| | | | | | | 43 - Bobby Labonte | Corpus Christi, Texas |
| | Primary Sponsor: Cheerios/Betty Crocker
Manufacturer: Dodge
Car Owner: Richard Petty
Team: Petty Enterprises There are a few things that set Bobby Labonte apart from the rest of the NASCAR pack. First of all, he is the only driver to win both a Busch Series and a Cup Series Championship. And Bobby, along with his brother Terry Labonte, is the only brother combination to win Cup titles.
When he was five years old, Bobby began driving Quarter-Midgets competitively and was racing go-karts in 1978. When his brother Terry began his first full year on the Cup circuit, Bobby’s family moved to North Carolina in 1979.
In 1982, Bobby was working at Terry’s shop, and was part of his brother’s Cup championship team in 1984.
Bobby was fired after Terry left Hagan Racing in 1986, and Bobby hooked up with car builder Jay Hedgecock in 1987. He began working on his own car, and that year won the Late Model track championship at Caraway Speedway with 12 wins in 23 races.
He started racing NASCAR in 1982, running 26th in the second of three Busch races that year at Martinsville.
In 1989, he posted a top-five and three top-10s in seven Busch starts, and by the next year was racing the circuit full-time. In 1990, he posted six top-fives and 17 top-10s in 31 races, finishing fourth in the point standings.
He won his first career victory at Bristol in 1991, and went on to claim the Busch Series title. In the meantime, he made his first two Cup starts that year.
In 1992, he won three Busch races, with 13 top-fives and 19 top-10s. But Bobby lost the title by three points to Joe Nemechek, the smallest points differential in Busch Series history.
Bobby drove in his first full cup season for owner Bill Davis in 1993, finishing second to Jeff Gordon for rookie of the year. He moved to Joe Gibbs Racing in 1995, earning his first victory in May at Charlotte. He went on to win two more times that season. In 1999, he achieved several career highs, with five wins, 23 top-fives 26 top-10s and five poles in 34 races. He finished second in points. From 1995 to 2003, Bobby finished in the top 10 in points seven times. He won 21 races during that time and also won the 2000 championship.
Bobby and Gibbs parted ways after the 2005 season, and Bobby moved to Petty Enterprises in 2006 to drive the No. 43.
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