Justin Labonte

Justin Labonte (born February 5, 1981) is an American former NASCAR Busch Series driver. He is the son of two-time Winston Cup Series champion Terry Labonte, and the nephew of 2000 champion Bobby Labonte. He currently races on short tracks in North Carolina.

Racing career

Pre-NASCAR Labonte was born in Trinity, North Carolina. He began racing at the age of fifteen at Ace Speedway and Concord Motorsport Park. He also ran the Legends Summer Shootout Series at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where he won back-to-back championships in 1996 and 1997. During those two years, he split 25 career victories at Ace and Concord. In 1998, he moved to the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series, where he finished third in points and posted thirteen top-tens. He also won the Consistency award for finishing nearly 97% of all possible laps during the season. The next season, he had three top-tens in seven starts.

NASCAR

In 1999, Labonte began sharing the No. 44 Chevrolet Monte Carlo with his father in the Busch Series. Qualifying nine times, he had a best finish of fourteenth at Myrtle Beach Speedway. He ran more races in 2000, his best finish a 20th at Nashville Speedway USA. He also made three starts in the ARCA series, posting two top-five finishes. In 2001, he ran a limited ARCA schedule, making five starts, including a race at Nashville Superspeedway, where he led 70 laps.

Labonte began running late model stock series in 2002 at Caraway Speedway. In his first season at the track, he won one feature event and had ten top-tens in twelve starts. He followed that up by winning the track championship the next season. Labonte also returned to the Busch Series in 2002, attempting but failing to qualify for three races in the No. 04 Dodge for Cunningham Motorsports. He made his first start in three years in 2003, starting 23rd and finishing 29th at Michigan International Speedway in the No. 06 Dodge Intrepid for Cunningham Motorsports.

In 2004, Labonte announced he would make a limited run in the Busch Series that season in the No. 44 car owned by his father and sponsored by the United States Coast Guard. At the Twister 300, Labonte passed Mike Wallace on the last lap, after Wallace ran out of gas, to win his first career race. Out of seventeen starts that season, it was his only top-ten, but finished 35th in points. For 2005, Labonte's team merged with Haas CNC Racing, and he posted two top-tens and finished seventeenth in points. At the end of the season, he was released from his contract. He ran his only Busch race of 2006 at Memphis Motorsports Park in the No. 5 for Hendrick Motorsports, finishing 22nd. He also made his Craftsman Truck Series debut at Texas Motor Speedway, driving the No. 24 Bill Davis Racing Toyota Tundra to a 22nd finish place finish. He most recently raced in the Craftsman Truck Series in 2007 driving Michael Waltrip's No. 00 Toyota Tundra. He finished 27th at O'Reilly Raceway Park, followed by a twelfth-place finish at Martinsville.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Busch Series NASCAR Busch Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Pts Ref 1999 Labonte Motorsports 44 Chevy DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR TEX NSV BRI TAL CAL NHA RCH NZH CLT DOV SBO GLN MLW MYB PPR GTY IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT CAR MEM PHO HOM 58th 669 2000 DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX NSV TAL CAL RCH NHA CLT DOV SBO MYB GLN MLW NZH PPR GTY IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT CAR MEM PHO HOM 48th 913 2002 Cunningham Motorsports 04 Dodge DAY CAR LVS DAR BRI TEX NSH TAL CAL RCH NHA NZH CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI GTY PPR IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM ATL CAR PHO HOM NA - 2003 06 DAY CAR LVS DAR BRI TEX TAL NSH CAL RCH GTY NZH CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI NHA PPR IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM ATL PHO CAR HOM 134th 76 2004 Labonte Motorsports 44 Dodge DAY CAR LVS DAR BRI TEX NSH TAL CAL GTY RCH NZH CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI NHA PPR IRP MCH BRI CAL RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM ATL PHO 35th 1415 Haas CNC Racing 00 Chevy DAR 44 HOM 2005 Labonte-Haas Motorsports DAY CAL MXC LVS ATL NSH BRI TEX PHO TAL DAR RCH CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI NHA PPR GTY IRP GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM TEX PHO HOM 17th 3285 2006 Hendrick Motorsports 5 Chevy DAY CAL MXC LVS ATL BRI TEX NSH PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI NHA MAR GTY IRP GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM TEX PHO HOM 115th 97

Craftsman Truck Series NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Pts Ref 2006 Bill Davis Racing 24 Toyota DAY CAL ATL MAR GTY CLT MFD DOV TEX MCH MLW KAN KEN MEM IRP NSH BRI NHA LVS TAL MAR ATL TEX PHO HOM 79th 94 2007 Darrell Waltrip Motorsports 00 Toyota DAY CAL ATL MAR KAN CLT MFD DOV TEX MCH MLW MEM KEN IRP NSH BRI GTW NHA LVS TAL MAR ATL TEX PHO HOM 72nd 209

ARCA Re/Max Series (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.) ARCA Re/Max Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Pts Ref 2000 Labonte Motorsports 08 Chevy DAY SLM AND CLT KIL FRS MCH POC TOL KEN BLN POC WIN ISF KEN DSF SLM CLT TAL ATL 48th 560 2001 44 DAY NSH WIN SLM GTY KEN 61st 595 Cunningham Motorsports 4 Chevy CLT KAN MCH POC MEM GLN KEN MCH POC ATL Dodge NSH ISF CHI DSF SLM TOL BLN CLT TAL 2002 DAY 83rd 355 Chevy ATL NSH SLM KEN CLT KAN POC MCH TOL SBO KEN BLN POC NSH ISF WIN DSF CHI SLM TAL CLT