Terry Labonte not just a partner, he’s a driver for now for new race team
Two-time NASCAR Cup champion Terry Labonte is back behind the wheel this weekend at Richmond, handling the driving duties as the new Stavola Labonte Racing team makes its debut. // LaDon George, NASCAR Illustrated
RICHMOND, Va. – When Terry Labonte first talked to Billy Stavola about returning to NASCAR's Sprint Cup garage, it was about Labonte and Stavola working together to operate a race team.
Now Labonte finds himself operating the car as well.
The two-time Cup champion, who hasn’t raced since Homestead last year, will be back in the seat Friday at Richmond International Raceway driving a car for Stavola, who owned cars from 1984-1998.
“When we started kicking this around, I really was just a partner and was going to help manage it and run it and probably not going to be a driver,” Labonte said in a phone interview Thursday. “As things progressed, how do you get a driver when you don’t have a sponsor yet, you really don’t have your team established yet and how do you get a sponsor if you don’t have a driver? Everybody kind of pointed the finger back at me and said, ‘Can you run this thing for us some?’ I said, ‘Well, sure.’
“That seemed like the best case for us to get our team established, whether that means I run a limited schedule next year or, depending on sponsorship, how many races. At some point we have to really prove to everybody that we’re for real.”
Labonte’s first goal Friday at Richmond is to make the race – his brother, Bobby, is first in line for the past champion’s provisional. And once he makes the race, Labonte wants to show that the Stavola Labonte Racing team is one that other teams will want to partner with in the future.
The 53-year-old Labonte also will attempt to qualify the No. 10 Chevrolet at Charlotte and Texas later this year as well.
“I think we’ve got a plan to go out there and do the best we can,” said Stavola, whose team has sponsorship from Gander Mountain and American Cement. “We’ve put together all the parts and pieces to race, but we haven’t done it yet as a group. So, we’ll set some modest goals.”
Having tested on the half-mile at Rockingham Speedway, Labonte was able to get a little bit of the feel for the car after the nine-month layoff. He has not competed full time since 2004 but has driven in 50 races in the last five years.
“It will be good to see him back at the race track,” said Hendrick Motorsports driver Mark Martin. “And I know there are still fans that saw him win championships and win races and put on great shows that will welcome him back to the race track and be glad to see him back.”
Doug Randolph, who started the year at TRG Motorsports, will be the crew chief. The team gets its motors from Earnhardt Childress Racing.
“We’ve got a really good car, so we’ll just have to do the best we can, but I feel good about our chances,” Labonte said. “We have good equipment, and that is an important part of it. Doug has been around a while and has come on board to help us out.
“I feel good about that. We’ll just do the best we can. That’s all we can do.”
Labonte has 18 starts in the new Cup car since it was introduced and run in a limited number of races in 2007.
“These cars are a lot harder to make work compared to the older cars,” Labonte said. “They’re different, no doubt about it.”
This is not just a way for Labonte or the team to run a few races – this is a long-term project.
“I asked [Stavola], ‘Are you sure want to get back in racing? It’s changed a lot since you were in it,’” Labonte said. “We went around to a couple of different shops and I showed him how it changed.
“He really wants to get back in the sport and have a team. … Hopefully we can prove to people that we’re for real and we’re looking to have a team and be in the sport for a long time and hopefully we can put together a package that’s appealing to the caliber of driver we want to come and drive our car.”
Running race teams appears to be in the Labonte blood. Bobby won the 1991 Busch Series title with his family-owned team (which also won the 1994 title with David Green), and he currently owns a Late Model team.
“I think I can do it because I have a lot of experience in the sport,” Terry Labonte said. “If I was going to run some type of business, I can’t think of anything I have more experience at than a race team.
“It’s a tremendous challenge getting all the pieces put together. We don’t want a three- or four-car mega-team like these guys have. I’m not sure that’s what we want. We want to have a scaled-down team, whether it’s a single-car team or a two-car team, whether we run a limited schedule or the full deal, it’s all up in the air and we could go either way.”
A lot could depend on whether the organization is able to partner with one of the bigger teams to purchase cars and engines, much like JTG Daugherty Racing has with Michael Waltrip Racing or Furniture Row Racing with Richard Childress Racing.
If it can put together an alliance and show that it can run respectable in the races this year, it could attract more sponsors interested in Labonte driving or sponsors interested in putting another driver in the car.
“None of us really know how it’s going to play out,” Labonte said. “I feel like we’ve got to be an established team before somebody will look at us and say, ‘These guys are for real.’ … It wouldn’t make me mad if we put together a deal that was 12 to 18 races for next season.
“If the opportunity did arise for us to run all of them, then that’s what we’d do.”
