NASCAR legend Terry Labonte enters TD Banknorth 250

OXFORD, Maine – One of NASCAR’s living legends will continue the recent tradition of Nextel Cup champions competing in the TD Banknorth 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway.

Terry Labonte, who won stock car racing’s top prize in 1984 and 1996 and was named one of NASCAR’s 50 greatest drivers of all-time in 1998, has entered the 34th annual late model extravaganza on Sunday, July 22.
Labonte, 50, plans to compete in a car prepared by Richard Moody Racing out of its spacious race shop in Auburn. He will attempt to make his fourth career start in the TD Banknorth 250 as a teammate to two-time race champion Ben Rowe of Turner. Labonte qualified for the OPS crown jewel in 1983, 1986 and 1992, with a best finish of 17th in his third try.

“I’m excited to get back to Oxford and be part of that great TD Banknorth 250 tradition,” Labonte said. “My family has roots in the Rumford area, and I’ve always been fortunate to have a lot of friends and fans up there. It’s a race I have always wanted to win, and I believe this is going to be my best chance yet.”

Known as one of the most versatile and durable drivers in the history of stock car racing, Labonte won 22 races in a Nextel Cup career that spanned 29 seasons. With 182 top-5 finishes and 361 top-10 showings in 848 starts, Labonte won $36.5 million prize money in NASCAR’s premier series.

While some drivers specialize in super speedways, short tracks or road courses, one secret to Labonte’s consistency over the years has been his strength on all configurations. Among his Nextel Cup race victories were four at cozy North Wilkesboro, three at high-banked Bristol and two each at full-throttle Talladega, rough-and-tumble Darlington and triangular Pocono.
Among Labonte’s 11 checkered flags in the NASCAR Busch Series, he earned four on the twists and turns of the road course at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. Labonte is part of the elite group of drivers to win at least one race in all three of NASCAR’s national touring series. He scored a Craftsman Truck Series victory at Richmond, Va., in his third and final truck start during the division’s inaugural season of 1995.

“It’s an honor to have Terry Labonte drive one of our cars,” said team owner Richard Moody. “We love racing. We race different cars in different series all over the country, and Terry has always been that kind of driver, also. He still has that competitive fire, and I don’t think it will take him much time at all to show everyone that he hasn’t forgotten how to get around Oxford.”

Two RMR cars qualified for last year’s TD Banknorth 250. Rowe won a heat race and led several early laps before he was involved in a crash. Trevor Sanborn finished sixth in his first 250 start.

Richard Moody Racing and Rowe have tuned up for the 2007 season by competing in a series of winter all-star races in Florida and Alabama. They are sponsored by Hancock Lumber, Richard Moody and Sons Construction Co., LLC, BBI Waste and Rapid Ralph Concrete Foundations and Floors.
A native of Corpus Christi, Texas, Labonte is already one of nine Nextel Cup champions to compete in the TD Banknorth 250. Kurt Busch (2004) and Matt Kenseth (2004, 2005) joined the ranks in recent years. The others are Terry’s brother Bobby Labonte, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Allison, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Jarrett and Rusty Wallace. Four drivers with NASCAR ties — Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, J.J. Yeley and Ricky Craven — raced in the TD Banknorth 250 last summer.

“Terry Labonte is one of the great ambassadors of the sport, and it’s a thrill to welcome him back to Oxford Plains Speedway,” said OPS owner Bill Ryan. “His record speaks for itself. He is a true champion, and the TD Banknorth 250 is certainly a race of champions again this year. This goes to show that you never know who may decide to give it a shot.”
Labonte’s father, Bob, was born and raised in Western Maine before relocating to the south. Elder son Terry turned his first competitive laps in a quarter midget at age 7. Two years later, he won a national championship. He is now a member of the quarter midget national hall of fame.
After winning two stock car championships in Texas in the mid-1970s, Labonte formed a partnership with NASCAR team owner Billy Hagan. They joined forces for the first time in 1978 in Darlington, S.C., finishing fourth. Labonte would later win his first (1980) and last (2003) career Cup races at Darlington.

Driving the Piedmont Airlines #44, Labonte steered Hagan’s team to the series championship in 1984. After a successful run with Junior Johnson and a second stint with Hagan, Labonte enjoyed a resurgence with Hendrick Motorsports in 1994. Labonte won eight races in the Kellogg’s Corn Flakes #5 over the next three seasons, punctuated by a second Cup championship.

“Terry was one of those drivers I always admired growing up,” said Ben Rowe, who won back-to-back TD Banknorth 250 titles in 2003 and 2004. “He is a clean racer, but a hard-nosed racer, too. To me, he will always be the ‘Iron Man.’ He and Dale Earnhardt had those two great finishes at Bristol that none of us will ever forget. It‘s going to be a blast working with him.”

In 1996, Labonte broke what was then the record for most consecutive Cup starts, eclipsing Richard Petty by competing in his 655th straight event. Two years later, he was named to NASCAR’s list of all-time greats in honor of the sanctioning body’s 50th anniversary. Eleven of those 50 drivers have competed in the TD Banknorth 250.

Driving a part-time schedule at the helm of the #96 Hall of Fame Racing machine for Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach, Labonte proved in 2006 that he still has the touch to compete at the highest level. He led the road course event at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., with only a handful of laps remaining before finishing third.

As demonstrated by the continuing success of his contemporaries Mark Martin and Ricky Rudd, Labonte would surprise nobody if he added his name to the list of legendary TD Banknorth 250 winners.

“It’s a fun race, but it’s a tough, tough race,” Labonte said. “I remember the first time we tried to qualify, we looked around and saw something like 100 other cars. I’m hearing that they’ve already broken that record by a bunch. You just have to get up on the steering wheel and go after it.”
Labonte was one of 106 drivers to make a qualifying attempt in the previous record season of 1983. His entry into the 2007 event is the 166th to date. With a return to the race’s roots as a late model event, the TD Banknorth 250 rules are open to literally hundreds of drivers throughout New England and Canada.

The winner’s share remains a minimum of $25,000, with the potential to double that total by earning lap-leader bonus money at $100 per turn. Drivers will draw for starting position in a series of 20-lap heat races, setting the tone for what promises to be the wildest qualifying session in TD Banknorth 250 history.

This year’s TD Banknorth 250 is also part of the L-A Harley Davidson Late Model Challenge, a five-race loop with a sizable point fund. The race rounds out a three-day weekend of competition sponsored by New England Dodge Dealers. Reserved seats for Sunday’s race are available now by calling (207) 539-8865, Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Oxford Plains Speedway is a 3/8-mile asphalt oval located on Route 26 in Oxford, Maine. We are located approximately 15 minutes from Lewiston-Auburn and 45 minutes from Portland.