With most of the motorsports world on hiatus because of the coronavirus pandemic, we’ve decided to highlight some of the sport’s legends on a daily basis. We begin each story within the pages of National Speed Sport News.
One of stock-car racing’s most popular drivers, Terry Labonte began competing in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series in 1978.
Known as Texas Terry and as “The Iceman” for his quiet unassuming style, Labonte is a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, having taken the title way back in 1984, and won it again 12 years later in 1996.
Labonte owns 22 Cup Series victories and 27 poles during his career, making 890 Cup Series starts spanning from 1978 through 2014.
Best known for his years driving for Hendrick Motorsports from 1994 through 2005, Labonte began his career driving for Billy Hagan, and has also wheeled cars owned by Richard Jackson and Junior Johnson.
Labonte is part of the only brother tandem to have won the Winston Cup title, as his younger brother Bobby claimed the championship in 2000. The brothers interest in racing were steered from an early age by their father, Bob.
Labonte’s son, Justin, also competed in NASCAR during the early 2000s, earning one NASCAR Xfinity Series victory.
Later in his career he became known as the sport’s “Iron Man” due to a record 655 consecutive starts in NASCAR’s premier series, a record which stood until 2002.
There was a 12-year gap between his two Cup Series titles. No other driver has won his first two championships that far apart and Labonte is one of only six drivers to have won Cup Series championships in two decades.
He also won 11 NASCAR Xfinity Series races and one NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series event. Labonte also won the 1989 IROC title.
Labonte was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Great Drivers in 1998, was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2001 and the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2016.
