Owner(s) | Bob Labonte, Bobby Labonte, Terry Labonte, Justin Labonte |
---|---|
Base | Charlotte, North Carolina |
Series | Winston Cup, Busch Series |
Race drivers | Bobby Labonte, Terry Labonte, Justin Labonte, David Green |
Sponsors | Slim Jim, Shell Oil Company, United States Coast Guard |
Manufacturer | Chevrolet, Oldsmobile, Buick, Pontiac, Dodge |
Opened | 1982 |
Closed | 2004 |
Career | |
Drivers' Championships | 2 |
Race victories | 21 |
Labonte Motorsports is a former part-time Winston Cup team and full-time Busch Series team. It was owned by the Labonte racing family from Corpus Christi, Texas and competed for several years under various incarnations.
Labonte Motorsports debuted in 1982 at Martinsville Speedway in the No. 44 Oldsmobile, when it was owned Bob Labonte. Bobby Labonte drove the car, starting fifteenth and finishing twenty-sixth after dropping out 30 laps into the race. They did not run a race until 1985, when Bobby drove two races in the No. 81 at Martinsville, his best finish being seventeenth in the fall race. In 1986, Terry Labonte drove two races, winning the pole at Road Atlanta and finished second at the same race. Bobby returned to run six races in the No. 88 Winner's Circle Auto Parts Buick, but wrecked out of three of them. In 1989, he switched back to the No. 44 and had first three top-tens, including a fourth-place finish at Rockingham Speedway.
Labonte ran his first full season 1990, with sponsorship from Penrose Firecracker. Although he went winless, he had seventeen top-tens and finished fourth in the final standings. In 1991, he won two races and the Busch Series championship. That same season, Labonte Motorsports, ran five races at the Winston Cup level. Bobby ran two races for Bob, first in the 14, and then the 44, dropping out of both races with engine failure. Irv Hoerr then ran three races for Terry in the 44, his best finish being 19th at Pocono Raceway. Terry also began fielding his own entries in Busch, driving five races in the No. 94 Sunoco Oldsmobile and picking up a win at Watkins Glen International. In 1992, Labonte won three races but lost the championship by three points. Terry failed to win a race, but switched to the No. 14 after picking up sponsorship from MW Windows.
Bobby moved up to Cup in 1993, and was replaced by Labonte Motorsports mechanic David Green with Slim Jim becoming the team's new sponsor. Although he failed to win in his first season with the team, he had six top-fives and finished third in points. The No. 14 was shared by Bobby and Terry, who together won two pole positions. In 1994, Green won one race but also claimed the Busch Series championship. Terry had four wins out of twenty starts, and Bobby debuted the new No. 33 Dentyne Pontiac, winning at Michigan International Speedway. Green had another win in 1995, but fell to twelfth in the standings. Terry had one win and finished eighteenth in points.
In 1996, Bob retired from racing and Bobby became the new listed owner of the 44. With Shell Oil sponsoring, Bobby ran sixteen races and won at Nashville Speedway USA. Terry changed his number to 5 and picked up funding from Bayer/Actron, and won three races that season. Bobby Hamilton ran the season finale at Homestead, finishing 24th. He drove fourteen times in 1997, but failed to win a race. Andy Hillenburg and Brad Leighton drove in one-race deals for him, but they failed to finish in the top-ten. Bobby drove fifteen times in 1998, and had another win, along with sharing the ride with Tony Stewart for five races, who had two top-tens. At the end of the season, Bobby sold his team to this employer, Joe Gibbs Racing.
After taking 1998 off, Labonte Motorsports returned in 1999, with Terry owning and driving the No. 44 Slim Jim Chevrolet. He won his final career Busch race at Talladega Superspeedway, and had three top-fives. Jack Sprague and Steve Grissom drove one race deals for him, and Terry's son Justin began racing, making nine starts that season with a best finish of fourteenth at Myrtle Beach Speedway. Labonte and Glenn Allen Jr. shared the ride to begin the 2000 season, before Justin finished it out. His best finish was 20th at Nashville.
Labonte Motorsports was inactive until Justin began running a part-time schedule in 2004. Driving the No. 44 United States Coast Guard Dodge Intrepid, he made sixteen starts and won the Twister 300 at Chicagoland Speedway. The team partnered with Haas CNC Racing in 2005 to allow Justin to run a full-time schedule in the 44 Chevy. Despite three top-tens and a seventeenth-place finish in points, Coast Guard departed for Richard Childress Racing at the end of the season, causing the team to close its doors again.
