CONCORD, N.C. - “Texas Terry” Labonte will always hold a revered place in NASCAR history.
Known for his cool and calm demeanor, “The Iceman” is considered one of the best to ever drive a stock car.
He is also a successful Hendrick Motorsports alum, winning one of the team’s 14 NASCAR Cup Series championships, capturing his second overall title in 1996. To top off his career, the Corpus Christi, Texas, native recorded 22 Cup Series victories throughout his illustrious career and was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2016.
While Labonte was versatile and won at several different venues, Darlington Raceway was one of his most beloved for many reasons. His first Cup race was behind the wheel of the No. 92 Hagan Enterprises Chevrolet, where he qualified 19th and came home fourth in the 1978 Southern 500. Two years later, in his second full season, a youthful Labonte won his first Cup Series race at Darlington in the 1980 Southern 500.
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“This has always been one of my favorite tracks,” he told media during Southern 500 weekend in 2022. “I remember going into turn one (during his first win) and two or three cars went in there and brushed the wall.
“Two or three didn’t. I was one of the ones that didn’t hit anything. David Pearson had bounced off the wall there, and I don’t think he ever saw me coming. I caught him in three and four and beat him by half a fender to the white flag, which was also the caution. Back then you raced to the caution flag. It was over at that point. That was a pretty exciting Southern 500.”
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After years of success and the 1984 NASCAR Cup Series championship on his resume, Labonte joined Hendrick Motorsports and the 5 team with sponsorship from Kellogg’s for the 1994 season. As one of the sport’s most popular drivers, his Chevrolet’s colorful schemes became a fan favorite wherever he went, which was only enhanced by the spotlight of a second championship in 1996.
The No. 5 Kellogg’s Chevrolet was iconic.
However, by the time the 2003 Southern 500 rolled around, Labonte’s last Cup Series triumph had come more than four years prior in the spring of 1999 at Texas Motor Speedway. It was long past due for the orange, blue and yellow highlighted No. 5 Kellogg’s “Got Milk?” entry to visit victory lane.
Much like the weather, Labonte and the No. 5 crew started the 2003 Southern 500 hot, grabbing the third starting spot behind a front row of pole-sitter Ryan Newman and teammate Jimmie Johnson. But at the start, Kyle Busch immediately jumped Labonte from his outside of row two as “Texas Terry” settled into fourth.
Caution came out on lap six for a crash collecting numerous cars near the middle of the pack. It was the first of 10 on the day, as the famous egg-shaped 1.366-mile ‘oval’ had already lived up to its “The Track Too Tough to Tame” moniker. It also brought everyone to pit road for four tires on lap nine, helping Labonte restart second after a quick pit stop. It was an early preview of just how good his crew would be throughout.
While the Texas driver stayed within shouting distance of the leader for a better part of the race, he had yet to lead a lap. Attrition had also become a factor, as some of the race’s biggest names suffered vehicle damage or were involved in crashes along the way. Labonte, as he often did, kept his car clean and out of trouble. It was all about to pay off.
With 36 laps to go, Robby Gordon brushed the wall coming out of turn one due to a tire going down, bringing out the final caution. The field dove onto pit road and after four tires and fuel, Labonte came out with the lead for the first time. On the restart, the Hendrick Motorsports driver set sail, holding off numerous challenges and eventually pulling away to lead the race’s final 33 laps.
It was jubilation when Labonte crossed the stripe.
“Our pit stops were awesome,” an emotional Labonte said in victory lane. “That’s what won the race for us. We got out front there. They worked on my tires a little bit there – that last set – they aired them up a little bit and I was pretty fast.”
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Even the disappointed runner-up Kevin Harvick was happy for Labonte immediately following the race.
“What better guy can you ask to win if we don’t than Terry Labonte,” Harvick said in his post-race interview. “He’s a legend in our sport and helped take it to what it is today and that’s awesome for those guys. I’m proud of them.”
Labonte would go on to race for a few more years, closing out his Cup Series career with a part-time schedule and his own operation in 2014. Labonte returned to the speedway as an honorary race official during that 2022 Darlington weekend, which included the aforementioned pre-race press conference. He recalled what that last win meant to his career.
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“I didn’t realize that was going to be my last win, or I would have just retired that afternoon.” Labonte joked. “To go 23 years between wins, it was like, ‘how do you do that?’ We did. We were able to accomplish that. It was good to get back into victory lane because it had been a few years since we had won a race. It was one of those days where the guys on the Hendrick team had a fantastic pit stop and we had a great call all day – ran well all day long. Got out front at the end and was able to hold everybody off.”
This weekend, Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson will take the reins of another orange, blue and yellow Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet at Darlington Raceway. The No. 5 HendrickCars.com throwback entry will remind everyone of those famous “Got Milk?” colors Labonte drove to victory lane nearly 22 years ago.
“The most exciting part is having Kyle Larson drive it,” Labonte said during last week’s paint scheme reveal at Darlington Raceway. “I know going in that we have a shot to win. He just does a fantastic job everywhere he goes, every weekend.”
Darlington will always be a big part of the Terry Labonte story.
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“Darlington Raceway is one of those places that’s just unbelievable to me,” Labonte said. “You look at the history and you look at all the people who have won races here – as lots of things change, but it’s always just the same, old Darlington.
“For drivers, it’s so unique because it’s so hard,” he added. “When you can win at Darlington, it’s quite an accomplishment. It’s a pretty good accomplishment if you can run around here for 500 miles and not hit the wall. It’s so narrow and so easy to get caught up in somebody else’s accident.”
For Labonte, he more than just stayed off the wall – he thrived at one of the sport’s most treacherous facilities.