Terrance Lee Labonte, known as Terry, was born on the 16th November 1956. Like many of his counterparts Terry was brought up in a racing environment where his father used to work on the race cars of his friends as a hobby.

Terry Labonte

Terry started driving when he was aged seven, racing quarter-midgets and winning a national championship at the age of nine. When he became a teenager he began racing in stock cars at the local short tracks and it was here that he discovered what he wanted to do professionally. He won track championships on both dirt and asphalt tracks in his home town, Corpus Christi, Texas, in Houston and in San Antonio between 1975 and 1977.

It was at this time that Terry met business man Billy Hagan. Billy Hagan was a successful business man from Louisiana who had a Winston racing team and he was so impressed with Terry’s abilities that he offered him a job working in his team with a promise of driving for five races in his fist year which was 1978. His first start was on Labour Day at Darlington Raceway when he finished an inspiring fourth position with a further two top ten positions that season.

1979 saw Terry competing for "Rookie of the Year" against Dale Earnhardt, Harry Gant and Joe Millikin and although he lost out to Dale Earnhardt he was one of three rookies to finish the season in top ten points positions. The following year, 1980, Terry won his first career Winston Cup race, again at Darlington Raceway on Labour Day and finished sixth in the points position.

1983 saw him gain his second career victory and in 1984 he became the youngest driver at that time to win the Winston Cup Championship after his success in races he ran at Riverside International Raceway and Bristol Motor Speedway. After almost ten years with Billy Hagan Terry left his team to start a three year contract with Junior Johnson, driving the #11 Budweiser Chevrolet and in that year, 1987, gained four pole positions and winning the Holly Farms 400. He came from twelfth in the points standings in 1986 to third in 1987. He won the Sprint All-Star Race IV in 1988 finishing the season in fourth position. The team switched to Ford Thunderbirds in 1989 and despite winning two races his standing dropped to tenth position.

During the next four years, 1990 to 1993 Terry failed to win a single race and it seemed that his career was taking a nose dive but in 1994 he joined the Hendrick Motorsports team and was victorious in three races for each of the next two years. In 1996 he broke Richard Petty’s streak for consecutive wins after winning at North Willsboro and despite only winning two races that season he went on to win the championship, twelve years after winning his first in 1984. That same year his brother, Bobby, won the race and the brothers were able to treat the fans to a dual victory lap at Atlanta Motor Speedway on the final day of the season.

After his championship run once again his standings began to falter after he started to suffer from vertigo caused by a small piece of calcium in his inner ear had become loosened following two hard crashes in 2000. His career took an upturn in 2003 when Terry won his first pole since 2000 at Richmond and won the Mountain /dew Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway after leading the last thirty three laps. This helped him to gain tenth position in the standings. 2004 was a difficult year for Terry and he announced that he would be leaving full time racing at the end of the season but would continue on a part-time basis for the next two years.

In 2005 Terry drove for Hendrick Motorsports at Pocono Raceway, coming in at twelfth position, and for Joe Gibbs in the #11 Fedex Chevrolet finishing at ninth at Richmond. He ran a limited schedule from 2005 until present for various teams.

During his career Terry has received various awards: - Inductee into the National Quarter Midget Hall of Fame in 1989 and named as one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998. He has been crowned champion twice for the Winston Cup Series, 1984 and 1996 and IROC champion twice, in 1989 and 1993.

In 2001 a park was renamed for the brothers in their home town of Corpus Christie and they were chosen for entry into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2002. Terry supports many charities and due to his efforts the Ronald McDonald House in his home town, the victory Junction Gang Camp, near Randleman, North Carolina an the Hendrick Marrow Programme have all benefited. Texas Terry, alias "The Iceman", lives in Thomasville, North Carolina with his wife since 1978, Kim, and his two children, Justin (Late Model Track Champion at Caraway Speedway) and daughter, Kim, who is a business marketing major at High Pont University.

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Terry Labonte - Wikipedia
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