Slugger Labbe

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Slugger Labbe
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Richard "Slugger" Labbe (born June 14, 1968) is an American technical consultant who currently works for

crew chief for Yates Racing, Dale Earnhardt, Inc., Richard Petty Motorsports, Richard Childress Racing and others. He has also previously served as an analyst for NASCAR on NBC
.

Early life

Labbe was born in

Busch North Series and often brought his son to the events. In 1984 at the age of 15, Labbe began work on the crew of a Late Model stock car team. Two years later he began working in the NASCAR Busch North Series.[2]

NASCAR career

In 1989, Labbe moved to Hickory, North Carolina to compete in NASCAR’s Busch South Series. Working as a mechanic for NASCAR Busch Series driver Tommy Houston, the team finished second in the NASCAR Busch Series South championship.[2]

In 1991, Labbe moved into the NASCAR

Unocal pit crew championship and the NASCAR Cup Series championship in 1996.[2]

In 1998, Labbe joined

Kenny Irwin, Jr. He led the team for 29 races.[3] Irwin, Jr. earned the NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year Award that year. Labbe remained at RYR through 2000.[2][4]

In September 2001, Labbe accepted a position with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. becoming the crew chief for the No. 15 car driven by Michael Waltrip. Labbe led Waltrip to 3 of his 4 Cup wins, and one Daytona 500.[2]

In 2005, Labbe moved to

Chase for the Sprint Cup.[2]

Returning to Yates Racing in 2006, Labbe worked with 1999 NASCAR Cup Series champion

MB2 Motorsports but then headed to High Point, North Carolina and Bill Davis Racing for the second.[2][6][7]

Labbe began the 2008 season working with

Dover International Speedway. Later they earned their first pole at Bristol Motor Speedway that fall.[2]

In 2009, Labbe moved to

TRG Motorsports leading David Gilliland
in the team’s first season in NASCAR Cup Series.

In 2010, he was crew chief for the Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) car driven by Paul Menard in his fourth full-season of Sprint Cup.[4][9]

In 2011, Labbe and Menard departed the financially struggling RPM team to go race at Richard Childress Racing as a fourth team with the number being 27 and the sponsor being

Menard's. On July 31, 2011, Menard won his first career NASCAR Cup Series race at the Brickyard 400
. The pairing remained together through at least 2013.

In 2015, RCR assigned Labbe as the new crew chief for Austin Dillon driver of the No. 3 Chevrolet SS, who previously had Gil Martin as crew chief.

Post-NASCAR

On May 22, 2017, Labbe was relieved from his duties as being a crew chief of the No. 3 car. He was replaced by Justin Alexander, who won with the 3 team in his first race.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.[13]

References

  1. ^ "Slugger Labbe's long, winding road paying dividends with Paul Menard, Richard Childress Racing". Sportingnews.com. Archived from the original on May 3, 2014. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Crew Chief Club - Richard "Slugger" Labbe". Archived from the original on 2010-07-23. Retrieved 2010-08-18.
  3. ^ "NASCAR.com : Drivers & teams : Crew chiefs". Archived from the original on 2011-06-22. Retrieved 2010-08-18.
  4. ^ a b "'Slugger' Labbe joins Menard's crew as chief". ESPN.com. 9 December 2009. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  5. ^ "NASCAR.COM - Slugger's return prompts more change at RYR - Jun 16, 2006". Archived from the original on 2011-06-22. Retrieved 2010-08-18.
  6. ^ "' + title + ' - ' + basename(imgurl) + '(' + w + 'x' + h +')". Archived from the original on 2011-07-27. Retrieved 2010-08-18.
  7. ^ a b "NASCAR - CUP: Labbe Looking for Daytona Mojo". Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2010-08-18.
  8. ^ "NASCAR News, Results, Schedule & Standings". Sportingnews.com. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  9. ^ "NASCAR - CUP: Menard Teams with Crew Chief Slugger Labbe - SPEEDtv.com". Archived from the original on 2010-03-23. Retrieved 2010-08-18.
  10. ^ "'Slugger' Labbe leaving RCR, new crew chief for Austin Dillon". NASCAR.com. 22 May 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  11. ^ "Veteran NASCAR crew chief Slugger Labbe takes new role with Toyota Racing Development". NASCAR on NBC. NBC Sports. 13 September 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  12. ^ "Slugger labbe Joins Toyota Racing Development". Performance Racing Industry. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  13. ^ Ryan, Nate. "Ep. 134: Slugger Labbe of Toyota Racing Development". art19. Retrieved 8 May 2018.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Slugger_Labbe&oldid=1195842962"