NASCAR.com reports Sunday at Talladega will be Terry Labonte's final race. They just don't come any nicer than "The Iceman."
TERRY LABONTE TO MAKE FINAL SPRINT CUP START
October 17, 2014, Staff report , NASCAR.com
Terry Labonte , two-time NASCAR premier series champion, will attempt his last NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start at Talladega Superspeedway in the GEICO 500 T wo-time champion runs special scheme to mark milestone
On SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, the Class of 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee Labonte noted it's not the first time he's said it would be his last race, but this time truly will be the finale.
"I told (owner Frank Stoddard) at the beginning of the year this was going to be my last season, which I told him that last year, too, so this is about the third time I've run my last race," Labonte said. "But I told him at the beginning of the year this would be my last season, and that's why they came up with the special paint job.
"It's been fun. It's been exciting. I still love the sport. I wish I was 10 years younger."
Driving a special No. 32 C&J Energy Services Ford, Labonte detailed the elements of the scheme on NASCAR.com's GarageCam.
"The center part is actually the original car I drove back in 1978, the first paint job," Labonte said. "On the right side is the old Piedmont Airlines car, and the left side is the Kellogg's car, which we won the championship (1984 and 1996 respectively) with both those paint schemes."
Labonte was asked which moments meant the most in his career that will span 890 premier series starts. He noted two of his 22 career victories.
The Corpus Christi, Texas, native said his 1999 win at Texas Motor Speedway was the first that came to mind.
"It's really honestly the first time I've ever noticed the crowd," Labonte told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. "I know when I passed Dale Jarrett, the whole place stood up, and I thought to myself, 'Oh my God, I think everybody here is pulling for me, and if I mess this up, they're gonna all be mad.'
"That was really an exciting race that I was certainly glad to be able to win out there in our home state."
In his second full-time season in NASCAR's premier series, 1980, Labonte earned his first career win at Darlington Raceway , but his last win in 2003 at the Track Too Tough to Tame was one of his most memorable.
"Having won my first race at Darlington and then the last race I won was at Darlington, it was really pretty cool," Labonte said.
If he wins his 61st start at Talladega, don't expect the 57-year-old driver to celebrate with a burnout.
" can you imagine doing a donut if you drove for Junior Johnson -- I'm telling you, that wouldn't work," Labonte said. "Years ago, these guys wouldn't have (stood for) these guys tearing up their cars doing donuts and blowing up motors and tires and things like that. They had to rebuild that stuff. But I'm too old to do that. I couldn't do a donut."
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updated by @dave-fulton: 08/16/18 01:40:38AM