The end of an era is coming next year with the retirement of Terry Labonte. There has been much talk about Terry's impending retirement but there is another era ending and it doesn't have to do with Terry but Bobby. After eleven years at Joe Gibbs racing, Bobby and Gibbs are coming to a parting of the ways after the 2005 season. Recently the #18 hasn't been the most competitive but over the past eleven years it's had some fantastic finishes including the top prize - a Winston Cup Championship.

End of an Era for Labonte
By Michael Daly
11/8/2005

It is a rarity in modern NASCAR - a driver investing eleven seasons into a single team. For 2006, though, it comes to a new era for Bobby Labonte and a new era for Joe Gibbs Racing with the end of a superbly successful run for both. Given how long the two were aligned one could never consider any scenario where Labonte drove for someone else.

And it wasn't just because Labonte had been with Gibbs for eleven seasons, it was because with Gibbs Labonte quickly evolved into a consistent winner and ultimately to a champion. Indeed, the combination gelled not only for Labonte but for Gibbs as well, establishing the team beyond their reputation when they first signed Labonte as a young third-year driver.

Beginning as a mechanic working for older brother Terry Labonte at Billy Hagan Racing, Bobby Labonte began in the Busch Series in 1982. He competed periodically in BGN during the 1980s and in 1990 he and his father Bob Labonte made the plunge into a full-season BGN effort. His second season, 1991, got off to a very rough start - he wrecked in practice before Daytona's BGN 300 and had to borrow a car from Terry Labonte to compete in the race; he blew the engine in Turn Three of the opening lap and spun into traffic, eliminating nearly a dozen cars.

From there Labonte's season improved, and he got into the thick of the race for the season title, despite several setbacks, notably a pit road crash with Jeff Gordon at New Hampshire that brought out a memorable tirade from Bob Labonte. Bobby's first career BGN win came at Bristol in April of that year and he followed up with a win at Indy Raceway Park in August, but he trailed in points in mid-October.

At New Hampshire, however, Labonte's title chances got a major boost with two hard wrecks involving point leader Kenny Wallace. With a fourth at Loudon and a fifth at Martinsville in the season finale, Labonte captured the season title. He followed up with a strong 1992 season, winning three times, before being tabbed by Bill Davis to enter NASCAR's top level.

His rookie Nextel Cup season was largely overlooked by Jeff Gordon's strong rookie showing, but he had strong efforts at Charlotte and Talladega. For 1994 Labonte improved with several strong runs as Davis switched from Ford to Pontiac, notably a fifth-place at Michigan. However, the effort ultimately wasn't going anywhere.

At this juncture, Joe Gibbs Racing lost driver Dale Jarrett to Robert Yates Racing. The Gibbs team had been formed from Hendrick Motorsports' R&D car #18 for 1992; it ran Hendrick engines and had become a NASCAR power with victory in the 1993 Daytona 500 followed by a solid fourth in points. For 1994, however, JGR collapsed in performance, despite a late-season win by Jarrett at Charlotte. The team was involved in developing Chevrolet's Monte Carlo when Labonte was signed for 1995, and the new combination of driver and body style began to click early in the '95 season.

Bobby Labonte ran well at the '95 Daytona 500 but blew up and crashed, then finished second at Rockingham and Atlanta. At Darlington, however, his season nearly ended in a brutal melee that broke his shoulder; David Green drove relief for Labonte at Bristol before Labonte came back the next week. Labonte won the pole at Martinsville and also won the pole for the Nextel All-Star Race at Charlotte, but was eliminated in a late melee with Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip, and Lake Speed.

After that, however, Labonte's season turned for the better with a dramatic win in a heated World 600, and from there Labonte climbed into the realm of NASCAR's elite, sweeping both events at Michigan and finishing tenth in 1995 points. And as Labonte was winning, Joe Gibbs racing was preparing for the future - seeing by latter summer that the Hendrick engine supply was going to dry up, JGR began building an engine shop and hired ex-SABCO builder John Wilson to run it.

It became a struggle for most of 1996 getting their new in-house engines going, but in the season's final quarter Labonte's season turned dramatically as he won four poles in the last seven events and powered to victory at Atlanta. The win helped salvage what had been a productive but frustrating season and proved their in-house engine program was for real.

For 1997 General Motors switched the team from Chevrolet to Pontiac and Labonte's fortunes improved even more dramatically. The Pontiac squadron's teams worked with each other to better develop the car and Labonte became a much more consistent contender, winning at Atlanta at season's end and finishing solidly in the top ten in points.

After winning twice in 1998, Labonte got a teammate for 1999 in Indiana sprint-car and IRL ace Tony Stewart. The expansion of JGR into a two-car effort struggled in the first quarter of the season, but then hit a groove and Bobby Labonte surged to victory at Dover, then swept Pocono, won at Michigan, and closed out 1999 with another Atlanta win and second in 1999 points.

Labonte's momentum continued into 2000 as he won at Rockingham, came up a foot short at Atlanta, then won the Brickyard 400 and the Southern 500. With victory in a very competitive National 500 at Charlotte and fifteen top five finishes on top of the four wins, Labonte joined brother Terry as a NASCAR champion.

From there, however, the air in the balloon leaked out. JGR struggled to adapt to ultra-hard tires and Labonte fell to sixth in 2001 points, winning at Pocono and Atlanta. His slump accelerated as he won at Martinsville - his first career Nextel Cup short track win - but plunged to 16th in points with only six additional top ten finishes. For 2003 JGR switched back to Chevrolet, and in the process went from being the big fish in the Pontiac engineering pool to a small fish in Chevrolet's engineering pool. Labonte won at Atlanta for the sixth time, pounced when Bill Elliott broke on the final lap at Homestead, and finished eighth in 2003 points.

After that, however, the slump from the 2000 championship became a collapse. NASCAR switched back to softer tires and lower downforce and Labonte struggled with this package, falling to 12th in 2004 points and was 25th in points when word was confirmed that he would not return to Joe Gibbs Racing.

Yet despite the ignominious end to his tenure with Gibbs, his eleven seasons there are a tenure that will put him in racing halls of fame. That, though, is in the future, as a new beginning awaits Labonte, a driver capable of getting something done and capable of improving a team wherever he goes from here.

Source: http://www.racindeals.com/record.asp?ArticleID=1070

Date: 11/8/2005 3:05:06 PM