FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 23, 2013
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Bobby Labonte Racing Lands Top 10-Finish at Batesville
Heads to Lucas Oil Speedway for "Show-Me 100"

TRINITY, NC (May 23) - Bobby Labonte Racing (BLR) had a long road trip with stops in La Salle, Ill. and Batesville, Ark. before ending at Wheatland, Mo. The team and Earl Pearson Jr. were ready for three nights of practice, heat races and feature racing at Batesville Motor Speedway.

The event couldn't have started any better for Person Jr. He set the fastest time among the 40 entrants with a lap of 13.679 seconds. On Friday night, he backed up his qualifying lap and took first place in Heat 1 with his No. 44 Lucas Oil Longhorn Chassis. Everything looked promising for the feature race on Saturday night.

"The Hurricane" started from the pole Saturday night in the Bad Boy 98 looking to win the $20,000 purse. The BLR team was confident in the car's setup and opted not to make any changes prior to the race. Unfortunately, when the green flag dropped, the team realized that the No. 44 machine needed a few adjustments to compete with the leaders, which resulted in Pearson Jr. losing some spots. Pearson Jr. hung strong, though, and drove his car to a seventh-place finish Saturday night.

"We had a great car this weekend; setting the fast time and winning my heat was exciting," said Pearson Jr. "We needed to make a few changes for the feature to be able to hang on to my starting pole position. We are happy with the way this Longhorn Chassis is performing and looking forward to racing at the Lucas Oil Speedway this coming weekend. Overall it was a good weekend and good points weekend."

Earl Pearson Jr. now sits fifth in points, only 145 points behind the leader. The BLR team now head to the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. for the Show-Me 100 $30,000 to win. 
 
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