Labontes hope new season brings normalcy

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Donna Labonte is standing at the kitchen counter, intently chopping broccoli as her eight-year old son, Tyler, rattles off a list of young ladies he bestowed with Valentine cards a couple days back.

	Bobby Labonte and wife Donna are both looking for a fresh start in 2003. Credit: Autostock

As the names pile up, Tyler's dad, Winston Cup driver Bobby Labonte, takes notice.

"You gave out Valentines?" Bobby asks, eyebrows positioned in typical bumfuzzled-Labonte fashion, forehead crinkled like a crisp french fry.

"Yes."

"Hmm. OK."

Labonte shrugs his shoulders and goes back to reconfiguring Tyler's X-Box. The neighborhood youngsters demand it. Something has gone wrong with Tiger Woods Golf and, as always, it's dad's job to fix it. Dad can fix anything.

Lunch is soon ready, and the Labontes sit down to eat when a knock at the door breaks a brief period of silence.

In walks Kim Labonte, Terry's wife and Bobby's sister-in-law, arms crammed to the brim with Valentine gifts for the Bobby Labontes from the Terry Labontes. They exchange pleasantries and update each other on the goings on in the family.

The discussion turns briefly to the situation in Iraq, then to Tyler's budding racing career and that of Terry's boy, Justin. Finally, the focus shifts to the rumors circulating the garage.

Garage?

In this Cleaver-esque setting, it's easy to forget that it's the middle of Speedweeks at Daytona, that a furious Truck Series season-opener is being contested on the legendary patch of asphalt that surrounds your position in the driver motor home lot.

Suddenly, the realization hits you. A new Winston Cup season kicks off in just two days. Didn't it just end?

The Labontes didn't even get to go on vacation. And here they are, back in the motor home in another jam-packed infield somewhere in NASCAR, USA. They were just getting used to being home.

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It takes time, mind you, for guys that drive 200 mph for a living to find comfort in being stationary. During those two months at home the entire family dynamic is altered. Even Tyler's life changes. He goes from hanging out with friends and school to running around with little Jarretts and Martins.

But the weirdest thing is having Dad home.

"It's abnormal until about the last two weeks of January, and then I really like it. I find myself in a mode of, 'Wow, I really like this. This is neat,'" Donna said.

"Throughout December and part of January we're still adjusting to who does what with the kids. We have our own routine when he's gone, and it takes us awhile to get used to him being home in December. And towards the end of January, I'm loving it. Then he's gone again."

With January comes testing, followed by Speedweeks and the unyielding 40-week grind. With January comes change. Time to switch routines again.

"That's when it's normal -- February to November," Bobby said. "We're never home, so being home is unorthodox."

Families in NASCAR are accustomed to the nomadic Winston Cup lifestyle, one that thrives on the businesses of competition and promotion. Sacrifice is a pre-requisite for success.

And for the Labontes, 2002 was a year of personal sacrifice and selflessness like none they'd ever known. Bobby experienced his worst season since joining Joe Gibbs Racing in 1995, but bringing the frustration home wasn't an option. Larger issues required attention.

	The Labonte family (from left, Donna, Bobby and Tyler) are back in the comforts of their motorhome on the Winston Cup trail. Credit: Autostock

In May, Donna lost her father to an intestinal aneurysm.

"We each had our own set of problems, and I couldn't help her out a lot of the time and she couldn't help me out," Bobby said. "There wasn't any sense in going home mad.

"My problems on the racetrack were pretty immaterial when I got home, obviously. So I'd worry about it more when I was gone from her, not when I was home. And she'd try not to show me what was hurting her. That's hard to do."

She tried anyway. She had always tried. Though she's non-competitive -- almost to a fault -- Donna had been there for Bobby since a summer day in 1983, when he walked into the Revco where she worked, saw her, then came back every day for a week to purchase random objects in an effort to see her again.

She was taken by his shy persistence, and when she caught him attempting to leave a note on her car, she simply told him that if he wanted to ask her out, do it.

From that moment on, they were rock solid. Now this. Both were frustrated and emotionally drained, but were forced to cope with tribulation individually.

Donna's parents had always been there should a situation arise. Need a babysitter? Call Mom and Dad. Not now. Donna missed races. Bobby continued to struggle.

"I kind of had my own set of circumstances that I was dealing with, and Bobby had his," Donna said. "We really helped each other last year, but then again we really had to deal with a lot of the best we could on our own. It was a tough year personally and on the racetrack.

"When he'd get home, he'd let me know what happened at the racetrack, and I'd talk to him some about what was going on with us and with the family. My parents have always kept our kids. We've kind of always had them to lean on to help us out, and I've been able to travel with him and be there.

"Our life, personally, has always gone well. On the racetrack he's had some ups and downs, but personally everything's been kind of smooth for us. And last year was turbulent everywhere, and we had to make some adjustments. It was hard, but we got through it okay."

The Labontes are stronger now, both individually and as a family. A new season brings new hope and a fresh start. Bobby was fast during offseason testing, and was enjoying a successful run during the Daytona 500 before bad luck bit him hard.

He dove down pit road to avoid Ryan Newman's accident, and was intersected by Ken Schrader's Dodge. He was understandably dejected, but holds true to words uttered by his brother-in-law on New Year's Eve.

"It was New Year's Eve and (Donna's) brother said, 'Man, I'll be glad when this year's over with," Bobby said. "I said, 'me too, brother.' We got 2002 over with; it was bad in a lot of ways. Now it's 2003, and we started off fresh.

"It's hammer down, now. We've never been so ready for a new year."