Labonte glad to be back at oval track after big wreck

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Perhaps no one is more pleased about getting back on a spacious oval racetrack like Michigan International Speedway than Bobby Labonte.

Labonte, driver of the No. 43 Dodge for Petty Enterprises, is coming off what he called one of the most vicious wrecks of his 17-year career as a Sprint Cup Series driver. The accident occurred with seven laps remaining in last Sunday's Centurion Boats at The Glen at Watkins Glen International, eventually collecting Labonte's machine and eight others.

The late-race crash at Watkins Glen was a violent reminder that road courses can bite, too.

• Complete story, click here
• Labonte sent to hospital
• Lap-by-Lap: Watkins Glen
• Video: Big wreck, red flag

"It was a big wreck, a bad one," said Robbie Loomis, executive vice president of Petty Enterprises.

"I'd have to rank it up there pretty high, as far as a hard hit goes," Labonte said.

It began as the cars exited the track's 11th and final turn, when Michael McDowell appeared to lean into the No. 38 car of David Gilliland, who crashed into a tire barrier lining the outside wall. Gilliland rebounded into the narrow chokepoint between the frontstretch and the entrance to pit road, and suddenly all sorts of cars were slamming into each other -- with Labonte eventually appearing to get the worst of it along with Gilliland.

Gilliland took two tremendous hits from the cars of Joe Nemechek and then Labonte, who first bounced off the No. 07 car of Clint Bowyer. Max Papis' car ricocheted off one vehicle after another. And Sam Hornish Jr. careened into the sand barrels protecting the end of the outside pit wall, showering the track in jagged pieces of yellow and black plastic that contributed to a 43-minute delay to get the track cleaned up.

"I couldn't see what was happening in front of me," Labonte said. "I knew they were side-by-side, but then they went out of sight because there were four cars in the right-hand corner and I'm sitting on the left side, looking to the right. So the next thing I saw was the 38 turned around the wrong way -- because he had already hit when I saw it. Because I'm trying to get through all the cars and you can't see there. So the next thing I saw was him coming and the 07 squeezing by. And then I got into the 07 and I didn't have time to let off.

"I think it was the worst-case scenario as far as seeing through the car. It's hard to see through 'em -- and, oh by the way, we're turning right and I'm sitting on the left, so that makes it even worse. If I was sitting right and going into the left-hand corner, you would kind of have a better view of it. Four cars in the left-hand corner would have been better because you're already sort of left-handed. Four cars in the right-hand corner, you're kind of already on the wrong side of the boat. It's just really hard to see through all that." (Continued)