three races for the Labor Day weekend, the next one in Portsmouth, OH.  

The Bobby Labonte Racing team hoped its momentum from the night before would carry over into the Pepsi 50 River Days Rumble at Portsmouth Raceway Park on Saturday night. However, Pearson Jr. fell back in his heat race and finished third, giving him a 10th-place starting position. The LOLMDS was battling threatening skies that looked like at any time Mother Nature would force the end of the event. Fortunately, they were able to get the feature in on Saturday night; however, EPJ didn't have the night he and the team hoped for. The No. 44 Longhorn Chassis ended the feature with a 14th place finish.

The LOLMDS would end its Labor Day races in Ripley, WV on Sunday, September 1 at I-77 Raceway Park for the Hillbilly 100. Pearson Jr. showed he had a good car early on by finishing second in Heat Race # 5 on Sunday night. EPJ would start his No. 44 Lucas Oil Longhorn Chassis in 10th place among the 61 entrants on hand Sunday night. Pearson Jr. battled to the front before getting involved in a wreck with Owens and Shaver. Even with the damaged front end Pearson Jr. was able to end the night with a podium finish of third place.

"We started the weekend off great with third at Attica. Then had a little rough patch Saturday night," said Pearson Jr. "We rebounded well tonight at I-77. I thought I had damaged the radiator or something, but we just kept going and man it paid off with third place tonight."

The LOLMDS takes two weeks off and will return to action on Friday, September 20 at Florence Speedway and Saturday, September 22 at Brownstown Speedway. However, you can catch Bobby Labonte Racing and Earl Pearson Jr. this weekend at Eldora Speedway for the World 100. Pearson Jr. moved up to fourth place in Lucas Oil Championship Point Standings, 590 points out of first place. For photos, team updates and news go to www.bobbylabonteracing.com. For live updates from the races each week, be sure to follow Earl Pearson Jr. and Bobby Labonte Racing on Twitter and Facebook.

About Bobby Labonte Racing
BLR is located in Trinity, N.C., and owned by 2000 NASCAR Champion Bobby Labonte. The team was formed in 2007 and immediately won back-to-back Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series championships. The organization is sponsored by Lucas Oil, Sunoco Race Fuels, Archdale Drug, Coca-Cola, ALLSTAR, Tiger Rear Ends, BERT, Butlerbuilt, Hyperco, SHY, Wilwood, Sweet, TWM, Dyers Top Rods, Weld Wheels, Bell, Hoosier Tire, PRC, Mechanix Wear, Larry Wallace Engines, ASI Racewear, Xtreme Graphics, Hank Thomas Performance, Wiles Drive Shafts, Bazel Race Fuels, FK Rod Ends and Peterson Fluid Systems.

About Longhorn Chassis
Longhorn Chassis was founded in 2010 by NASCAR Champion Bobby Labonte, along with his brother and two-time NASCAR Champion, Terry Labonte. After numerous successful seasons as a Dirt Late Model team owner with driver Earl Pearson Jr., Labonte decided to take it one step further with his racing operations and the team started building their own race cars, in shop. The first two late model chassis built out of Longhorn Chassis went to Justin Labonte and the house car, driven by Earl Pearson Jr. Pearson would debut his Longhorn Chassis at the North/South 100 in Florence, Ky., where he finished a solid second, he'd later record Longhorn Chassis' first Victory at the 2010 Dirt Track World Championships at West Virginia Motor Speedway. With just a couple of racing season under their belts, and numerous wins, Longhorn Chassis has already proven its strength and ability on the track.

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Jeff Dennison
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