Bobby Labonte

Bobby Labonte

status	active
NASCAR Cup Series statistics
Best placement	1st - (2000)
Starts Victories Poles Top 10 729 21st 26th 203
NASCAR Xfinity Series Statistics
Best placement	1st - (1991)
Starts Victories Poles Top 10 203 10 10 100
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series statistics
Best placement	36th - (2005)
Starts Victories Poles Top 10 10 1 - 5
Data status: October 23, 2016

Robert Alan "Bobby" Labonte (born May 8, 1964 in Corpus Christi , Texas ) is an American NASCAR racing driver.

He won both the Busch Series title and the Winston Cup . He also won the title of the International Race of Champions Championship in 2001. His older brother Terry Labonte was also a well-known NASCAR racing driver who won the Winston Cup twice. The two Labonte brothers were the first pair of brothers to each hold the title in the Cup series. Bobby Labonte is also the uncle of Justin Labonte, who was successful in the Busch Series.

Beginnings

Bobby Labonte started racing in 1969 while racing in so-called Quarter Midgets in Texas. He won his first race a year later. He remained loyal to this racing car until 1977 and drove races in the USA until then, many of which he finished as winners. In 1978 he switched to karting and moved the family to North Carolina when his brother Terry switched to NASCAR's Cup series. After Labonte competed in various racing leagues, he made his debut in 1982 at Martinsville Speedway in the Busch Grand National Series . In his debut race he reached 30th place. After graduating from Trinity High School , he worked on his brother's racing cars at Hagan Racing . In 1985 Labonte returned to the Busch Grand National Series for two races with his own car and drove both races in Martinsville. His best result was a 17th place. The following season he achieved his first pole position in the Busch Grand National Series and achieved a second place in Road Atlanta .

In 1987 Labonte won twelve races on the Caraway Speedway and thus won the circuit championship. He also worked for Jay Hedgecock on the side. The following season he competed at the Concord Motorsport Park and won there six times. He also drove six more races in the Busch Series with a 16th place at Darlington Raceway as the best result. Two additional top 10 placements completed the season.

1990-1994

In 1990 Bobby Labonte drove the first full season in the Busch Series with his own Oldsmobile with the starting number 44. He achieved two pole positions, both of which he achieved at Bristol Motor Speedway , and finished the season fourth in the championship . At the same time, he won the award for most popular driver. In the 1991 season he won his first race in Bristol and another race at Indianapolis Raceway Park . At the end of the season he emerged as a master from the series. In addition, he went to the start for two races in the Cup series at Dover International Speedway and Michigan International Speedway , which he finished 34th and 38th. In the 1992 season, he won three races in the Busch Series at Lanier Raceway , Hickory Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway , but lost in the championship to Joe Nemechek, three points behind.

In the 1994 season Labonte rose to the Cup series and for the Ford Thunderbird with the starting number 22 for Bill Davis Racing . In his season as a rookie, he won pole position at Richmond International Raceway , had two top 10 results and was 19th in the championship at the end. In the race for the title of rookie of the year, he lost to Jeff Gordon . In the 1995 season, Labonte did not improve in the championship, but won the championship in the Busch Series as the owner of the racing car with which David Green started.

1995-2000

Bobby Labonte's former Joe Gibbs Racing car on display at the company's headquarters.

Towards the end of the 1994 season, Labonte changed teams to take over the number 18 Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs Racing . His first win with the new team was the Coca-Cola 600 in the 1995 season. He also won both races at Michigan Speedway and the 1996 season finale in Atlanta , where his brother Terry won the championship.

In the 1997 season Labonte changed manufacturers and drove a Pontiac Grand Prix. Also this season he won the season finale in Atlanta again. The following season, 1998, he achieved pole position for the Daytona 500 and came in second behind Dale Earnhardt . A short time later he won the spring race on the Talladega Superspeedway and then won again in Atlanta. At the season race at Daytona International Speedway , the Pepsi 400 , Labonte again achieved pole position.

In the 1999 season, Labonte won a total of five times, more than any other season. In the championship he finished second behind Dale Jarrett, over 200 points behind. Apart from that, he suffered from a broken shoulder during the season that he sustained while qualifying for a Busch Series race at Darlington Raceway, but started a cup race just two days later. However, he had to hand the car over to Matt Kenseth at the first caution , who drove the race to the end. In the 2000 season, Labonte won a total of four times in the races in Darlington, Charlotte and two races at Pocono Raceway . He was the first driver to win both races of the season in Pocono. At the end of the year, he secured the championship from Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Burton . This also made Labonte the first driver in history to become champion in two NASCAR divisions, as well as the first brother of a former Cup Series champion who also became champion. To this day, Kyle Busch succeeded in doing this .

2001-2005

Labonte (# 43) in the sprint to the pit exit in 2006

Labontes car of the 2007 season

In 2001, Labonte won two races in Atlanta and Pocono and finished the season in sixth in the championship. In the 2002 season, he scored only one victory in the Martinsville spring race, his first on the circuit. With 16th place in the championship, he was not among the top 10 for the first time since the 1998 season. In the 2003 season things went better for Labonte and after his victories in Atlanta and Homestead he finished the championship in eighth place. He started the season particularly well with three consecutive second places.

In the 2004 season, Labonte went without a win for the first time since 1994 and finished twelfth in the championship. The downward trend continued into the following season and after only four top 5 results he fell out of the top 20 of the championship. In addition to the Cup series, he also competed for the first time in some races in the Craftsman Truck Series , where he won in Martinsville. In addition, he started in the Daytona 24-hour race , where he shared the racing car with his brother Terry, Jan Magnussen and Bryan Herta . At the end of the disappointing season for him, he asked Joe Gibbs to leave the team. He agreed and since the 2006 season Labonte has been driving the car with starting number 43 for Petty Enterprises .

Since 2006

In the 2006 season he moved to Petty Enterprises. In his first season in car number 43, Labonte achieved three top-5 and eight top-10 results. He finished the season in 21st place in the championship, three places better than in the 2005 season. Labonte started the 2007 season with a 21st place at the Daytona 500 and won a race in the Busch Series on the Talladega Superspeedway in April 2007. So that he won a race in the Busch Series for the first time since 1998.

After the 2008 season, Labonte's contract with Petty Enterprises for the Sprint Cup expired; he was initially associated with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing for the 2009 season , but has eventually signed a contract with Hall of Fame Racing for the season .

In the 2018 season Labonte starts the entire season in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Has Bobby Labonte already signed with Ganassi? www.motorsport-total.com, December 18, 2008, accessed December 20, 2008 . 
2. ↑ Labonte joins Hall of Fame Racing. www.autosport.com, January 14, 2009, accessed February 17, 2009 . 

Web links

Commons : Bobby Labonte  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website
• Driver statistics on racing-reference.info