ARCHDALE, NC (September 2, 2008)- Earl Pearson Jr. and the Bobby Labonte Racing Team competed at Tyler County Speedway in Middlebourne, WV in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series sanctioned event the "Hillbilly 100" this past weekend. Earl the 2006 winner of the Hillbilly 100 was looking to add another Hillbilly trophy to his collection with $40,000 going to the winner in the 40th anniversary of the event this year. Earl would miss transferring to the feature by one position in his heat race and one position short in his consolation race. Earl would use a series point's provisional starting spot and start 23rd in the 100-lap feature event. Earl would immediately drive through the field and was in the top 5 by the lap 40 mark. Earl would use the extreme low groove and challenge Tim Dohm and Jimmy Owens for the top spot in the final laps before passing Dohm for 2nd on lap 84 and pressured Owens for the lead over the final laps but would finish a close 2nd to Jimmy Owens. Earl's run through the field from 23rd to 2nd also awarded him the PBM Hard Charger award of the race. With his second place finish Earl extended his lead in the series points standings to 625 points over Bart Hartman.



"It was a great run for us and the team. We've been struggling a little here over the last few races so to be in contention to win a big event and come home second is what we needed heading to Eldora. I have to thank my crew for a great job this weekend and for really working hard to get our cars back up front. We had the car to win but the bottom groove wore out just a few laps too soon. Were looking forward to the World 100 and hopefully we can get another globe like we did in 2006. We won in July at the WoO race so we got a pretty good car for Eldora", stated Earl.



Earl will have a new t-shirt design available this weekend and several other new merchandise items at his official vendor trailer the ASI Racewear trailer. The ASI Racewear trailer will have the new "Hurricane God" t-shirts in their trailer on t-shirt row behind the grandstands in turn one. Earl will also participate in the Sunoco Race Fuels World 100 pre-race show on Friday September 5th at Eldora Speedway in front of the pond. The Sunoco Race Fuels pre-race show will be video taped by the popular website www.dirtondirt.com and will have exclusive footage of the 3-hour pre-race show on their website Saturday morning.



The voting for the Alltel Allstar is still going on through September 9th. Earl is in the running for this award and can win the $10,000 first place prize by earning the most votes by race fans on the Alltel Allstar website. To vote for Earl log onto his website at www.bobbylabontemotorsports.com and click on the Alltel Allstar logo on the front page and it will take you to the website www.alltelallstar.com. Once you're on the website click on Earl's picture and vote for Earl every day now until September 9th. By voting you as a fan will become eligible to win a $500 gift card from Alltel.



Earl and the Bobby Labonte Racing Team would like to thank all their sponsors in 2008 for their support including LifeLong Locks, Lucas Oil, Mastersbilt Race Cars, Larry Wallace Engines, Mopar, Sunoco Race Fuels, Allstar Performance, Tiger Rear End, BERT, Butlerbuilt, Hyperco, SHY, Wilwood, Woodward, TWM, Dyers Top Rods, Weld, Hoosier Tire, PRC, Wrisco, Sparco, Bell, Mechanix Wear, Oakley, Cheerios, Coke, Dunn-Benson Racing Supply, ASI Racewear, WRT Web Designs, The Decal Source, Rick Schwallie Photography and WD Enterprises.



To learn more about the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series visit www.lucasdirt.com. For more information about LifeLong Locks and the strongest locks on the market today, visit www.lifelonglocks.com. For more information about Earl Pearson Jr. and the Bobby Labonte Racing Team visit their official website at www.bobbylabontemotorsports.com.



Earl Pearson Jr.'s Latest Results:



Finish- Date- Series- Race Track- City



16th- Aug 9th -Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series - Florence Speedway, Union, KY

9th- Aug 16th -Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series- Batesville Speedway, Batesville, AR

7th - Aug 22nd -Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series- Lawrenceburg Speedway, Lawrenceburg, IN

4th- Aug 23rd -Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series- Bluegrass Speedway, Bardstown, KY

11th- Aug 30th -Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series- Portsmouth Raceway Park, Portsmouth, OH

2nd - Aug 31st -Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series- Tyler County Speedway, Middlebourne, WV


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