Oct 18, 05:50 PM
A few years ago there was a great driver known as Bobby Labonte. He was almost as famous as Jeff Gordon. He was in the top five every week. He was always contending for the win.
He had an incredible car that could always win with little changes or effort in the race. His pit crew was the National Pit Crew champions at the time. His car owner was second to Hendrick in many ways.
He had a stunning rookie teammate that could make obstacles and women fall over for two different reasons.
Labonte was at the so-called ‘high point’ of his career. He was winning at least five races a year. He was second in the points in 1999 and was going to win the championship in 2000. He stunned the crowd of fans at Atlanta Motor Speedway by barely losing to Dale Earnhardt in a photo finish. Many Earnhardt fans were continually stunned as he kept the point lead over Dale, all year long.
Labonte won his most impressive race that season at The Brickyard. By the time there were a few races to go he had four impressive wins and over 300 points on Earnhardt. He wrapped up the Championship in style at Homestead. He was a legendary veteran driver with nine wins in two seasons. It looked fantastic going in to the 2001 season. Everyone thought he would be a force to reckon with for many years to come.
That has not been the case, however, from that particular time till the present.
In 2001 the Daytona 500 proved to be a terrible race for Bobby Labonte as well as Dale Earnhardt. Labonte was involved in the huge crash about 2/3 of the way through the race. Tony Stewart’s No. 20 Chevy landed on top of his No. 18 Chevy.
He rebounded at Rockingham with a mildly disappointing second-place finish. The rest of the first half of the season Labonte went without a win, having many DNF’s and poor race finishes.
He finally got a win in the Pennsylvania 500 with an impressive pass on Dale Earnhardt Jr. with a few laps to go. Allen Bestwick commented that Labonte had not had been having a good year as he was crossing the finish line.
Labonte had many more disappointing finishes until one of the final races of 2001. During the NAPA 500 at Atlanta, Bobby had been having a great run all day and was going to finish second. Jerry Nadeau ran out of gas on the last lap allowing Labonte to win. He finished up the season having had only a moderate year compared to other seasons.
2002 marked an important year for the Interstate Batteries driver. He needed to rebound from his poor previous season. Things went horribly for the first few races including another wreck in the Daytona 500. Finally at Martinsville he used pit strategy to get a win. Labonte probably thought that his season was going to turn around at that point. However his season only got worse with several bad finishes and his first finish outside of the top ten in points since 1994. Labonte was devastated with his terrible season compared to Tony Stewart’s successful championship run. He was surely hoping that 2003 would be better.
In 2003 Joe Gibbs Racing switched to Chevrolets. It seemed to help Labonte’s performances at the races. Labonte was incredibly competitive at the first few races (except for Daytona, with another wreck). He entered the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway with a lot of hope. It paid off with a dominating performance. He beat Jeff Gordon in a late race duel to win his twentieth career race. Labonte had many other strong finishes throughout the rest of the year. He had a few accidents but he ran well before he crashed.
Labonte headed into the final race of the season in the top ten in points. He ran good just like at Atlanta, and was looking to finish second to a strong Bill Elliott. Elliott had an unusual tire failure with one lap to go. Labonte won the final race of the season for the third time in his career. Things looked to be good going into 2004.
As it turned out, though, 2004 was a frustrating year for the No. 18 team. The car was off the pace in many races, and he had many accidents and mechanical problems. He had a decent Daytona 500 race by finishing eleventh, outside of the big wreck. He had consistent runs, but ones that were not quite up to the Chase for the Cup standards. He failed to make the Chase due to a controversial crash with Brian Vickers in the Pennsylvania 500 (speculation swirled that Vickers might have wanted to get in the Chase badly enough to take out a competitor). Labonte, however, seemed not to be affected by his poor runs. He was sure to be upset to miss the Chase, but he was having decent runs every week. By the end of 2004 Labonte had not won a single race all season for the first time since 1994. It seemed to make him all the more determined to perform better in 2005.
2005 was possibly the most disappointing season ever for Bobby Labonte; not many other drivers in previous championship form had as bad a time as he did. Labonte crashed and blew his engine in almost every single race for the first quarter of the season. He managed a few top fives and tens in the remainder of the season, but it was a winless year overall. Labonte finished not only outside the top ten in points but he also finished outside the top twenty in points in 2005. He was let go from JGR, even though he had been driving for them since 1995.
He was lucky that Richard Petty was looking for a driver for the No. 43 car the next season.
Starting the 2006 season, things looked promising for Bobby in the Daytona 500. He qualified in the top ten and was going to have a good finish until he crashed near the end.
The rest of the first half of the season was full of crashes and poor runs for Labonte. He has had a few good runs throughout the season but nothing that was really that great (with the exception of the Pepsi 400, but just as at Daytona he was doing great then crashed near the end of the race). Overall this season has been filled with good and bad moments but the bad were often seen.
I, as a fan, have been very sad and dejected at how my driver is running. I have gotten to the point that I really appreciate all the decent finishes that Labonte is able to get. In my opinion he does well if he just gets a top twenty finish.
I live for the good runs and moments that Labonte has now. When he gets a top ten I am just as excited as I used to be when he won. I, like many of his fans, am hoping that his ride with Petty will continue to improve and he will be a contender again.
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l-train Says:
Oct 19, 05:46 AMGood article, I’m also a big Labonte fan. He wasn’t let go from JGR though, he asked to leave. In fact, JGR let him talk to other teams (namely Ganassi) while he was under contract. And as much as I want to see him succeed at PE, it will be a lost cause if Kyle can’t get back in the top 35 in points.
