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Terry Labonte

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Terry Lee Labonte (born 16 November 1956, Corpus Christi, Texas) is an American stock car racing driver who won the NASCAR Winston Cup championship twice, in 1984 and 1996. His second title came a record twelve years after the first — the longest gap between championships in NASCAR history. He drove for Hendrick Motorsports, among other teams, and is a member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Labonte began racing quarter midgets at age seven and won a national championship by nine. He won track championships in Corpus Christi, Houston, and San Antonio between 1975 and 1977. He met Louisiana businessman Billy Hagan during this period, a connection that would prove decisive for his early career.

Labonte's NASCAR debut came in 1978 at Darlington Raceway in the No. 92 Duck Industries Chevrolet, finishing fourth. He drove the No. 44 for Hagan Racing and finished tenth in points in 1979. His first Winston Cup victory came at Darlington on Labor Day weekend 1980. He won his first Winston Cup championship in 1984, taking victories at Riverside and Bristol.

From 1987 Labonte drove the No. 11 Budweiser Chevrolet for Junior Johnson and Associates, winning the Holly Farms 400 in his first season and The Winston all-star race in 1988. The team switched to Ford Thunderbirds in 1989 but Labonte fell back in the championship standings.

Labonte joined Hendrick Motorsports in 1994 driving the No. 5 Kellogg's Chevrolet. In 1996 he claimed his second Winston Cup title with only two victories in the season, driving the final two races with a broken hand. The title came twelve years after his 1984 championship — a record. At the season-ending race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Labonte and his younger brother Bobby Labonte completed a dual victory lap, the only occasion a driver and sibling won the race and championship simultaneously.

His consecutive starts streak reached 655 before breaking in 2000 when inner ear injuries at the Pepsi 400 caused him to miss two races. He won the Mountain Dew Southern 500 at Darlington in 2003 — twenty-three years after his first win there — leading the final 33 laps. This win was reportedly voted the most popular of the 2003 season by approximately 90 percent of NASCAR fans. Hendrick Motorsports announced Kyle Busch as his replacement and Labonte moved to part-time competition from 2005.

Labonte won 22 Sprint Cup Series races, 11 Nationwide Series races, and one Craftsman Truck Series race across his career. He also won three all-star races (the 1985 Busch Clash and The Winston in 1988 and 1999) and the 1989 IROC championship. He started 32 Daytona 500s, second only to Dave Marcis, and made his final Daytona 500 start in 2014. He achieved class victories at the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring in 1984 driving a GTO-class Chevrolet Camaro.

Labonte was named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998. He was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2016 on 20 May 2015, alongside Bruton Smith, Curtis Turner, Bobby Isaac, and Jerry Cook. On 26 January 2017 he was named to the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.

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