LOUDON, N.H. – Incentive is a funny thing, especially in NASCAR.

You can be having an average season when something comes along that pushes you toward some unexpected results.

Such is the case with Petty Enterprises.

Less than two weeks after selling controlling interest to Boston Ventures, a private equity and investment group, the Petty clan – specifically driver Bobby Labonte – find themselves on the outside pole for Sunday's Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Not coincidentally, Boston Ventures is headquartered in Beantown, about 80 miles south of NHMS. Then again, with a name like that, where else would you expect it to be located?

BV may be new to the game, but putting on a good show for the new bosses at what is by default the company's "home track" has not been lost on the Petty organization.

"It's definitely a good place for Boston Ventures," Petty Enterprises vice president Robbie Loomis said Saturday. "Those guys have meant a lot to us, coming in here, rolling up their sleeves and working with us each week to get better and improve."

Labonte's front-row effort paid near-immediate dividends for BV, a company that had been a neophyte to any form of auto racing until its affiliation with Petty Enterprises.

But in the bigger picture, what Labonte did Friday reinforces the faith the Pettys have in Boston Ventures, and vice versa. And both are getting something valuable from this association – especially the Pettys, who get much-needed cash to help the team bounce back from a 20-year-plus run of mediocrity.

Boston Ventures is a company based upon return on investment. It sees things in black and white, namely results, and it's prepared to spend tons of cash – some estimates run as high as $50 million.

But there's one catch: It expects those results to be good, and it expects them sooner rather than later. Even though company officials have said they're going to be very patient with Petty Enterprises' redevelopment, they can't help but look at things from a business standpoint.

With the current economic climate, and this country teetering on recession, Boston Ventures isn't going to give its new racing venture a boatload of cash and not expect to see an organization on the upswing.

Yes, a second-place starting spot this early in the joint relationship between the two companies is a pleasant surprise, but the fact that Labonte and Co. did what they did Friday, plus starting last Sunday's road course race from the fourth starting position (although electrical problems relegated them to a disappointing 39th-place finish), raises the bar already.

Instead of waiting a year or two to see positive results, Labonte's qualifying run not only proved the Petty group has the capability to run well but also established a benchmark against which future efforts and race performances will be measured.

Labonte's front row spot marks the first time that a Petty driver has started at the front of the field since John Andretti earned the outside pole at Phoenix in November 2002. It also is Labonte's best starting position since he sat on the pole at Texas Motor Speedway in April 2004.

Labonte comes into Sunday's race mired in 23rd place in the standings. Even if he were to win the next 10 races, it still is unlikely he'd make this season's Chase for the Sprint Cup.

However, with great back-to-back qualifying efforts and a pair of recent 11th-place finishes at Charlotte and Pocono, it looks like the massive rebuilding program at Petty Enterprises already is starting to make progress.

"I think this helps everybody believe in the equipment that we have and, more importantly, the people we have, that we can get the job done," Loomis said. "We all just have to dig in, work well together and pull the same way."

There's also a good feeling that, even though he qualified 34th, older brother Terry Labonte made the show as well, not needing to use a past champion provisional to make Sunday's race.

Loomis doesn't mince words when asked what's next for the Petty group.

"We need to get that Cheerios car in victory lane before the year is out," Loomis said.

Don't be surprised if that happens Sunday. Incentive – and a bunch of results-oriented bean counters watching on from the stands – truly can be motivating. Or as Labonte said, "We're excited to get a good lap in and get a good starting spot."

Yes, it is the first good starting spot for Labonte in a long time, but you can bet it won't be the last – not if the new bosses have anything to say about it.

Boston Ventures has put its money where its mouth is, and now it's up to folks like Labonte, Loomis, team owner Richard Petty and the entire organization to keep feeding it with good results.

Veteran motorsports writer Jerry Bonkowski is Yahoo! Sports' NASCAR columnist. Send Jerry a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.

Updated on Saturday, Jun 28, 2008 6:23 pm, EDT

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