Mammoth Blog

Bobby Labonte is continuing to weigh his options after his departure from Petty Enterprises last week and the former Sprint Cup Series champion believes he will find a full-time ride for the 2009 season.

"Well, I left the Pettys not really having anything because I needed to make myself available," Labonte said. "I feel like that a lot of people don't know what Bobby is doing. I don't have a signed [contract or anything]. There are talks happening, but that has not happened yet. A phone call might happen in the next five minutes, but it might not. I need to make sure that people do know that that's not happened yet."

The free agent has been linked to the new Earnhardt-Ganassi team but says nothing is set at this point.

"The DEI-Ganassi deal, I think there's a lot of things that still have to develop over there to make it happen," Labonte said during a conference call with reporters. "It's a deal where, I'm not sure, but I think everybody had me leaving the Pettys to go to the 41.

"I'm not really at liberty to say [who I've talked to]," Labonte said. "I feel like they've got a great program. It's just a matter of putting things together for them.

"They've got to get everything put together with their deal first before I can come into the picture."

There has been some speculation Labonte could return to Joe Gibbs Racing, where he spent his career before moving to Petty Enterprises three years ago.

"I can say that I do talk to Joe, and I do talk to J.D., and I've always continued that relationship for years after I quit driving for them, but that's all it is, is just the friendship that I've had with them, and there's nothing to that nature that I know of," Labonte said. "I wouldn't be able to hold that in if I could tell you if that was even the truth of the matter.

"If you check my phone records, I have talked to them. But it's more about advice or what their thoughts are [on] what's happening here, how's it going there, stuff like that. If I knew that, I wouldn't be able to keep that secret probably source>>>