If last season is any indication, this seems to be the time of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series season for Bobby Labonte to  hit the gas on his competition. Labonte goes into Sunday's Talladega race with a 252-point lead in the driver standings. The largest lead anyone has had all season.

Labonte  only needs ninth or better in each of the remaining five races on the schedule, it won't matter what any of the other drivers do; he'll add enough points to grab the first championship of his NASCAR Winston Cup Series career.

Odds are pretty good that that is indeed what will happen  based on his performance in the stretch run of the 1999 season. Labonte's average finish over the final five races a year ago was third.

Labonte has finished eighth or better in seven of his last eight races at Talladega.  Overshadowing this years Taladega race are new rules and a restrictor-plate size change ordered by NASCAR for the event. Labonte isn't sure if the changes will help him or hurt him.

"There is definitely a bigger hole punched in the air with the way the spoilers are and that strip on the roof, which will enable someone to pull back up on a car or a group of cars," he said. "At the same time, though, I don't see anyone being able to pull away, which means the pack of cars that will be racing together just got bigger."

Labonte expressed confidence that his team and crew is up to the challange of the new restrictions and rules.

"It's been amazing, but anytime NASCAR makes a change of some sort to the rules, we have been able to adapt pretty well and still be successful," Labonte said. "You look at what happened in Loudon and no one knew what was going to happen up there with the engines and all, and we were able to win the pole position and finish second. I kind of look at this weekend as an opportunity to jump out in front of everyone else."

In the spring race at Talladega, Labonte struggled and finished in 21st place one lap down.

"We were just terrible in April," Labonte said. "We just couldn't get it going that day. I took a provisional to make the field and never really did come up through the pack. We have the same car we ran in the Pepsi 400 with us this weekend and we expect to be a lot better than what we showed here last time."