FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 30, 2011
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Bobby Labonte Racing Prepares for Two Days of Racing at Portsmouth

TRINITY, N.C. (August 30) - Bobby Labonte Racing (BLR) will hit the dirt this Saturday, September 3 at Portsmouth (Ohio) Raceway Park for two days of Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series (LOLMDS) competition. After previous solid performances at the 3/8-mile, high-banked clay speedway, Earl Pearson Jr., driver of the No. 44 Lucas Oil Dodge, and Brad Neat, driver of the No. 41 Red Buck Cigars Chevrolet, look to bring BLR back to victory lane.

Portsmouth Raceway Park falls right into BLR's wheelhouse. In the July LOLMDS race at the track, Pearson took home third-place honors. Neat has also enjoyed his share of success at Portsmouth, too. He finished runner-up in September 2010 and finished 10th this past July.

BLR is coming off a three-race stint of LOLMDS racing at Volunteer (Tenn.) Speedway, Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway and Bluegrass Speedway in Kentucky. Neat's Red Buck team scored a 15th-place finish, 12th-place finish and seventh-place finish respectively. Neat hopes to continue his progression this week at Portsmouth.

"BLR has a pretty good handle on things at Portsmouth (Raceway Park)," said Neat. "It seems like both Earl and I have really strong cars each time we unload there. I guess it fits our driving styles, too. We both are hard chargers and like to push our cars. That's what it takes at Portsmouth. It's a physical, demanding track. I love it. That's what racing's all about. I think we both can be up front fighting for the win before the night's over."

Pearson piloted the Lucas Oil machine to 21st-place, 16th-place and 15th-place finishes over the three most recent LOLMDS events. He sees Portsmouth as a strong opportunity to get his first victory of the season.

"Portsmouth (Raceway Park) is one of those tracks that I just can't get enough of," said Pearson. "It's a lot of fun to race there. The high banks make you feel like your car is about to take off. The Lucas Oil team has had some really good races there. We won there last season and finished third in July. We've been in a victory lane drought lately, but I know that Portsmouth is a track that we can turn things around."

Pearson in currently fifth in the championship standings, 1105 points behind leader Jimmy Owens. Neat is in eighth-place, 1280 points out of the lead.