Bobby Labonte

Birthday: May 8, 1964
Hometown: Corpus Christi, Texas

YEAR-BY-YEAR CUP SERIES RECAP

2008 -- Finished 21st in series points. ... Posted two top-10 finishes. ... Tough luck early in the season negated several good runs. ... Top finish was sixth in the fall event at Talladega. ... Best start was second in the summer event at New Hampshire.

2007 -- Finished 18th in the standings. ... Posted three top-10 finishes. ... Best starting position was third at Dover.

2006 -- Finished 21st in series points. ... First year with Petty Enterprises. ... Posted three top-five and eight top-10 finishes. ... Best finish was third at Bristol. ... Had consecutive top-five finishes at Charlotte and Martinsville.

2005 -- Finished 24th in series points. ... Posted four top-five and seven top-10 finishes. ... Best finish was second at Charlotte in May. ... Started fourth and finished sixth at Phoenix in April. ... Had consecutive top-10 finishes twice. ... Led at least one lap in four races. ... Finished outside the top 10 in consecutive years for the first time since 1996.

2004 -- Finished 12th in series points. ... Broke a nine-year streak of at least one win. ... Best finish was second at Darlington in March and Martinsville in April. ... Won his 26th career pole at Texas. ... Recorded nine of his 11 top-10 finishes in the first 17 races. ... Peaked at fourth in points following the June Michigan race. ... Veteran crew chief Michael McSwain left team in July. ... After 16 consecutive weeks in top 10, dropped from ninth to 12th with just one race remaining (Richmond) before the inaugural Chase.

2003 -- Finished eighth in series points. ... Won the first of four poles at Las Vegas. ... Followed with a win at Atlanta. ... Posted three consecutive runner-up finishes, at Martinsville, Fontana and Richmond. ... Lost momentum in the championship chase, dropping from fourth to ninth, after a seven-race cold streak beginning with a 36th-place finish at Chicagoland in July. ... Stole the victory -- the 21st of his career -- in the season finale after Bill Elliott blew a tire on the final lap at Homestead.

2002 -- Finished 16th in series points. ... Snapped a run of five consecutive seasons of finishing among the top seven in the championship, including the crown in 2000. Also marked his lowest finish in the championship since finishing 21st for Bill Davis Racing in 1994. ... Won at Martinsville in the spring to extend streak of seasons with at least one win to eight. ... Posted seven top-10 finishes, five of those among the top five.

2001 -- Finished sixth in series points. ... Marked the fifth consecutive year finishing among the top seven in the championship and sixth in the last seven among the top 10. ... Posted wins at Pocono and Atlanta, extending streak of consecutive multiple-win seasons to four and streak of at least one victory to seven consecutive seasons. ... Recorded 20 top-10 finishes, including nine among the top five.

2000 -- Won first series championship. ... Posted four wins and 19 top-five finishes overall for Joe Gibbs Racing to earn the title by 265 points in front of runner-up Dale Earnhardt. ... Joined his brother Terry as a champion of NASCAR's premier series, marking the only time in history that brothers have both won the championship. ... Grabbed the points lead following the third race of the season (Las Vegas) and fell out of the top spot just once for the remainder of the season. ... Had just two finishes outside the top 20 and failed to finish just nine laps out of 10,167 on the season. ... First win of the season came at Rockingham and followed with triumphs at Indianapolis, Darlington and Charlotte. ... Earned two poles (Michigan, New Hampshire), marking his sixth consecutive multiple-pole season.

1999 -- Finished second in series points. ... Finished 201 points behind champion Dale Jarrett. ... Established career bests for wins (five), top-10s (26), top-fives (23) and poles (five). ... Swept the Pocono races and also won at Dover, Michigan and the season-ending race at Atlanta. ... Season could have taken a turn for the worst when he broke his shoulder blade during a Busch Series practice session at Darlington in March, but did not miss a start.

1998 -- Finished sixth in series points. ... Continued his climb in the championship, posting his best effort of his career to date and third time in four years among the top 10. ... Matched his top-10 finishes of a year ago with 18, which included wins at Talladega and Atlanta. ... Also had 11 finishes among the top five. ... Won three poles (Daytona sweep, Talladega), giving him 12 in his first four seasons with Joe Gibbs Racing.

1997 -- Finished seventh in series points. ... Points finish was a career-best. ... Won the season finale at Atlanta for the second consecutive year, both times marking his only win of the season. ... Had 18 top-10 finishes, including five among the top-five. Also had three poles (Darlington, Dover, Rockingham), his third consecutive multiple-pole season.

1996 -- Finished 11th in series points. ... Another solid season with Joe Gibbs Racing, earning a win and 14 top-10 finishes overall. ... Victory came in the season finale at Atlanta, which also was the same day his brother Terry celebrated clinching the championship. ... Surpassed his previous career total for poles (three) with four during the season. Total tied for second, trailing only Jeff Gordon, who had five. ... Poles came at Atlanta, Charlotte, Dover and Phoenix.

1995 -- Finished 10th in series points. ... Moved from Bill Davis Racing to Joe Gibbs Racing, where he enjoyed a breakthrough season, replacing Dale Jarrett as driver of the No. 18 car. ... In addition to breaking into the top 10 in the championship for the first time, earned the first three victories of his career, had 14 top-10 finishes and added two poles. ... First win came on May 28 in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, the series' longest race at 600 miles. It came in his 74th career start. Swept the Michigan events for his other two wins. ... The poles, the second and third of his career, came at Martinsville and Michigan.

1994 -- Finished 21st in series points. ... Posted two top-10 finishes in his second and final season with Bill Davis Racing. ... Earned first top-five finish of career, finishing fifth at Watkins Glen.

1993 -- Finished 19th in series points. ... Strong career in the Busch Series helped land a full-time ride with Bill Davis Racing. ... Had a solid rookie campaign with six top-10 finishes and a pole position. The pole came in his 25th career start, Sept. 9 at Richmond. ... Lost out on rookie of the year honors to Jeff Gordon.

1991 -- Made his first Cup Series start as an owner/driver, competing in two events. His first start came on June 2 at Dover, where he started 33rd and finished 34th. ... During the same season, he was running full time in the Busch Series and went on to win the title.

PREVIOUS RACING HISTORY

Began career in 1984 as Hagan Racing crew member, with brother Terry the team's driver. ... Raced late model stock cars at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C., winning 1987 track championship with 12 victories in 23 races. ... Ran full Busch Series schedule in 1990, finishing fourth in series points. ... Won Busch Series championship in 1991. ... Finished second in 1992 Busch Series standings to Joe Nemechek; Nemechek's margin of three points was closest in the history of NASCAR's three national series. ... Ran quarter-midgets in Texas as a youth.

NOTEWORTHY

In 2001, Bobby and brother, Terry, had a park named in their honor, in their hometown of Corpus Christi, Texas. ... Bobby is a renowned "Parrot Head," a nickname given to fervent fans of musician Jimmy Buffett. ... Labonte and his brother, Terry, were inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2001, nearly doubling the class of four inductees from the racing community. The Labontes' class included Texas football greats Troy Aikman, Dick "Night Train" Lane, Bruce Matthews and Mike Munchak along with baseball great Norm Cash. ... Opened the first quarter-midget racing track in North Carolina in May 2004.