Terry Labonte

Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Terry Labonte, known as 'Texas Terry' or 'the Iceman', raced from 1978 to 2014.

Terrance Lee Labonte (born November 16, 1956), nicknamed "Texas Terry" or "the Iceman", is an American former stock car driver. He raced from 1978 to 2014 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup and Sprint Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series). A two-time Cup Series champion in 1984 and 1996 and the 1989 IROC champion, he is the older brother of 2000 Cup Series champion Bobby Labonte, and the father of former Nationwide Series driver Justin Labonte. He also co-owns a Chevrolet dealership in Greensboro, North Carolina with Rick Hendrick. He appeared on the CBS series The Dukes of Hazzard in 1984, where he played an unnamed pit crew member.

Quick Facts

Birth name: Terrance Lee Labonte
Born: 16 November 1956
Birthplace: Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S.
Total cup races: 890
Years in cup: 37
First cup race: 1978 Southern 500 (Darlington)
Last cup race: 2014 GEICO 500 (Talladega)
First cup win: 1980 Southern 500 (Darlington)

Lore & Background

Labonte’s first NASCAR race came in 1978 at Darlington Raceway. He qualified 19th in the No. 92 Duck Industries Chevrolet and finished fourth that weekend. He won his first career Winston Cup race on Labor Day weekend at Darlington in 1980. In 1984, he clinched his first Winston Cup championship.

In 1996, he won his second championship, a record-setting twelve years after his first. Driving with a broken hand during the last two races of the season, Labonte and his younger brother Bobby were able to perform a dual victory lap at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the last race of the season; Bobby won the race and Terry won the championship on this race, making it the only time a driver and his sibling won the race and the championship at the same time.

The 2000 season saw Labonte's consecutive start streak broken at 655 after he suffered inner ear injuries in the Pepsi 400 and was forced to miss the Brickyard 400 and the Global Crossing @ The Glen.

Reader's Guide

Labonte's career spanned from 1978 to 2014. He drove for Hagan Racing, Junior Johnson & Associates, Precision Products Racing, and Hendrick Motorsports. He won the 1984 and 1996 Cup Series championships. His most famous race was the 1999 Goody's Headache Powder 500 at Bristol, where he was wrecked by Dale Earnhardt on the final lap. In 2003, he won the Mountain Dew Southern 500, his second win in a crown jewel event. He announced that 2004 would be his final full-time year and ran part-time schedules for the next two years.