NASCARs Terry Labonte
NASCAR's Terry Labonte - From boy to Superstar
Terrance Lee Labonte was born on November 16 in 1956 in Corpus Christi, Texas. He is also the older
brother of Bobby Labonte and the father of Justin Labonte. Labonte started out
with the quarter-midgets in 1963 and by the time he was 9, Labonte had already
won a National Championship. Once he reached his teens, Labonte took on the
local short stacks and won track championships in Corpus Christi, Houston and San Antonio.
Labonte made his NASCAR debut in 1978 when he qualified for the 19th and
finished fourth that weekend at Darlington Raceway. The next year, although he
lost out to the NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the year title, he went on to
finish up in the top-ten in points. He bounced back the next year when he won
the Winston Cup on Labor Day. Although he did not make any big wins for the
next couple of years, he maintained on the top five positions through out those
couple of years. In 1985 he made his Busch Series debut and won the race at Charlotte.
In 1986, he had four pole starts and won the Holly Farms 400. In 1988 he won
the fourth place in points and went back to tenth spot in 1989 for the
championship. He did however, win his fist pole in 1991 and had four top five
finishes in 1992 with a 8 eight spot finish in points. He had a better year in
1996 when he managed to win North Wilkesboro and won the championship as well. Even though he was driving with a
broken hand, he managed to pull it off and drove through the dual victory lap
with his younger brother Bobby, who had won the race. The Labonte brothers made
history that day to be the only time siblings had brought back the championship
and the won the race at the same time.
In 1997 Labonte had twenty top-ten and won at Talladega Superspeedway. He won
at at Texas Motor Speedway and the Winston all star race in 1999 but only
came in 12th in points. The next year, Labonte was forced to miss several races
as he was diagnosed with inner ear injuries. He went back in 2001 and won two
top-six finishes but came back in 23rd in final points. The next year he went
down to the 24th spot in points.
In his next season, he won his second career best at the Mountain Dew Southern
500 and his pole since 2000 at Richmond. Into the 2004 season
Labonte made it known public that he would make that season his last full-time
season. In 2005, he came in 12th at Pocno Raceway while driving part-time. The
next year, Labonte past-champion's winnings gave his team the spot needed in
the first five races. They finished with the 30th spot that season in points.
In the next season, Labonte finished at third place at Infineon after taking a
fuel mileage gamble.
Labonte, who is an avid hunter is also known as the IceMan for his calm
nerves on the racetrack, is also actively involved in charities like the Ronald
McDonald House and the Victory Junction Gang Camp, which are the few among
many. He was also voted on of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998 and both the
Labonte brothers have a park named after them in Corpus Christi. They've also been
inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of fame. Labonte's son, Justin Labonte,
used to race in North Carolina and was also a late model track champion at
Caraway Speedway.
