Bobby Labonte Reveals Big Role Played by Dale Earnhardt Sr. in His Joe Gibbs Racing NASCAR Deal

Bobby Labonte has been in the NASCAR scene since 1991, and has had a long and successful career. This includes winning the 2000 Cup championship. At that time, he was racing for the Joe Gibbs Racing team. In his career, he has amassed 21 wins and got 411 Top 10 finishes, as well as 43 poles. However, it is interesting to note that the late great Dale Earnhardt had a big role in bring Labonte to JGR.

In conversation with the Dale Jr Download, he opened up on the move. Labonte said, “We were at Rockingham, we’re standing there and talking. Joe walked up, your dad told Joe. He was like, ‘You need to get him to drive this car. You should get him to drive your car’.”

At that point, Labonte felt absolutely honored to earn such praise from the NASCAR legend. Soon, one thing led to another and Labonte found himself in the Joe Gibbs car. Since then, he has been in excellent form, even winning his one and only Cup Series title in 2000.

Dale Earnhardt and Bobby Labonte have been fierce rivals

The two drivers have often battled against each other. One of their fiercest tussles came at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in Labonte’s championship year. Apparently, Dale Sr managed to stave off the #18 car and won the race with a narrow margin of 0.010 seconds.

It is also noteworthy that Dale Earnhardt struck up a rivalry with Terry Labonte, Bobby’s older brother. Terry himself is a two-time Cup Series champion and a legend in his own right. So, Earnhardt has had the privilege to race against two brothers and even managed to beat them.

Of course, there were some hairy moments between them on a number of occasions. Nevertheless, there was always mutual respect between Dale Earnhardt and the Labonte siblings.

MORE: WATCH: Dale Earnhardt Defeats Bobby Labonte in One of the Closest Finishes