Editor’s Note: This is the second of a three-part series on NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Labonte. Click here to read part one.
As Joe Gibbs Racing started to find speed and performance during the mid-1990s, 1999 was a breakout season for Bobby Labonte and the No. 18 Pontiac team. Five victories and 26 top-10 finishes gave Labonte a second-place result in the standings, 201 points behind champion Dale Jarrett.
“In 1999, I thought we were really better than we were in 2000,” Labonte told SPEED SPORT. “I made mistakes that cost us the title that year. We continued on to 2000.”
With the new millennium, came a laser-focused mindset from the JGR stable. Labonte and the team had the blueprint in place. The only job left to do was execute.
Labonte kicked off the season with four consecutive top-10 finishes, including a victory at Rockingham (S.C.) Speedway. The No. 18 Interstate Batteries machine led the standings after three events.
While a 21st-place finish at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway dropped Labonte to second after nine races, it was the last time he trailed in the standings.
Over the final 25 races, Labonte and the No. 18 team were untouchable.
Among some of the highlights during their banner season, came triumphs in two of NASCAR’s crown-jewel races.
After swapping the lead back and forth around the 2.5-mile historic oval in Indianapolis with Rusty Wallace, Labonte passed Wallace with 14 laps remaining to win the Brickyard 400.
Four weeks later, Labonte would surge to victory in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway to earn his first triumph in the legendary event.
A fourth trip to victory lane came at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, capping a magical run for the No. 18 team.
With two races left in the Cup Series season, Labonte secured the championship with a fourth-place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Labonte tallied a stout 24 top-10 finishes in 34 races, with 19 top-five finishes and an average finish of 7.4.
“Nobody made a mistake, the whole team,” Labonte said. “That was really the reason why we won. But, we just found the right combination of speed and not having any bad luck to go with it.”
The most impressive stat from that season — Labonte completed all but nine laps of the 10,167 laps run.
“I think that was astounding. That was unheard of at the time,” Labonte said. “I think Martin Martin held it before. That was like 50 laps, he completed every lap but 50 laps.
“That is so hard to do, to run 500 miles, not 400 miles, not a stage break, nothing like that. To race 500 miles or 600 miles, and to have that consistency where you can’t have an oil leak, you can’t have a power-steering belt fall off. You can’t have any problems, you can’t get in a wreck.”
The title concluded a five-year run that saw the JGR team go from midpack to series champions.
“I just think that was incredible to do that,” Labonte said. “The way the points system was then, 500 miles was a little bit hard, you kind of rode a little bit, but at the same time, you had to be fast. You don’t have that anymore. The way the system is now, you can fall out of races, and all you got to do is be good towards the end, more or less.
“Back then you just had to be good everywhere, which was hard to do. I think that’s what made it more difficult for us to have a year like that. I don’t know that you could repeat that very often.”
Labonte spent five more seasons with Gibbs, before he was met with a difficult decision.
Learn more in part three — tomorrow.
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