Terrance Lee Labonte (born November 16, 1956), nicknamed "Texas Terry" or "the Iceman", is an American former stock car driver. He raced from 1978 to 2014 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup and Sprint Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series). A two-time Cup Series champion in 1984 and 1996 and the 1989 IROC champion, he is the older brother of 2000 Cup Series champion Bobby Labonte, and the father of former Nationwide Series driver Justin Labonte. He also co-owns a Chevrolet dealership in Greensboro, North Carolina with Rick Hendrick. He appeared on the CBS series The Dukes of Hazzard in 1984, where he played an unnamed pit crew member.
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Early life
Terry Labonte was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1956. He was introduced to racing at an early age through his father, who had worked on race cars as a hobby for his friends. He started racing quarter midgets when he was seven and won a national championship at nine before moving onto the local short tracks in a stock car as a teenager. He graduated from Mary Carroll High School in 1975. Driving on both dirt and asphalt, he won track championships in his hometown, in Houston, and in San Antonio between 1975 and 1977. During this time he also met Louisiana businessman Billy Hagan.
Racing career
Hagan Racing
Labonte’s first NASCAR race came in 1978 at Darlington Raceway. He qualified 19th in the No. 92 Duck Industries Chevrolet and finished fourth that weekend. He ran four more races that season and had an additional two top-ten finishes. In 1979, he competed for NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year honors along with Dale Earnhardt, Harry Gant, and Joe Millikan while driving the No. 44 Stratagraph Chevrolet for Hagan. Although Labonte failed to win the top rookie award, he was one of three rookies to finish in the top-ten in points. He ended the season with thirteen top-ten finishes. The following year, he won his first career Winston Cup race on Labor Day weekend at Darlington. He won $222,501 in prize money for the year and finished eighth in the final points standings.
Labonte failed to return to victory lane over the next two years but didn't finish outside the top-five in the final standings. He won his second career race in 1983 in the Budweiser Chevrolet. In 1984, his team received sponsorship from Piedmont Airlines and he won races at Riverside International Raceway and Bristol Motor Speedway as well as clinching his first Winston Cup championship. He dropped to seventh in the final points in 1985. During that season, he made his Busch Series debut at Charlotte in the No. 17 Pontiac owned by Darrell Waltrip and won the 400 miles (640 km) race. Waltrip asked Labonte to drive after deciding to focus his driving priorities solely on Winston Cup racing during what would be Waltrip's 307-point gain over Bill Elliott in the final eight races of the 1985 season.
Junior Johnson & Associates
Labonte fell back to 12th in the standings in 1986. Before season's end, he announced he was leaving Hagan's team to drive the No. 11 Budweiser Chevrolet for Junior Johnson's team beginning the following year. In his first season with this team, he earned four poles and won the Holly Farms 400, leaping up to third in the final standings. He followed that up with a fourth-place points finish in 1988, as well as winning The Winston. In 1989, the team switched to Ford Thunderbirds. Despite two wins during the season, he fell back to tenth in the championship.
Precision Products Racing
In 1990, Labonte signed with Leo Jackson's Precision Products Racing team to drive the No. 1 Skoal Classic Oldsmobile. He had four top-fives and nine top-tens and finished 15th in the points standings.
Labonte scrapped plans for 1990 to run a self-owned independent team, because he couldn't land a full sponsorship, the News-Record of Greensboro, N.C. reported in 1990, and he signed to the Precision Products Racing team.
Return to Hagan Racing
Labonte came back to Hagan Racing to drive the No. 94 Sunoco Oldsmobile in 1991, winning his first pole since 1988. He began 1992 with finishes inside the top-eight in each of the first eight races. He had a total of four top-five finishes and sixteen top-ten finishes, ending the season eighth in points. In 1993, the team switched to the No. 14 Kellogg's Chevrolet. While he had ten top-tens, for the first time in his career, Labonte failed to finish a race in the top-five and he dropped to 18th in points.
On July 1, 1993, it was announced that Labonte would be leaving Hagan Racing at the end of the season to drive for Hendrick Motorsports in 1994.
Hendrick Motorsports
After leaving Hagan Racing in 1993, Labonte was signed to Hendrick Motorsports in 1994, where he began driving the No. 5 Kellogg's Chevrolet Lumina. In 1995, the team switched to Chevrolet Monte Carlos and won three races including the fall Goody's 500 event at Bristol, where the front of Labonte's car was wrecked after Dale Earnhardt crashed into him in the final lap. In 1996, he broke Richard Petty’s streak for consecutive races after winning at North Wilkesboro. Despite only two victories, Labonte went on to win the championship, a record-setting twelve years after his first. Driving with a broken hand during the last two races of the season, Labonte and his younger brother Bobby were able to perform a dual victory lap at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the last race of the season; Bobby won the race and Terry won the championship on this race, making it the only time a driver and his sibling won the race and the championship at the same time.
Labonte posted twenty top-ten finishes in 1997 and collected his only win of the season at the fall race at Talladega Superspeedway. In 1998, it was the final season to have Labonte's trademark mustache, where he went on to win the Pontiac Excitement 400 and finished ninth in points. With a win at his home track at Texas Motor Speedway and in the Sprint All-Star Race XV in 1999, Labonte finished 12th in points, the first time he had finished outside the top-ten since 1993.
Labonte shaved his mustache off in 1999, where his most famous race was the 1999 Goody's Headache Powder 500 at Bristol. He was involved in one of the most infamous and controversial NASCAR finishes ever, when he was spun out by a lapped Darrell Waltrip while leading with ten laps to go when he slowed the field under caution. Labonte pitted for four tires and quickly recovered and was leading with one lap remaining. However, Dale Earnhardt, who was in second at the time, wrecked Labonte half-way to the checkered flag and won. Labonte finished 8th while wrecking. In victory lane, Dale Earnhardt maintained that it wasn't on purpose. In a post-race interview, Labonte didn't buy Earnhardt's excuses, angrily stating "[Earnhardt] never intends to take anybody out...it just happens that way."
