Bobby Labonte is best known for being the 2000 NASCAR Cup Series champion. He was also the first champion for Joe Gibbs Racing, as they bagged their first of 5 championships. The other four came courtesy of Tony Stewart in 2002 and 2005, and Kyle Busch in 2015 and 2019. Labonte has picked up 21 wins in his career, with four of them coming in his championship-winning season.

However, one particular win of his stands out in his mind, especially during that season. That Cup win was none other than his triumph at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. To tell the truth, the Brickyard 400 is one of NASCAR”s most prestigious races. It is considered a Crown Jewel race, alongside the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600 and Southern 500.

Long before the #18 was associated with Kyle Busch, it originally belonged to Labonte. The driver had been with the JGR since 1995, three years after the organisation’s Cup Series debut. Since then, he stuck around in the #18 car all the way until 2005, winning all 21 of his races with the team. Now that JGR is celebrating 25 years of their first championship triumph, Labonte is reuniting with his mean machine from the good old days. And, the iconic race race is all set to get special recognition throughout the 2025 racing season.

Bobby Labonte looked back fondly at his #18 Joe Gibbs Racing car

Dropping a major update about his iconic race car on social media, Bobby Labonte said, “This is the car that won the Brickyard in 2000. We look back on a lot of the notes that we have, it was a brand new car. We raced it at Homestead when we closed the championship. The following year, we raced it at Atlanta, Pocono. So, long story short, the first race we ran it was the Brickyard 400, which we won. It’s got a pedigree to it and it was exciting to put it back together as it was from the Brickyard.

This was the time when Joe Gibbs Racing wasn’t a Toyota-backed team, rather they raced with General Motor’s Pontiacs. By this time JGR had established itself as a title contender but in 1999, Labonte and the team had to take a bitter pill and settle for runner-up spot. Even a five-race win, which included the final race of the season at Atlanta wasn’t enough for them to clinch the Bill France trophy. However, in 2000, they made amends and not only brought home their first title but also won the Brickyard 400. Now that, JGR is celebrating 25 years of their historic milestone, the No. 18 car is also set to receive special recognition.

“It looked like this, not a whole lot different from the outside, so a lot of the original stuff, minus a few parts and pieces. Nothing that nobody would really know. It’s going to go to the Indianapolis Museum, the new museum that they’re redoing. It’ll be there till September, so it’ll be there for the Indy 500, Brickyard 400 and throughout the fall. Then I’ll get it back after that.” Labonte added.

Of course, even though these cars are ‘stock cars’, they do get some tweaks over the course of the season. Especially when it comes to setting them up for the different types of tracks. However, Labonte insisted that that particular car was the same one he raced at Indianapolis and a few other races. Thus making it part of the special celebration this year.

Now that he is long retired, and Joe Gibbs Racing has switched to Toyota, the car is lying dormant. It’s just as well, because in Labonte’s time, JGR had partnered with Pontiac, and the brand is no longer in NASCAR.

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The #18 car has had a rich NASCAR Cup legacy since then

Labonte stuck with JGR for a full decade, and between 2003 and 2005, drove for Chevrolet. From 2006 onwards, JJ Yeley had the honor of being the #18 Joe Gibbs Racing driver. Then from 2008 onwards, Joe Gibbs Racing recruited a young hotshot driver called Kyle Busch, who had fallen out of favour with Hendrick Motorsports.

While no one was willing to bet on Rowdy, Coach saw the potential in him, and what followed next was history. Two NASCAR Cup Series titles and 56 career wins is nothing to sniff at. Kyle Busch enjoyed a long and prosperous racing career at Joe Gibbs Racing between 2008 and 2022, recording wins in every season. He had a 19-year win winning one race per-season record that came to an end in 2024 driving the No. 8 RCR Chevy.

Without a doubt, Bobby Labonte can be proud that his legacy was left in good hands. But ever since Rowdy jumped ships to RCR, Joe Gibbs Racing has kept the #18 car under wraps. Even the recruits like Chase Briscoe and Christopher Bell weren’t handed the reins of the team’s iconic race car. Who knows Joe Gibbs’ grandson, Ty could be next in line to lead the #18 car to more NASCAR glory?