 | | Terry Labonte and son Justin pose with their No. 44 cars before Sunday's race at Texas. Credit: Autostock |
By David Newton, NASCAR.COM
November 7, 2006
03:47 PM EST (20:47 GMT)
FORT WORTH, Texas -- Terry Labonte couldn't stop smiling as he peered through the window of the No. 44 Monte Carlo with his son Justin before the start of Sunday's Nextel Cup race. Not the 2006 Monte Carlo with the special paint scheme that he was to drive in his final race. It was the 1980 Monte Carlo he won his first Cup race with at Darlington Raceway 26 years ago. On a day full of surprises at Texas Motor Speedway, that Justin would drive beside him on the parade lap in the car with cracks in the red and white paint job was the biggest. And the most emotional. "Yeah, he got a little choked up,'' said Rick Hendrick, Labonte's car owner since 1994. Labonte spent much of the pre-race festivities looking over the car owned by the man, Billy Hagan, who gave him his start in NASCAR. It brought back memories of that hot, muggy day in South Carolina when he collected the first of 22 victories. "He told me to be careful with that thing,'' said Justin, who is trying to get a deal in the Truck Series next season to resurrect his career. "We were laughing at the tires on it. They must be 30 years old.'' Just before Labonte got a special start your engine command from his daughter Kristy, Hendrick leaned into the window of the 2006 Monte Carlo and told his driver and friend to take care of it. "Then I said, 'I pity the guy that wrecks you today, because this is yours,''' said Hendrick, who gave Labonte the car as a retirement present. Nobody wrecked Labonte.  | | |  | TERRY LABONTE | 1980
Finished eighth in series points. ... Earned first series win on Sept. 1, in the Southern 500 at Darlington, in his 59th start. ... Claimed five other top-five finishes.
|
|
He never gave them a chance, cruising around the 1.5-mile track like he was driving a tractor around the 1,500-acre farm that he plans to retire to a few hours away. He finished 36th, well back of the fourth he registered in his first Cup race at Darlington in 1978, but he wasn't too disappointed. "We knew our car was off a little bit,'' said Labonte, who turns 50 on Nov. 16. "It was so loose at the beginning that we had to go to the garage and change the shocks because I knew I was going to tear it up. "I almost spun out a couple of times and wrecked the thing.'' By the end of the day, the car worked well enough for Labonte to be competitive. By then, it didn't matter. The sun already had set on the speedway and the career of the man known as "Texas Terry.'' "What a great day,'' Labonte said. The day began with a series of celebrations and thanks that included a letter from President Bush and the gift of a Chevrolet Silverado from the track. "He got pretty emotional a couple of times,'' said Labonte's wife, Kim. But for the most part the man known as the "Iceman'' for his ability to remain calm under pressure lived up to his reputation. "I had a lot of respect for him before all of this,'' Justin said. "Now I have even more.'' | | MESSAGE BOARD | FrostedTerry44
All the best Terry!! It has been a fun ride all these years!! Enjoy your retirement--you have earned it!!
|
 |
The race started under yellow as crew members dried the rain-soaked track, giving Labonte, Hendrick and his crew extra time to thank each other for the past 12 years. "Thank you for being able to say I worked for you,'' said Eddie DeHart, Labonte's crew chief when he won his second title in 1996. Labonte graciously thanked them, as he did Hagan earlier in the day. "It was a real opportunity of a lifetime,'' Labonte said of driving for Hagan, who convinced him to move to North Carolina to run NASCAR. "When I went over there, I never figured I might run more than one or two races. "Then it was three or four. It was amazing it came this far [848]. I never knew what to expect. I never took anything for granted. I did my best week after week.'' | 
