Labonte Takes It to His Limits

Two-time NASCAR champion Terry Labonte, who once started 655 consecutive Winston Cup races, skipped the Daytona 500 to start his 27th season with this week’s Auto Club 500 at California Speedway.

Labonte, 48, is running a limited schedule of 10 races while keeping an eye on his son, Justin, who is running a full Busch series program, including Saturday’s race in Fontana.

“When I decided to cut back, I decided I would drive at my favorite tracks, and California is one of them,” he said. “I finished second in the first one there [in 1997], and when you do well at a track you usually want to come back again. I’ve had some other good runs there.”

In nine races at Fontana, stock car racing’s “Iceman” has four top-10 finishes, starting with his runner-up to Jeff Gordon, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, in the inaugural.

“I was catching Jeff and thought I had a chance to win when I had a loose wheel and we put on four tires in hopes we could run him down, but we came up short,” Labonte recalled. “I’m looking forward to another try.”

Labonte passed up Daytona because it was a restrictor-plate race, one of four on the Nextel Cup’s 36-race schedule.

“You have to build a special car for the plate races, and we felt that we didn’t need that added aggravation,” he said. “If you build a restrictor-plate car you are almost obligated to run all of them and I didn’t want that. They’re no fun. I doubt if you’ll find any driver who enjoys racing with restrictor plates.”

Labonte, whose career includes 22 victories and 27 poles in addition to his Winston Cup championships in 1984 and 1996, started his Cal Ripken-like consecutive race streak a few miles east of California Speedway -- on Riverside International Raceway’s road course in the 1979 Winston Western 500.

“I don’t think we finished that race, in fact we were the first car out, but later I won there twice, and I won a bunch of poles,” Labonte said, referring to his titles in 1984 and ’85 and five poles. “I was really disappointed when it closed. It was definitely one of my favorite tracks.”

This season, Labonte will be driving his familiar Kellogg’s Chevrolet, but he will be in No. 44 instead of his longtime No. 5, which has been given to rookie Kyle Busch.

“When I first decided I would run only a limited schedule, I thought I would be spending more time on my ranch, but then Justin got a full ride and I’ll be at as many of his races as I can,” he said. “At first, we thought he would be on a limited schedule too, like last year, but then he got lined up with the Coast Guard for the full season.”

Justin, 24, won his first Busch race last year at Chicago when Mike Wallace ran out of fuel on the last lap.

“This is a great opportunity for Justin,” his father said. “I’m completely behind him but not in any official capacity. I’ll be there, sitting on the pit box or on the transporter, and I’ll give any advice when it’s needed. But I won’t be hands on with the car.”

Justin finished 18th, on the same lap with winner Tony Stewart, in Saturday’s Busch race at Daytona Beach, Fla.

Asked to name the most memorable races of his career, Labonte did not hesitate. “Justin’s winning his first race meant more to me that any I ever won,” he said. “For myself, nothing matches the Atlanta race in 1996 when [brother] Bobby won the race and I clinched the championship. I’ll never forget taking that victory lap with Bobby. I finished fifth to beat Gordon for the Cup.”

Then, he added: “One of the nicest things about winning that year is that my kids were old enough to be a part of it. When I won the first one, Justin was only 3 and Kristen 1.”

Nextel Cup cars will practice Friday. Qualifying for the Auto Club 500 starts at 12:10 p.m. Saturday.