Official Statement from TRG Motorsports Regarding Former Crew Chief Slugger Labbe: TRG Motorsports today released Slugger Labbe as crew chief of the #71 Cup car. TRG appreciates Slugger’s dedication in its first year as a Cup organization where he helped guide the team to 35 consecutive starts and TRG’s first top-10 finish in the Sprint Cup Series. TRG Motorsports will, as planned, compete full time in 2010 with Bobby Labonte behind the wheel of the #71 with TaxSlayer.com on-board for a good portion of the season and is currently in negotiations with several top-level crew chiefs.(TRG Motorsports)(12-3-2009)
UPDATE: Labbe has several offers on the table and is expected to make an announcement concerning his future on Monday. GM Mike Brown has left TRG as well. Brown was a longtime fixture at Bill Davis Racing prior to joining TRG in March. Brown says he has no formal plans but “several irons in the fire”.(FoxSports)(12-4-2009)
UPDATE 2: Labbe will be the crew chief for Paul Menard and the #98 Menard’s Ford in 2010. A formal announcement is expected from Yates Racing on Monday. Labbe parted ways with TRG Motorsports on Thursday to accept the new role. Labbe was touring the Yates shops on Friday and was introduced as “Menard’s new crew chief,” several sources confirmed. Menard’s previous crew chief Larry Carter parted ways with the organization at season’s end.(FoxSports)(12-4-2009)
UPDATE 3: Richard “Slugger” Labbe will serve as the new crew chief for #98-Paul Menard. Labbe left his position at TRG Motorsports to join what will be Richard Petty Motorsports when the merger with Yates Racing is completed. He began work at RPM last Friday in the Concord, N.C., shop and already is preparing Fords for the 2010 season. It is a homecoming of sorts for Labbe, who worked out of then Robert Yates Racing’s Concord shop from 1998-2001, helping the late Kenny Irwin Jr. win Rookie of the Year honors in 1998.(ESPN.com)(12-11-2009)
