JTG Daugherty Racing has announced Bobby Labonte will fill the seat in the No. 47 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series ride for 2011. The team announced Tuesday their current driver, Marcos Ambrose, had decided to move on after five seasons.

“JTG Daugherty Racing is a solid race team that has come close to winning races with Marcos Ambrose and I’m looking forward to developing our new partnership in 2011,” Labonte said in a statement. “The team is thriving and their technical alliance with MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing) is intact. It’s great to have next year already set in stone so when this season ends we can begin focusing on next year right away. Everything is in place and we have all the right ingredients to win races together.”

The Corpus Christi, Texas native is scheduled to drive the No. 47 for the full 36-race Sprint Cup schedule in 2011.

“We are really happy Bobby has decided to join our team because I have known him for a long time and I have always admired him as a professional driver and as an individual,” said team co-owner Brad Daugherty. “He will do an outstanding job representing our products and team. He has gotten to a point in his career that he still has some things to accomplish. He is highly experienced with a championship on his résumé’ and we know he is capable of winning.”

Labonte, the 2000 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, has earned 21 Sprint Cup Series wins and 26 pole awards during his career.

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