Know Your NASCAR: The Labontes

August 10, 2001
12:36 PM EDT (1636 GMT)

Being a world champion is tough. Repeating the feat is an even tougher task -- just ask Bobby Labonte.

Bobby Labonte

The reigning 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup champion has had his share of struggles in 2001 while trying to defend his throne. Past the midway point of the season, Labonte stands eighth in the points chase, 466 points behind leader Jeff Gordon. Still, it's too early to eliminate Labonte's name from title contention simply because of his burning desire to succeed.

Despite his struggles, Labonte has showed his grit this year, and he finally drove the Joe Gibbs-owned No. 18 Interstate Batteries Pontiac back to Victory Lane at the Pennsylvania 500 on July 29 in Long Pond, Pa. "This is a great day for us," Labonte said after his win. "These guys (crew) just never gave up, and that was the big thing."

Labonte's crew chief, Jimmy Makar, believes the checkered flag at Pocono Raceway might be just the cure his ailing team needed. "It has been a humbling experience (the 2001 season), but adversity sometimes brings out the best in you," said Makar, who is in his seventh year of being Labonte's mechanic boss. "We feel like we're back and can be competitive."

A year ago, Labonte was not only competitive, he was amazingly consistent, which led him to the top of NASCAR's ultimate mountain. Not only did he win four races, he placed in the top-five a series-best 19 times. In the process he and older brother Terry became the first siblings in the family-rich history of NASCAR Winston Cup racing to share points championships.

Terry Labonte

Terry has actually been the best driver in the Cup points chase twice -- in 1984 and 1996.

In 2001, Terry has once again been competing at tracks each week, but like Bobby, his team has had its struggles. He has been hovering in the top-20 in points all year and hasn't won since March 28, 1999, when he took top honors at the Primestar 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

However, if any set of brothers can get out of their present funks, it's the Labontes, who both call Corpus Christi, Texas, their hometown.

They just know what it takes to be successful. One look at their respective careers proves that.

In 1964, Terry began racing quarter-midget cars and by the late 1970s, his racing ventures began to pay dividends. He wasn't only beating drivers in Corpus Christi, he was crushing the competition in Houston and San Antonio as well.

By the time Terry was 20 years old, his driving talent and ambition caught the eye of then Winston Cup team owner Billy Hagan of Louisiana. Terry accepted a $200 weekly salary to move to North Carolina and join Hagan's team.

That same year, 1978, Terry immediately made Hagan look prophetic -- finishing fourth at his Winston Cup debut in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway behind legendary drivers Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip and Richard Petty.

While Terry was shocking Winston Cup observers, brother Bobby was also finally enjoying time in the family's racing limelight. With Terry gone, Bobby's family purchased him his first go-kart and he proceeded to win almost every weekend he was at the track. However, just when it seemed like Bobby was in the fast lane to stardom, he hit a detour when his father Bob moved the family to North Carolina so he could work with Hagan's Cup team and Terry.

Although Bobby was initially upset about leaving Corpus Christi because he had to stop racing, he found a way to make the relocation benefit himself. He became a "garage rat" at Hagan's shop, learning and absorbing everything he could about what makes Winston Cup cars tick.

In the meantime, Terry continued to make headlines in NASCAR's prestigious circuit. From 1979 to 1983, he finished no worse than tenth in the final points standings. Then in 1984 on the strength of wins at Riverside, Calif., and Bristol -- and 15 top-five finishes -- he captured the coveted points championship, beating Harry Gant 4,506-4,443.

Terry, however, also found out that repeating was a hard thing to do.

Case in point: He could only muster a seventh-place effort in 1985. The next season he dropped five more spots and left Hagan's operation to join Junior Johnson. Terry had some strong runs for the Johnson camp, winning four times and placing as high as third in the points race in 1987.

After 1989, Terry hooked up with car owner Richard Jackson for a year and then reunited with Hagan from 1991-93, coming in a best of eighth in points in those four seasons. All the while, Bobby was toiling in obscurity -- until 1990 that is.

That year, GoodMark Foods Inc. came on board to sponsor him for a full NASCAR Busch Grand National Series season. He responded by coming in fourth in the BGN points standings and a year later, he won the Busch championship.

Bobby stayed in the Busch ranks in '92 and came in fourth again in the points before landing a Winston Cup ride with Bill Davis in 1993. In spite of all of Bobby's success, he was still lost in Terry's shadow. Terry signed on with powerful Cup owner Rick Hendrick in 1994 and in 1996 he was celebrating another series championship in dramatic fashion.

At the season-ending race at Atlanta, the left-handed Terry drove with a cast around his left hand to finish fifth and win the season title by 37 marks over fellow Hendrick driver Jeff Gordon. Making the day even more special was that Bobby took the checkered flag at Atlanta for his fourth Cup victory.

In 1997, Terry and Bobby continued to battle each other, coming in sixth and seventh in the points, respectively. Bobby took the upper hand the following season, coming in sixth, while Terry was 12th.

The family highlight of '98 campaign came at the season-opening Daytona 500 when Bobby and Terry sat on the front row, a first for brothers at NASCAR's Super Bowl event. By 1999, Bobby was no longer being seen as Terry's "little brother," thanks to winning a career-high five times and winding up second in points to Dale Jarrett.

During that season, the toughness and immense skill of the Labonte brothers was never more apparent than March 28 at Texas Motor Speedway. Terry won the race -- his 21st on the Cup circuit -- and Bobby was third, despite breaking his right shoulder nine days earlier while practicing his Busch car in Darlington.

"It was a good run for Bobby," said Terry the following week. "It is awful tough to race with a broken scapula. I know because I have done it before. But, I didn't do it one week after I broke it."

Bobby, with wife Donna.

As for the 2000 slate, Bobby finally officially took the family's center stage, with his series championship. His most poignant moment during the title run came at the Brickyard 400 last Aug. 5. That day, Bobby took the checkered flag, while Terry saw his consecutive streak of 655 Cup starts come to an end because of the lingering effects of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, which he suffered at Daytona's Pepsi 400 in July.

One thing is for sure, when Terry and Bobby eventually do close the chapters on their respective driving careers, no one will ever forget the numbers they will have left in NASCAR's history book.

For the record, Terry's son, Justin, seems next in line to carry on the family's racing tradition as he has had moderate success the last several years in NASCAR's Busch and ARCA Series.