Terry Labonte
Terry Labonte
Terrance Lee "Terry" Labonteis a retired American stock car racing driver. A two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Serieschampion and 1989 IROC champion, he is the older brother of 2000 Winston Cup champion Bobby Labonte, and the father of former Nationwide Series driver Justin Labonte. He also co-owns a Chevrolet dealership in North Carolina with Rick Hendrick...
ProfessionRace Car Driver
Date of Birth16 November 1956
CityCorpus Christi, TX
huge none people start team together worked
It's just a huge undertaking, to start a new team like this. They've got some experienced people there, but none of them have ever worked together before.
screwed texas
It's embarrassing for me being from Texas. I just want everyone to know that everything in Texas isn't as screwed up as it is at this place.
deal hard money moves next step successful takes today tougher work
It's a hard deal to get into, and it takes a lot of money and sponsorship and things like that. It's a lot different from what it used to be, probably a lot tougher today to get into the sport than it was 10 or 15 years ago. He's got to work hard at it and try to be successful at what he's doing before he moves up to the next step. Take it one step at a time.
excited family fortunate meant nearly opportunity places team three
This is an opportunity for me to have a little more fun. I've been fortunate to do this for nearly three decades, and I'm excited to go back to some of the places that have meant so much to me, my team and my family over the years.
against battle biggest bit patience patient running starting teams
Probably the biggest battle they're up against is patience. Everybody's got to be a little bit patient with them because it's not easy. You're running against teams that have been at it for 20 years. Starting out with a new team is really, really difficult.
asked confident deal equipment help honored putting race ran road small team ten together
Ten years down the road when they're successful, I'll be able to look back and say I ran the first race for those guys. I'm just confident in the team they're putting together and the equipment they're going to have. I'm just a small part of this deal and honored they asked me to help them get started.
car front happy honestly hoping sort time top
For the first time out, they should be pretty happy with that. We honestly didn't have the car to get up to the front where we wanted to be, but I was hoping to get a top 15. That was sort of my goal. But we'll make it.
buddies carry pictures weeks
Am I going to take it? Heck, yeah, I'm going to take it. I'm going to take it for two weeks and carry it around to all my buddies and get my pictures made with it, and then I'm going to give it back to him.
good guys maybe millions money needs owners perform pressure spending sponsors team tougher
A lot tougher today. There's more pressure on young guys to really perform when maybe their team isn't as good as it needs to be. You've got sponsors spending millions of dollars, and owners spending some of their money and getting pressure from sponsors.