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Holly Says:
Oct 19, 06:22 AMFascinating read Josh!A true heartfelt article from a true blue Bobby Labonte fan! Keep up the good work!
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Jo-Ann Says:
Oct 19, 06:55 AMNow that he has Paul Andrews, life is good….I am a diehard Bobby fan, and I am glad Todd Parrot left, he needs to be with RYR they deserve each other, Go BOBBY!!!!
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BrokenBow Says:
Oct 19, 08:00 AMThis is a fantastic artical. Being one of the few ‘Old School’ fans still left I can remember when Bobby came into racing. Don’t ever give up on Bobby, he is on his way back and will return to Victory Lane many times before he retires.
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Dave Allen Says:
Oct 19, 08:16 AMAs a Bobby Labonte fanatic, I support him through the good and the bad. This week at Martinsville, I see Bobby pulling back into Victiry Lane. But 1st 0r 43rd I’m still a huge fan.
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Tim Harbin Says:
Oct 19, 09:03 AMI am a big Petty fan, and I was so happy to see Bobby come to PE this year. This year may not have been what we all wanted but it is turning in the right direction,PE just needs a little good luck to come thier way. I was there at Daytona in July, watching Bobby running so well, thinking this might be the race we go back to Victory Lane, then it is all gone with help from JJ.Then Todd left and I wondered what would happen. It looks like we should have had Paul on the 43 the whole time, man are they running good since he came over. He could have 5 or 6 top tens since he New Hampshire if #43 had not got hit by others. It is very possible we will get that win this Sunday in Marinsville or next week in Atlanta, I hope it happens, can you imagine the emotions that will be flowing when it happens, it may be the biggest moment or at least clos to the biggest moment in NASCAR, it would definetly be the biggest story of 2006. As for Kyle, I don’t know, it sure hurts to see im run where he runs every week, I pull for him, I can’t help but believe they have the same stuff as the 43. GO Bobby and Kyle, win one for Adam!
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Jay Says:
Oct 19, 09:05 AMBobby’s downward slide came as GM punted Pontiac out of NASCAR and when they took Jimmy Makar away from him.
I will always be a fan because he is from Texas!
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glenng Says:
Oct 19, 10:58 AMI have been a Bobby Labonte fan from the days of the #44 slim jim car in busch, to his first ride in the #22 bill davis maxwell house car. I was reading somewhere that in 2001, jgr did in fact start making the chassis more to stewarts liking. This was about the time that joe was thinking of returning to the redskins. From the time Joes kid took over the opperation, The 18 car has been in a downward fall. But just like little brian france, when new blood comes in, the new guy wants to change things to make them bigger and better. Well it did for the 20 car. The 18 car got the shaft. France wanted to make things better for nascar by giving big tv contracts to fox and nbc. If you pay attention at all, the ratings have falling like a rock. Why you ask,#1 The start times have been delayed to cater to the people on the left coast. Speeking for myself, I dont want to wait till 3pm to watch a race in atlanta. remember the days when at high noon we were on the track and racing? Nascar has all but forgoten about its roots. And so has jgr. Trust me when i say Bobby still has one more championship in him. Look at Terry for example. He won a championship then fell on hard times as did Bobby. But magic happened in 1996 for Terry. He got # 2. Bobby will do it again. Its in his blood line. He in fact has had a great year. He is doing better than the 18 team. The 43 car is doing better than it was with green in it. Were are doing better than fatbacks team. We are doing better than parrot’s team. Sure it hasn’t been steller, but when you look at where the 18 car is in the points, that could have been Bobby. Some say Mark martin it the cleanest driver out there. I say Bobby is. The difference being Bobby doesnt complain when someone races him hard. He doesnt make outlandish excuses when this go bad. He is a stand up guy. Bobby Labonte for president. lol
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Adam Says:
Oct 19, 12:30 PMTwo legends came together this year to resurrect Petty Enterprises. Its been a long road for alot of Labonte and Petty fans over the last several years. Finally the transformation has begun. There are not alot of true old school race teams left in Nascar The good old boys as they say. No Junior Johnsons and Allisons that raced and worked on these cars until dawn to take to a track… We still have that left in Labonte and the Pettys, a perfect match of old school heart, we will get a win. Those boys at Petty Enterprises want a win, its nice to see the support again. Its early in their new career together, a couple of top 5’s and top 10’s, well we all know what that leads into WINS!!!!
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Lisa Says:
Oct 19, 01:31 PMGreat article!!! I too wait for the day that Bobby gets back into Victory Lane. It WILL happen!!
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texgal43 Says:
Oct 19, 07:16 PMI think this article had some good points but Bobby is still a contender and with Paul Andrews at his side, he is going to be a serious “threat” to the “young guns” of NASCAR in 2007. Bobby is a class act and one of the best drivers on the circuit. A true southern gentleman. I wear my #43 proudly where ever Bobby finishes…which will be in Victory Lane.
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cj Says:
Oct 19, 07:36 PMAt the Labonte Park Dedication in 2001 a group of Bobby fans gave him a nickname. Its Cool Hands. I think we should really push for this. He will definitely get a win soon. We love our Cool Hands!
HeartRacers~HeartBreakers: Bank of America 500 edition Commercial breakdown for the Subway 500
Oct 19, 03:55 AM
I think JGR screwed Bobby. He was 6th in points, about 10 races in the race to the chase and they fire Fatback. I believe JGR was so focussed on Tony they forgot all about Bobby (even heard all the cars were built more to Tony’s specs, not Bobby’s) and I think that’s happening to JJ Yeley. Between Tony and Denny Hamlin, JJ is an afterthought and it’s not fair. If they’re not going to focus on all their drivers, don’t run 3 cars.