the5car
10-12-2004, 09:20 AM
Labonte to run part-time schedule in '05 and '06
Jenna Fryer / Associated Press
Posted: 5 minutes ago
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Two-time NASCAR champion Terry Labonte will race a limited schedule in 2005 and 2006, joining the growing list of veteran drivers slowly easing out of racing.
Labonte is scheduled to run about 10 races next season in the No. 44 Chevrolet, followed by 10 races in 2006 in what will be his final season.
Kyle Busch will take Labonte's spot in the No. 5 Chevy and is to run a full-time Nextel Cup schedule in 2005. The 19-year-old Busch is the younger brother of current Nextel Cup points leader Kurt Busch.
Labonte, 47, began his Cup career in 1978, running five races for Billy Hagan. His first full season of competition was in 1979 and he went on to set a then-record of 655 consecutive starts that was broken in 2000.
He won two series titles along the way, in 1984 and again in 1996. He has 22 career victories, the most recent last August at Darlington Raceway in the final Southern 500 run on Labor Day weekend - a victory that broke a 156-race winless streak.
His younger brother, Bobby, won NASCAR's top title in 2000, making the Labontes the only pair of brothers with series championships.
Labonte is following in the footsteps of 49-year-old Bill Elliott, who scaled back to a part-time schedule this season.
Rusty Wallace also has announced that 2005 will be his final season; other longtime NASCAR mainstays probably aren't too far behind.
Car owner Jack Roush said in August that 45-year-old Mark Martin indicated next season will be his last, and the two have called a news conference for Thursday.
Dale Jarrett and Ricky Rudd were born the same year as Labonte and Wallace. Sterling Marlin and Jimmy Spencer are 47, and Kyle Petty is 44.
Jenna Fryer / Associated Press
Posted: 5 minutes ago
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Two-time NASCAR champion Terry Labonte will race a limited schedule in 2005 and 2006, joining the growing list of veteran drivers slowly easing out of racing.
Labonte is scheduled to run about 10 races next season in the No. 44 Chevrolet, followed by 10 races in 2006 in what will be his final season.
Kyle Busch will take Labonte's spot in the No. 5 Chevy and is to run a full-time Nextel Cup schedule in 2005. The 19-year-old Busch is the younger brother of current Nextel Cup points leader Kurt Busch.
Labonte, 47, began his Cup career in 1978, running five races for Billy Hagan. His first full season of competition was in 1979 and he went on to set a then-record of 655 consecutive starts that was broken in 2000.
He won two series titles along the way, in 1984 and again in 1996. He has 22 career victories, the most recent last August at Darlington Raceway in the final Southern 500 run on Labor Day weekend - a victory that broke a 156-race winless streak.
His younger brother, Bobby, won NASCAR's top title in 2000, making the Labontes the only pair of brothers with series championships.
Labonte is following in the footsteps of 49-year-old Bill Elliott, who scaled back to a part-time schedule this season.
Rusty Wallace also has announced that 2005 will be his final season; other longtime NASCAR mainstays probably aren't too far behind.
Car owner Jack Roush said in August that 45-year-old Mark Martin indicated next season will be his last, and the two have called a news conference for Thursday.
Dale Jarrett and Ricky Rudd were born the same year as Labonte and Wallace. Sterling Marlin and Jimmy Spencer are 47, and Kyle Petty is 44.