The Labontes

Bobby Labonte, 34, is the younger brother of Terry, 42, who is the father of Justin, 18. Terry The 1984 and 1996 Winston Cup champion has won 20 races. Bobby Finished second to Jeff Gordon in the 1993 rookie of the year standings and has won seven races. Justin Will start his career in the Busch Grand National division this season by sharing the driving duties with his father.

By Liz Clarke
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 12, 1999; Page N6

As the 1996 Winston Cup season drew to a close, Terry Labonte was locked in a tight race for the championship with teammate Jeff Gordon and Dale Jarrett.

Meanwhile, Terry's younger brother, Bobby, was having a decent year driving Joe Gibbs's No. 18 Pontiac. Bobby Labonte had run particularly well on the superspeedways of Daytona and Talladega.

The night before the season finale at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the brothers talked about how great it would be if they both won: Terry could clinch the championship and Bobby could win the race.

"We kind of thought, 'Well, that's a stretch," Bobby recalled, "but we'd been running good that week and everything seemed to be going for us."

Their fantasy came true. With their parents, Bob and Martha, looking on, Terry finished fifth to clinch his second championship. He edged Gordon by 37 points, despite driving with a cast on his left hand. Bobby won the race. It was his only victory that year. They celebrated by making an impromptu victory lap around the track, their cars side by side.

"It's hard to have two winners on the same day in a race," Bobby said. "You really can't; there's only one winner. But that day, there were two. And it might not ever happen again, that two members of a family could win one the same day.

"We're not very emotional people. But that was the coolest thing we've ever done. It was really neat. You can only cherish it for so long, but that was definitely a highlight."