I'm a Bobby Labonte fan. Anyone who knows me well enough could tell you that, whether they watch NASCAR or not. I have a green flag with a large red 18 hanging above my bed. As I write this, I am wearing a grey fleece with an 18 on the right breast and an Interstate Batteries logo on the left.

Recently, Bobby signed a new contract to drive for Petty Enterprises, moving him out of Joe Gibbs #18 car and into the #43 made famous by The King, Richard Petty. So where should my alliances be, with the driver who has been my favorite since I started watching NASCAR, or with the team who I've dedicated myself to being a fan of for years, including all three of Joe Gibbs race teams (Tony Stewart's #20 and Jason Leffler/Terry Labonte/Denny Hamlin's #11)?

To answer this question, its important to get to the root of why I was a fan of Bobby Labonte and his #18 car. I don't know what made me choose him as my favorite years ago, but I do know that in many of the races I have attended in person, he has finished well (including a win at Atlanta and third place finishes at Bristol and Charlotte). I know that in watching him on tv, I've always been impressed by his composure in the face of adversity and the overwhelming amount of respect he has throughout all of NASCAR.

As far as being a fan of the #20 and #11 cars, I was really only a fan of them because they worked with Bobby's team, sharing testing information and the like. But during that time I have witnessed two championships by Tony Stewart making it harder for me to pull away. Alas, I must.

For as long as I've been watching NASCAR, I've always had a number of drivers I like and think a lot of (Rusty Wallace, Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth, Dale Jarrett just to name a few). But I've never been more passionate of a fan for any driver the way I have been for the 2000 cup champion, Bobby Labonte. I must maintain my alliances with the driver who I have associated myself with for years. I can still have Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, and JJ Yeley (the three Joe Gibbs drivers for 2006) as drivers I like, but its now time for me to go out and invest in new t-shirts, flags, and stickers bearing the #43 of Bobby Labonte and Petty Enterprises.