The 2000 season saw Labonte's consecutive start streak broken at 655 after he suffered inner ear injuries in the Pepsi 400 and was forced to miss the Brickyard 400 and the Global Crossing @ The Glen. 2000 was also his first winless season since 1993. His younger brother Bobby won that year's championship. He began 2001 with two top-six finishes in the first seven races but continued to fall in the points standings. Labonte’s trademark mustache returned mid-season but his fortunes did not change, eventually finishing the 2001 season in 23rd place. Even though he dropped back to 24th in 2002 with one top-five finish and four top-tens, 2002 marked a definite turning point for Labonte with the appointment of veteran crew chief, Jim Long, to the team.
Semi-retirement years
Labonte began his semi-retirement in 2005. He borrowed the number 44, his former number, from Petty Enterprises and ran Hendrick's No. 44 research and development car with some sponsorship from Kellogg's, Pizza Hut, and GMAC. His best finish in 2005 for Hendrick Motorsports came at Pocono Raceway, where he finished 12th.
Labonte also ran ten races with Hendrick Motorsports research and development car No. 44 in 2006.
Labonte also drove five races in the No. 11 FedEx Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs Racing following the release of Jason Leffler, with a top finish of ninth at Richmond.
Labonte began the 2006 season driving the No. 96 Texas Instruments/DLP HDTV Chevrolet Monte Carlo car for Hall of Fame Racing, a new team started by former Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman. Labonte's past-champion's provisional guaranteed the team a starting spot in the first five races. Labonte's finishes in those races left the team 30th in points, sealing a spot for the team in each race as long as they remained in the Top 35. Tony Raines took over the driving duties for the No. 96 car and ran for the rest of the season, with the exception of the road-course races at Infineon Raceway and Watkins Glen International. Labonte's best finish of 2006 came at Infineon, where he finished third due to a fuel mileage gamble by Philippe Lopez, the crew chief of the No. 96 DLP/Texas Instruments Chevrolet.
During the 2007 season, Labonte drove three races for Michael Waltrip Racing, both road course events, and the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, in the No.55 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry. His best finish in the No. 55 was 30th twice, at Indianapolis and Watkins Glen.
On May 11, 2008, it was announced that Labonte would drive the No. 45 car of Petty Enterprises for six races in the middle of the 2008 Sprint Cup season, replacing Kyle Petty on a temporary basis. Labonte was reunited with brother Bobby, who was the regular driver of the No. 43 for Petty. Labonte posted two solid top-20 runs in the six-race tenure, a 16th at Daytona and a 17th at Infineon, both the best finishes for the No. 45 car this season. It was later announced that he would drive for Petty again in the Brickyard 400. Labonte was back in the No. 45 car for Petty Enterprises when the Sprint Cup Series went to the Michigan International Speedway for the 3M Performance 400 on August 17, 2008. He would be back in the No. 45 car again for the AMP Energy 500 at the Talladega Superspeedway for the final time in the 2008 Sprint Cup Season. He would go on to post a 17th-place finish, even after sustaining severe damage in one of the multi-car accidents. Labonte's results in 2008 proved far better on average than the previous three seasons, while driving also part-time.
Competition in other series
In addition to his 22 wins in the Sprint Cup Series, Labonte has won eleven races in the Nationwide Series and one in the Craftsman Truck Series, as well as three all-star races: the Busch Clash in 1985 and The Winston (now the Sprint All-Star Challenge) in 1988 and 1999. He also won the IROC championship in 1989 with one win, and assisted the late Davey Allison to the 1993 IROC championship by driving his car to a sixth place finish in the final race of the season.
Including his two championship seasons, he has finished in the top-ten in the year-end standings seventeen times, and his top-five and top-ten totals approach 25 percent and 50 percent, respectively, of his total races. Labonte holds the record for most seasons between championships, with twelve seasons in between his 1984 & 1996 championships.
Labonte also collected class wins at the two most prestigious endurance races in the United States, the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring, driving a GTO-class Chevrolet Camaro during the 1984 IMSA GT Championship season. In his career, Labonte started 32 Daytona 500s, tied with Richard Petty for second-most all-time behind Dave Marcis.
Honors
NASCAR Hall of Fame
On February 21, 2014, Labonte was nominated for the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2015, along with nineteen other candidates. This occurred not long after NASCAR revised the rules allowing current drivers eligibility into the Hall provided they are at least 55 years of age or have 30+ years of NASCAR experience.
After being passed over as a first-ballot inductee for the class of 2015, Labonte was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2016 on May 20, 2015. Joining Labonte in the 2016 class were Speedway Motorsports Executive Chairman Bruton Smith, and drivers Curtis Turner, Bobby Isaac, and Jerry Cook.
On January 26, 2017, Labonte was named to the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.
Other
In 1998, the senior Labonte was named as one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers. A park was renamed for the Labonte brothers in their hometown of Corpus Christi in 2001, and they were chosen for entry into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2002. Labonte supports a variety of charities and due to his efforts, the Ronald McDonald House in Corpus Christi, the Victory Junction Gang Camp near Randleman, North Carolina, and the Hendrick Marrow Program all have benefited.
TV and movie appearances
In the 1983 Hal Needham/Burt Reynolds movie Stroker Ace, Labonte appeared as himself (but credited as a "NASCAR Driver"), along with many other contemporary drivers.
Motorsports career results
NASCAR
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points
24 Hours of Daytona
(key)