Former Cup Series champion Bobby Labonte was without a ride for much of this winter, but after joining Hall of Fame Racing and Ask.com, the Corpus Christi-native has come back to life during the early stages of the 2009 season. A fifth-place run in Sunday's Shelby 427 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway has this veteran driver regenerated and ready for more.

"I think I said the word 'freaking' in a press conference in late January and it's pretty freaking awesome," Labonte said of his solid run on the 1.5-mile track. "I can't wait to get back in it and go. We're taking it one race at a time, so I'm excited."

Labonte and his crew definitely have a lot to be excited about. Following their strong run at the 'Diamond in the Desert' this weekend, the No. 96 crew have put their driver 10th in the series standings just three weeks into the season, not too shabby for a team that almost shut its doors this November.

"The confidence it gives me and the confidence it gives all the guys. It's just great," Labonte explained of Sunday's performance. "It's awesome. We dug all day and really concentrated great and I think everything went good. We did all we could do and it was a good top five run for us."

After losing his ride at Petty Enterprises at the end of the 2008 season, it was unclear what life had in store for this former champion. Still competitive and a hot commodity on the list of available drivers, Labonte was able to find his place helping a once struggling organization.

"We've got so many great people there working for us and I just feel like we've got all this confidence on our side right now," Labonte added. "I'm excited we got us a top five and we're looking forward to each and every weekend.  It's going to be a builder for me."

Heading into one of his best tracks on the circuit, the Atlanta Motor Speedway, Labonte has an average start of 15.0 and an average finishing spot of 15.7.  With six wins, twelve top-5s and thirteen top-10s, Labonte hopes to rekindle some of that past glory during this weekend's Kobalt Tools 500.