Bobby's Personal Life

Spouse Donna

Kids TYLER

Height 5'8

Weight 175

Hometown Corpus Christi, Tex.

Birthdate May 8, 1964

Favorite Book Beyond the Norm

Favorite Music Rock n' roll

Favorite Movie Rudy

Favorite TV Show Seinfeld

Personal Heroes Father, Bob, and brother, Terry

Hobbies Fishing, remote control cars, flying

Biography

The argument posed in the popular Chevrolet commercial between brothers Bobby and Terry Labonte regarding who is the better singer may never be put to rest. But don't be surprised if the debate as to who is the better driver keeps picking up steam in the next few years. Bobby Labonte continued his rise to the upper ranks of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series in 1997. He placed a career-best seventh in the final series standings, establishing new highs with nine top-5s and 18 top-10s as well. The performance was all the more impressive given that Labonte and Joe Gibbs Racing switched makes in the offseason. This was their first year using Pontiacs, and although it took a while for things to click, once they got rolling the No. 18 team was hard to stop. Labonte posted back-to-back second-place finishes in the October races at Charlotte and Talladega before finally scoring a win in the season-ending NAPA 500 at Atlanta. It was Labonte's second straight NAPA 500 title -- and the second straight year that his only win came in the last race. One might imagine Labonte is getting tired of sharing the spotlight with the NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion when he wins a race. However, as he and crew chief Jimmy Makar tackle their second year in Pontiacs, it's not a bad bet that their next win won't take so long to arrive. Labonte's first career victory came in 1995 in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. Later that year he swept both races at Michigan. He was the NASCAR Busch Series Grand National Division champion in 1991, then was edged for the '92 by three points in a race to the finish with eventual champ Joe Nemechek. He began racing quarter-midgets in Texas in 1969, the graduated to go-karts in 1978. His NASCAR background includes Late Model Stocks, where he won a championship at Caraway Speedway in 1987, Late Model Sportsman and in 1990, his NASCAR Busch Series Grand National debut came. He now owns a car in that series.