Editor’s Note: This is the third of a three-part series on NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Labonte. Click here to read part one and two.
On the other side of Bobby Labonte’s championship run in 2000, came a crossroads for the driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing entry.
Labonte earned five victories between 2001-’03, however a winless drought began following a victory that wrapped up the 2003 season at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Two more years of disappointment and struggles followed, with Labonte and the team parting ways late in the 2005 NASCAR Cup Series season.
“Unfortunately, being there for 10 years and you’re not winning like you were in 2000,” Labonte told SPEED SPORT. “You’re winning a race a year, you’re right there at top 10 in points, but it’s harder to get the speed back, find that combination with the crew chief, driver and engineering.”
For Labonte, it was an emotional goodbye to the team that gave him a home for years.
“I didn’t want to leave, but I didn’t know what to do,” Labonte said. “You gotta think that you can you have a shot at making the right choice to do something a little bit different, and get that back. It was tough because obviously it was a great run, and they’re still to me, family.
“A lot of people have come through Joe Gibbs Racing that we probably all feel like we’re better off driving for Joe Gibbs Racing than not. I for sure do. If I could do it over again, I’d want to still be there, or I’d been there longer.”
His exit at JGR gave way to a new opportunity aboard the famed No. 43 Dodge with Petty Enterprises in 2006.
“It looked like the grass was greener on the other side,” Labonte said. “I started eating some grass on the other side. It really wasn’t as green as I thought it’d be.”
Labonte’s time racing for Richard Petty didn’t go as planned, with 13 top-10’s over the span of three seasons left the former champion without a ride at the end of the 2008 season.
“I kind of went with some emotions,” Labonte said. “Making those decisions because your heart thinks it’s the right thing to do, and it wasn’t all wrong. But, you step back and you go, ‘Well, if I would have done that differently, that would’ve turned out this way.'”
As he looked back on his time with Petty, Labonte found a silver lining, understanding he and the No. 43 team poured everything into making their dynamic work.
“They gave me a great opportunity,” Labonte said. “They gave me everything that they had to race for them. We had some good runs. Obviously competition gets better, and we were limited on some things. We were kind of just there.
“People gave me opportunities, they believed in me, and I believed in them, and we were hoping to make something happen with any and all of them. But, the Pettys were very gracious enough to let me drive their race car. I thought that was awesome, and a part of my career that I’ll never forget.”
Four more full seasons followed, with Labonte competing for the likes of Hall of Fame Racing, TRG Motorsports and JTG Daugherty Racing, before scaling back to part-time action until 2016.
After his NASCAR career concluded, the NASCAR Hall of Fame came calling four years later.
Labonte was part of the 2020 Hall of Fame Inductee list alongside former teammate Tony Stewart, and team owner Joe Gibbs.
The honor came full circle for the Texas native.
“When you think about the whole 50 years of racing, that in itself is totally amazing,” Labonte said. “When the induction happened with Tony and with Joe, for me personally the glory years of my life, the best years of my racing career, as far as success goes, were at Joe Gibbs Racing.
“Then Tony, having him as a teammate for so many years and him winning championships there and being part of the Joe Gibbs Racing family. All those right there, it was very emotional for I think all of us to be inducted at the same time.”
In more than two decades of competition, Labonte’s Hall of Fame résumé speaks for itself.
Thirty-two victories across NASCAR’s top three divisions, two titles and an IROC championship capped off a prolific career for Labonte.
“It was ironic. It would have been great to be inducted, no matter what, but just amazing to be inducted with all three of us at the same time,” Labonte said. “Very emotional, I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way now that it was done that way.”
For most, the Hall of Fame induction is a stamp and seal on their time competing in a race car.
It was the exact opposite for Labonte.
The 58-year-old has competed in the Superstar Racing Experience the past two summers, along with announcing a full-time effort in the upcoming Southern Modified Auto Racing Teams Tour season.
The opportunity to compete gives Labonte a sense of excitement, along with a motivation that keeps him moving forward toward the next goal.
“I just love it. I didn’t race for a couple of years. I ran my go-kart, just goofed around a little bit,” Labonte said. “Then, I ran a race at Bowman Gray, and I hated that I went there and practiced because then it was like, ‘OK, I gotta do this.’ Like, ‘Oh man, I got the bug back.’
“If I was getting lapped every 10 laps, it’d be one thing. So to be able to go out there and be competitive in anything, is still fun to me. I enjoy doing it, it keeps me feeling younger and more physically fit. It gives me that goal to shoot for.”
This past season, Labonte earned a victory in the SRX series at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, out-dueling Marco Andretti and Matt Kenseth.
“It kind of keeps me busy where if I wasn’t busy, I think I’d be off the track somewhere. I’d be over the guardrail doing something dumb,” Labonte joked. “It kind of keeps me into racing, and I’m a fan of it. I love talking about it, I love doing it and I still have that passion for it.”
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