Terry Labonte #14 MW Windows Chevrolet

    Hello once again race fans, and welcome back to the NASCAR Racing Champions blog~ It's been a long time since I've made a post, but I'm feeling up to par today~ In this post, we're gonna be looking back on Terry Labonte's time in the #14 MW Windows Oldsmobile/Chevrolet, which he drove during the 1992-1995 BGN seasons~

    I had planned to do my next blog post on Chad Chaffin, but those plans have been put on hold for now, as I'm trying to work out a live interview with him~ Seeing as how I've been extremely slow on production, I decided I'd just go ahead and do a post on someone else, and I had doubles of the Labonte car, so that's how this post came about~

   I never was much of a Terry Labonte fan while he was driving, but as he got closer to retirement, I started getting sentimental about him, and found myself cheering for him towards the end of his career~ I used to despise Jimmie Johnson, but as he got older, and started winning less.. I find myself pulling for him these days too~ Even if you don't like a driver, when they get old, you just start liking them a little bit... at least I do~ Well, here we go for another installment of the NASCAR Racing Champions blog~

                                                                  Custom promo pic~

    Unlike the "Buschwackers" of today, the Winston Cup drivers who competed in BGN competition in the 80's and early 90's mostly ran their own cars, and they weren't pumping millions of dollars into their "Busch League" hobby~ This was back when leading at the halfway point in a Cup race was a BIG thing, because of the bonus money you'd receive~

    If you won the pole back then, you'd also win $7,600 in bonus money from fuel sponsor "Unocal 76"~ These little bonuses were fought after pretty hard, because drivers still weren't making the big money that would come into the sport just a few years down the road~ Now don't get me wrong.. that doesn't mean these Cup guys were all riding around in clunkers (although Dale Earnhardt did have some pretty ugly Chevy Celebrities back then), guys like Darrell Waltrip, Harry Gant, as well as Earnhardt, had some pretty good cars back then~

   But when they entered a BGN race, they knew they had to watch out for guys like Sam Ard, Tommy Ellis, Tommy Houston, and Jack Ingram, who were all serious competitors for many years in the series~ By the time the 1992 BGN season came around, Terry Labonte had only competed in eight BGN races, but won two of them, including his first ever race in the series, the 1985 "Miller 400" @ Charlotte~

                                                             One sharp looking Chevy~

    Terry's first race with sponsor "MW Windows" came during the 1992 BGN season, in the "All-Pro 300" @ Charlotte, where he qualified 36th in the #14 MW Windows Oldsmobile~ The pole position was won by newcomer Jeff Gordon, driving the #1 Baby Ruth Ford~ Labonte steadily improved throughout the event, and raced his way to a 4th place finish~ Jeff Gordon led 90 laps on the day, and went on to win the event, his third of the season~

    Labonte's next race in the MW Windows car came in the "AC-Delco 200" @ Rockingham, where he qualified 14th, and stayed there for the majority of the event, eventually coming home with a 13th place showing~ This would be his final time in the car during the 1992 BGN season, as well as the final time the car was ran as an Oldsmobile~ Mark Martin went on to win the race, in what was his first of many wins in the famed #60 Winn-Dixie Ford~

   The team quit switched from Oldsmobile to Chevrolet for the start of the 1993 BGN season, with Terry's father, Bob, as the crew chief~ The 1993 BGN schedule was reduced from 31 races to 28, and Labonte was scheduled to compete in twenty events during the season~ Up until this, he had never competed in more than five races in a season~

                                                     This custom photo used to be a t-shirt~

  Terry's 1993 BGN season was about as close to a roller coast ride as you can get, without actually riding a roller coaster~ He was either in the top 10 or better, or he was out of the race, 25th or worse~ His best run during the season was a runner-up finish in the "Fay's 150" @ Watkins Glen~ He was in the lead with 18 laps remaining, but a hard charging Bill Elliott went on to win the race in the #11 Budweiser Ford~

   He won the pole for the "SplitFire 200" @ Dover, and led 40 laps before his steering gave out, resulting in a 25th place showing~ He finished the '93 season with 1 pole, 7 top 5's, and 10 top 10's~ Heading into the 1994 BGN season, he retained the MW Windows sponsorship, and things were about to get a lot better for the elder Labonte~ After starting the season off with a 26th place qualifying effort for the "Goody's 300", he made his way up to the front to lead four laps, and finished 4th~

