Labonte ready to return to winning ways
Associated Press
HARRISBURG, N.C. - Terry Labonte doesn't seem to have anything left to prove.
He has won 21 Winston Cup races and started a record 636
consecutive events
on stock car's premier circuit, drawing swarms of
autograph hounds every time
he goes out in public.
Terry Labonte has a good feeling about the 2000 season.
He has won more than $21 million, placing him in the
sport's career top five, and
is barely three years removed from his second driving
title.
But heading into the 2000 season, the 43-year-old Labonte
sounds more like an
intense rookie full of expectations than the good-natured
driver who has become
known as NASCAR's Iron Man.
"I've got a new attitude," Labonte said. "I don't remember
looking forward to a
season as much as I am this year."
Labonte has plenty of incentive. He's coming off an
uncharacteristically poor
year, one that prompted several offseason personnel
changes to his Hendrick
Motorsports team.
The most notable new face belongs to the team's "new"
leader, crew chief Gary
DeHart. He led Labonte to the 1996 Winston Cup title but
left soon afterward
to start his own car-building business.
Since then, Labonte has slipped. He finished 12th in
points last season, nearly
1,700 behind champion Dale Jarrett.
"You've got to be careful and not step on any toes or
anything, but things were
kind of headed down the wrong path," DeHart said.
He based his assessment on what he found when he rejoined
team owner Rick
Hendrick's three-car operation in December.
DeHart said the main problem was there were too many
variations on the
Chevrolet Monte Carlo. That made it difficult to establish
any kind of
consistency throughout a season that begins in February
and stretches well into
November.
Labonte said the problems went beyond car variations. The
team also was
hampered by difficulties during pit stops as well as
mechanical troubles, including
lines that were left loose.
"People mistakes," Labonte said, shaking his head. "We
can't have those."
Andy Graves, Labonte's crew chief last year and in 1998,
when the team wound
up ninth in the points, left after the 1999 season to take
a job on the
Championship Auto Racing Teams circuit.
Hendrick knew right away whom he wanted to replace Graves.
The team owner
called DeHart, who had joined Hendrick Motorsports in 1986
and worked in a
variety of jobs before setting out on his own.
"I don't know anyone who's a better car builder than he
is. He really helped us
so much when he was here, and not just with his team but
all through the
organization," Hendrick said. "He's a great asset to this
company. It's hard to
find the kind of talent that he's got."
There was a stumbling block, however: DeHart enjoyed
owning his own
business, and it was a financial success. Hendrick
arranged a solution.
"He basically bought my shop out," DeHart said. "He's
taking over the business
and taking care of everybody. Rick couldn't have made it
easier for me."
Hendrick figured the investment was worth it. With DeHart
leading the team in
1996, Labonte won two races, had seven second-place
finishes and 15 other
finishes in the top 10, more than offsetting the three
times he failed to finish at all.
Hendrick is banking on Labonte and DeHart recreating the
chemistry from 1996
and producing another title.
"I think they can do it," Hendrick said. "As a matter of
fact, I know they can do
it."
Labonte said he is committed to proving his boss right, so
he has spent an
unusually large amount of time at the Hendrick Motorsports
complex in
Harrisburg since the season ended. The goal is to build a
new sense of
teamwork with the revamped crew.
"I've won two championships, and the same thing's happened
both times,"
Labonte said. "After I won in 1984 and 1996, the team's
kind of fallen apart the
next year. People are the key."
This time around, Labonte thinks the people part of the
equation has been
solved.
"I think we could be close. I think we could really be
close to being a
championship contender," he said. "I think we can get
right back in the hunt."
