ATLANTA
t was a big day for the Labonte clan. Make that a huge day.
NASCAR Winston drivers Terry and Bobby Labonte swept up all the glory in the NAPA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Nov. 10 with Bobby, the younger, earning his first victory of the season and Terry, the older, capturing a fifth-place finish that made him the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup champion.
For Bobby, the victory was his first ever at Atlanta and his first of what had been a disappointing season. But he turned it all around in heroic style.
The driver of the Interstate Batteries Chevrolet started from the pole position, led six times for 147 of the race's 328 laps -- more than any other driver -- and became the third driver to win his first race of the year in the last three events, joining Ricky Rudd (Rockingham) and Bobby Hamilton (Phoenix).
By racing to victory from the pole, Bobby claimed the Unocal Challenge Bonus of $136,800 to boost his winnings to a whopping $274,900.
That, however, pales in comparison to what his older brother will haul to the savings account.
Terry, driver of the Kellogg's Chevrolet, finished two positions behind Hendrick Motorsports teammate and title challenger Jeff Gordon and thus easily claimed his second career title.
His first came in 1984 while he was driving for Billy Hagan. The 12 years between his first title and his second is the longest span in NASCAR history.
The elder Labonte, who led the point standings by 47 points over Gordon coming into the race, finished with 4,657 points, 37 more than Gordon (4,620).
Dale Jarrett, driver of the Ford Quality Care Ford who rallied to finish second in the NAPA 500, remained in third place in the final standings, 89 points (4,568) behind Terry Labonte.
Terry's championship will mean a minimum bonus of $1.5 million from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.'s Winston cigarette brand at the NASCAR Awards Banquet in New York. With that reward, his season earnings total $3,439,213 and that does not include numerous pending contingency awards.
"It's just a great day," said the new champion. "It's a great day for myself and all the guys on the team. I owe it to the guys on the team. We had a great run today and we had a great season. I never thought it would take 12 years to win another championship, but I knew I was with a team that could win races and a championship.
"At the end, I just rode it out. It was the longest race of my life, but we did what we had to do. The first championship means a lot, but there's nothing to compare to this.
"And I'd like to congratulate my brother. It was a great day for him."
Bobby Labonte's final run to victory was set up after the restart from the day's eighth and final caution period, which began on lap 274 when debris from Ken Schrader's car, which had scraped the wall between Turns 3 and 4 on lap 271, was found on the track.
He joined the leaders on pit road on lap 275 and, along with Jarrett, Gordon and Rusty Wallace, topped off his fuel supply while his brother and Dale Earnhardt, among others, took on right-side tires.
The trio of Hamilton, Ricky Rudd and Michael Waltrip had topped off on lap 265, during the seventh caution period, and consequently did not pit during the final yellow flag.
Therefore, they ran first through third when the race restarted on lap 278.
Gordon was fourth, Bobby Labonte fifth, Jarrett sixth, Jeff Burton seven, Wallace eighth, Earnhardt ninth, Hut Stricklin 10th, Mark Martin 11th and Terry Labonte 12th.
Both Labontes had a job to do.
They each had to pass four challengers to gain what would be the perfect outcome. Terry had to lock up eighth place to ensure himself the championship.
On lap 281, Bobby slung low alongside Gordon coming out of the fourth turn and made a daring, three-wide pass into Turn 1 to move into third place.
"That pass made it," Bobby said. "It was three-wide in Turn 1, but I just had to get by Jeff because track position was so important. And I knew Jeff was the one to beat.
"Making the pass the way I did isn't normal for me, but we were on a mission and I had to do what I had to do."
On lap 286, Bobby passed Rudd to move into second place. Then on the next lap, he got by Hamilton in the fourth turn to take the lead he would not give up. He led the final 42 laps.
Terry, meanwhile, was making his own moves.
When his brother took the lead on lap 287, he moved into eighth place. By lap 296, he was in sixth place after he passed Rudd. Then on lap 303, he got around Hamilton going into the third turn to take fifth place.
Knowing he was in an ideal position, he stayed there comfortably.
With 20 laps to go, Bobby's lead over Gordon was 1.25 seconds. He expanded it to 1.66 seconds with 15 laps to go.
Then, on lap 318, with 10 laps remaining, Gordon could no longer hold off Jarrett's charge and gave up second place.
For Jarrett, it would be too little, too late. He closed the distance between himself and the younger Labonte to as close as 1.13 seconds with four laps remaining, but never got closer until the final lap, when Bobby eased up and beat Jarrett to the checkered flag by 0.41-second.
"Man, it is great to go out a winner at last," Bobby said. "This is the coolest thing I've ever done in my life."
Asked how he felt about his brother's championship, Bobby said, "That's cool. That's way cool."
Behind the triumvirate of Bobby Labonte, Jarrett and Gordon came Earnhardt in fourth place, the position he also finished in the final point standings.
Hamilton finished sixth behind Terry with Martin seventh, Rudd eighth, Jeff Burton ninth and Wallace 10th. Seventeen cars finished on the lead lap, a record for the NAPA 500. It broke the old mark of nine set twice, in 1981 and 1993.