   Riding high from his top 5 showing at Daytona, he qualified 8th for the "Goodwrench 200" @ Rockingham, and again found himself in the lead, but this time, it was when it counted, as he would go on to win the event over Harry Gant and the #7 Manheim Auto Auctions Chevrolet~ A couple races later, he picked up his second win of the year in the "Miller 500" @ Martinsville, leading 205 of 300 laps, as his only competition that day, Hermie Sadler, was involved in an early crash involving six other drivers~

                                                         1994 was their best year ever~

    Terry won two more times during the 1994 BGN season~ After qualifying 21st for the "Fays 150" @ Watkins Glen, he went on to lead 43 of 62 laps, in his defeat of runner-up Bobby Dotter~ His final win came at the site of his first race with sponsor MW Windows, in the "All-Pro 300" @ Charlotte~ Mark Martin had the car to beat most of the day, but Labonte was able to pass him with 53 laps remaining to take the checkered flag, and his last win of the 1994 season~

   He finished out the season with 4 wins, 9 top 5's, and 14 top 10's, finishing 18th in the final point standings, even after not competing in eight of the scheduled races on the circuit~ The 1995 BGN season would be his last with sponsor MW Windows, and it was a mildly uneventful year, with Labonte picking up 1 pole, and 1 win, both in the "Lysol 200" @ Watkins Glen, while also compiling 9 top 5's, and 11 top 10's~

   For many years now, MW Windows has been involved in multiple class action lawsuits, and in October of 2015, finally had to pay up, after it was found in a court of law that the vinyl clad, wood framed windows contained a defect that led to premature wood rot, staining, warping, and discoloration~ The lawsuit included windows that were made by MW Windows from 1987-2014~ Following the lawsuit settlement, the company had since shied away from the "MW Windows" name, and now refers to the company as "Ply Gem"~ A claim on their website say they are the "#1 Vinyl & Aluminum Windows in the United States", as well as "#1 Manufacturer of Vinyl Siding in North America"~
                
   Terry Labonte ran a total of 61 races in the #14 MW Windows car, 59 in a Chevrolet, and 2 in an Oldsmobile~ His career stats in the car were 2 poles, 5 wins, 26 top 5's, and 36 top 10's~ He changed his car number to #5 for start of the 1996 BGN season, and picked up sponsorship from Bayer/Actron, in what was a hideous looking car, that he won three races with that year~ Other fellow MW Windows drivers included brother Bobby Labonte, Darrell Waltrip, Michael Waltrip, and David Green, who drove the final MW Windows sponsored car in the 2001 running of the "Carquest Auto Parts 300" @ Charlotte, where the sponsorship first began with Labonte's Oldsmobile~ Green finished 9th in the Frank Cicci owned #34 AFG Glass/MW Windows Chevrolet~

                                             Terry Labonte #14 MW Windows Chevrolet~

                                                               Click pics to enlarge~

    I've gotta admit.. I've been away from doing these blogs for so long, it took me a little while to remember how to do everything~ I feel like my time away hasn't been a total loss, because I've had a chance to get a little better with Photoshop, and the pictures and backgrounds are looking much better now.. so that's nice~ Speaking of nice.. you know I'm a sucker for these simple paint scheme, white race cars, and this one is no exception!~

   Red and white go together just as good as red and black do, in my opinion~ Heck, I may even prefer it now that I'm getting old... it's much easier to read on the track, versus a black and red car~ I'm glad I wasn't a customer of MW Windows back then after my research, but I sure was glad when I got this car~ I didn't take a picture of it, but there is also a Lumina version of this car, which was issued as a "Preview Edition"~ I have it as well, but didn't open it, because I had two of these Monte Carlo versions~ The one you see in the pictures is now the property of my son, who is probably somewhere tearing it up at the moment~ Haha!~

  But that's what these Racing Champions cars were made for in the first place.. to have fun~ Yeah, they're fun to collect and cherish as a nostalgia thing now that we're older... but when I was a kid in the 80's and 90's, I ripped them out of the packaging and had little play races on the floor with them for hours~ (My original Rusty Wallace car is almost unrecognizable these days due to this)~ This was a beautiful car on the track, as well as in Racing Champions form~ I give it an A- on the Racing Champions diecast scale, with a few points taken off only because Terry's name is really light print~ Other than that, it's a real winner~ Speaking of winners, it's time for the Racing Champions NASCAR Diecast bonus car!~

