More Labonte Milestones at Atlanta

HAMPTON, Ga. (March 7, 2003) – In a career that now spans four decades and has produced two NASCAR Winston Cup Series championships, Terry Labonte will hit two more milestones this weekend at the Bass Pro Shops/MBNA 500 in Hampton, Ga. Sunday’s 500-miler at Atlanta Motor Speedway will be his 50th start at the 1.54-mile oval and it also will mark his 300th race for Hendrick Motorsports. Labonte finished 13th in his first Atlanta race on Nov. 5, 1978 and leads all active drivers with 24 top-10 finishes in 49 starts. The two-time champion is in his 10th season at Hendrick Motorsports. He debuted with the organization in spectacular fashion, posting a third-place finish in the Daytona 500 on Feb. 20, 1994. Labonte has notched 11 of his 21 career wins under the HMS banner. Hendrick’s No. 5 team has never won at AMS, but has finished second four times: with Geoffrey Bodine in 1985 and 1989, Ricky Rudd in 1993 and Labonte in 1996. That runner-up finish came en route to Labonte’s second Winston Cup championship. After Atlanta, the focus shifts to Darlington (S.C.) Raceway on March 16, the site of yet another Labonte milestone -- his 750th career start. He is fifth on NASCAR’s all-time list, behind only Richard Petty, Dave Marcis, Darrell Waltrip and Rudd. NEW ESPN DIARY ONLINE Teamwork is the topic as the second installment of Terry Labonte’s 2003 NASCAR diary has been posted on ESPN’s RPM.com page. In it, Labonte reflects on the Kellogg’s / got milk? Racing team’s solid finish at Las Vegas. View it at: http://espn.go.com/rpm/wc/diary/labonte/030306.html