Labontes’ Victories a True Family Affair

When Terry Labonte won the Winston Cup championship in 1984, younger brother Bobby was standing behind the pit wall, a junior member of the winning team.

On Sunday, Bobby was out front at Atlanta Motor Speedway, winning the season-ending NAPA 500 while Terry was merely keeping him in sight on the way to his second series title.

After the checkered flag fell, the siblings slowly drove their Chevrolets side-by-side around the 1.522-mile oval to a standing ovation from the crowd of about 140,000.

The winning car, campaigned by former Washington Redskin coach Joe Gibbs, led six times for 147 laps, including the last 42, as Bobby Labonte, 32, earned his fourth career victory and his first since the August race at Michigan in 1995.

He averaged 136.636 mph while winning an Atlanta record $274,900, including the Unocal 76 Challenge bonus of $136,800 for prevailing from the pole. The last driver to do that was Jeff Gordon, at Pocono, in the 13th of 31 races.

Bobby Labonte, looking over toward his brother’s nearby championship celebration, said, “That is cool; that is way cool.”

Terry Labonte, who will turn 40 Saturday, came into Sunday’s race knowing that a finish of eighth or better would clinch the $1.5-million title.

And he was all business, running in the top eight almost the entire 328 laps.

“I never thought it would take me 12 years to win another championship, but I finally did it and it’s a great feeling,” said the normally reserved driver known as The Iceman, his voice breaking with emotion. “It seems like the longest race I ever ran.

“I just hung in there all day and did what I had to do. I could see everything that was going on in front of me.”

Terry Labonte fell back as far as 12th after taking two tires on his last pit stop while the rest of the leaders took on only gas. But he quickly charged back toward the front, taking fifth from Bobby Hamilton on lap 296 and holding it the rest of the way.

Gordon, who gave car owner Rick Hendrick his first title last year, came into the race trailing his Hendrick Motorsports teammate by 47 points. He wound up losing the title by 37 despite making up two lost laps early and finishing third.

“We knew if they didn’t have a problem, we didn’t have a chance,” Gordon said. “But we wanted to make them work for it, and we did. I’m real proud of that.”

Dale Jarrett, the only other driver with a chance to win the championship, began Sunday’s race behind by 99 points. He came on strong at the end to finish second, passing Gordon on lap 317 and trailing Bobby Labonte across the finish line by about three car-lengths.

Gordon, who started on the outside of the front row, nearly met disaster in the early going because of what turned out to be loose lug nuts.

On the seventh lap, his Chevrolet developed a vibration. Gordon was forced to slow, falling to the rear of the field before pitting on lap 12.

With the help of two well-timed caution flags, Gordon was able to get back on the lead lap on lap 53, then quickly worked his way back into contention. But it wasn’t enough to catch his teammate.

Motor Racing Notes

Mickey Hudspeth, who was injured in a crash Saturday during the ARCA General Tire Hoosier 500-kilometer race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, had his left hand amputated at Georgia Baptist Medical Center.

Doctors spent two hours in surgery Saturday night attempting to save the hand after the driver from Ronda, N.C., was flown by helicopter to the hospital with the hand partially severed.

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FINAL STANDINGS

Results of final Winston Cup points race:

1. Terry Labonte: 4,657

2. Jeff Gordon: 4,620

3. Dale Jarrett: 4,568

4. Dale Earnhardt: 4,327

5. Mark Martin: 4,278

6. Ricky Rudd: 3,845

7. Rusty Wallace: 3,717

8. Sterling Marlin: 3,682

9. Bobby Hamilton: 3,639

10. Ernie Irvan: 3,632