Robert Allen Labonte is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver and current analyst for NASCAR on Fox. He also currently competes part-time in the SMART Modified Tour, driving the No. 18L for Hermie Sadler and Bill Stanley. Labonte is the 2000 NASCAR Cup Series champion. He and his older brother, Terry Labonte, are one of only two pairs of brothers to have both won the Cup championships. He is also the uncle of former Xfinity Series race winner Justin Labonte.
Terrance Lee Labonte, 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. 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.
The 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series was the 57th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 34th modern-era Cup series. The season began on Saturday, February 12. The ten-race Chase for the Nextel Cup started with the Sylvania 300 on Sunday, September 18, and ended on Sunday, November 20, with the Ford 400.
Hendrick Motorsports is an American professional auto racing organization that competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded in 1984 as All-Star Racing by Rick Hendrick. Hendrick Motorsports has won a NASCAR-record 308 Cup Series races and 14 Cup Series owners and drivers championships to go with three Truck Series owners and drivers titles and one Xfinity Series drivers crown. Additionally, the team has 28 Xfinity Series race wins, 26 Truck Series race wins, and seven ARCA Menards Series race wins.
David Allen Green is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who currently works as a NASCAR official. While driving, he won the 1994 NASCAR Busch Series championship. His two younger brothers, Jeff and Mark have also competed in the NASCAR circuit, and his son, Austin, currently races in the Trans-Am Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. As of 2022, he remains 1 of 2 Xfinity Series Champions to not to score a single top ten in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Justin Labonte is a former NASCAR Busch Series driver. He is the son of two-time Winston Cup Series champion Terry Labonte, and the nephew of 2000 champion Bobby Labonte. He currently races on short tracks in North Carolina.
Bill Davis Racing was a racing team that participated in all three of NASCAR's top divisions until 2009.
Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) is an American professional stock car racing organization founded by Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs. His son, J. D. Gibbs, ran the team with him until his death in 2019. Founded in Huntersville, North Carolina, in 1992. JGR has won five Cup Series championships.
The 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series was the 58th season of professional Stock car racing in the United States and the 35th modern-era NASCAR Cup series season. It was started at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, February 12 with the Budweiser Shootout and ended on Monday, November 20, with the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The Chase for the Nextel Cup began with the Sylvania 300 on Sunday, September 17, at New Hampshire International Speedway. This was the last full-time season with the Gen 4 car.
Brewco Motorsports was a racing team that competed in the NASCAR Busch Series. The team was owned from 1995 until 2007 by Clarence Brewer Jr., his wife Tammy, and Todd Wilkerson. The team won 10 races over 13 seasons in the Busch Series, and entered a single NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race in 2004. The team was sold to Mike Curb and Gary Baker with nine races left in the 2007 season, with both Brewco entries becoming part of Baker-Curb Racing.
The 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 49th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 26th modern-era NASCAR Cup series. It began on February 9 and ended on November 16. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports won his second Cup championship at the end of the season.
The 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 47th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 24th modern-era Cup series season. The season began on February 12 in Daytona Beach and concluded on November 12 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports won his first career championship.
The 2000 NASCAR Busch Series began on February 19 and ended on November 11. Jeff Green of ppc Racing was crowned series champion.
Randy Moss Motorsports with HTM was a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team. It was owned by David Dollar and NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss. Former driver Rob Morgan co-owned the team until 2004.
Phoenix Racing is a motorsports team that currently competes part-time in the ARCA Menards Series East fielding the No. 1 Toyota Camry and various Super Late Model events fielding the No. 51 Chevrolet SS for Jake Finch. Owned by Florida businessman James Finch, the team fielded NASCAR entries across the top three series from 1989 through 2013. The team fielded a wide variety of drivers and often changed manufacturers, though it often maintained a relationship with Hendrick Motorsports. In the Cup Series, Phoenix Racing was victorious just once in 251 starts over 24 seasons.
The 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 40th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 17th modern-era Cup series. The season began on February 7 at Daytona International Speedway and ended on November 20 at the Atlanta International Speedway. Bill Elliott of Melling Racing won the championship.
The 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 39th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 16th modern-era cup series.
The 1985 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 37th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 14th modern-era Cup series season. The season began on Sunday, February 10 and ended on Sunday, November 17. Darrell Waltrip, driving for Junior Johnson, was crowned champion at the end of the season. Bill Elliott, driving for Harry Melling, had won 11 races in 1985, but lost the title by 101 points to three-time race winner Waltrip. This was the first season where all races were televised in some form.
The 1984 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 36th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 13th modern-era Cup series season. It began on Sunday, February 19 and ended on Sunday, November 18. Terry Labonte was crowned champion at the end of the season. This was the final year for Chrysler until Dodge returned in 2001.