                                            J.T. Hayes #91 Crossroads City of Corinth Ford~

    J.T. Hayes is a former go-kart and sprint car racer from Corinth, Mississippi~ In 1990, he talked the town into sponsoring him for his debut in the Winston Cup Series~ Driving the #91 Crossroads City of Corinth Ford, owned by Junie Donlavey, Hayes would compete in the "GM Goodwrench 500" @ Rockingham, along with teammate Ernie Irvan~

  Of the 38 competitors to make a qualifying lap, Hayes was by far the slowest, and started dead last, while his teammate Irvan qualified 17th~ The race was just 10 laps in when caution waved for Michael Waltrip spinning in the backstretch~ Right before the caution, the black flag was shown for Hayes, and he was parked for not maintaining proper speed/control of his car~

  J.T. Hayes never raced in NASCAR again after that day, and had an operation in 1994 to remove his male parts~ He currently lives his life dressing up as a woman, and has written a book about his experience~ He also prefers to be called "Terry O'Connell" these days, and has admitted to dating men while pretending to be a woman, without informing the men that he's a man himself (which I find to be very rude)~ After his operation, Junie Donlavey was asked if he'd let Hayes race his cars again, to which Donlavey replied he would if Hayes still had the talent to drive~

  Well, that wraps up the first new blog post in over a year, and the first of 2019~ Thank you all who came back to check out this post, and hopefully I won't be as long making the next one~ Below are some clips of the two Terry's~ Enjoy them, and I'll see ya' next time, here at the Racing Champions NASCAR diecast blog!~

                                             Terry's only Truck Series win~ Richmond '95~

                                                             1989 DieHard 500 finish~

                                                            Who's the better Labonte?~

                                                 J.T. Hayes as "Terry O'Connell" on 20/20~

 

Neil Bonnett #31 Mom 'n' Pops Chevrolet

    Welcome back to the NASCAR Racing Champions blog~ In today's post, I'm going to be looking back on the final two Cup starts of Neil Bonnett's career, specifically his next to last race, where he drove the #31 Mom 'n' Pops/Goodwrench Chevrolet~  I've been thinking about Neil a lot here lately, and yes, I've already did a post on him in the past.. but I just felt like it was time to bring him up again for some reason~

   When I look at this car, I'm filled with lots of different emotions.. some are happy, while others are sad.. and others times I just wonder what it would have been like had he not got back in the drivers seat.. all the great commentary we lost, and all the great family time the Bonnett family lost~ We all lost Neil together, and together we can help keep his memory alive for years to come~

                                               Neil was thrilled to be back in a Cup car~

    Neil Bonnett had been out of racing since his crash in the 1990 "TranSouth 500" @ Darlington~ In 1992, he started doing some testing for Richard Childress, which fueled Bonnett's fiery passion for racing~ He started talking to Earnhardt about how he was wanting to get back to driving again, and Earnhardt convinced Richard Childress to give Bonnett the car Dale won the Pepsi 400 in, and let him drive it at Talladega~

    When word got out that Bonnett was gonna be racing at Talladega, fans snatched up tickets, and millions tuned  in to see the return of the man from Alabama make his return to the highest form of NASCAR~ I remember the first time I saw Bonnett's car on television, how I thought it looked even cooler than Earnhardt's car did~ That big red Mom 'n' Pops logo just popped on tv~ Bonnett's son David attempted to make the field for the BGN race, but his engine blew in qualifying, and he failed to make the field~

                                                  Bonnett awaits his qualifying session~

 
    The 1993 "Die Hard 500" was just completely filled with NASCAR history before it even started~ Buddy Baker was attempting a one off deal with Rick Hendrick in the developmental #46 DuPont Chevrolet, and as the story goes, certain drivers didn't feel comfortable racing around Buddy, due to recent blood clots in his brain at the time~

    It has been said that Baker was then blackballed by NASCAR officials when his car was impounded, and adjustments were made to the cowl~ These adjustments made the car two seconds slower than he was in practice, thus assuring Baker wouldn't make the field for the event~ The other drivers who failed to make the race were Rich Bickle, Bobby Hamilton, Clay Young, and Kerry Teague (no relation to Brad Teague)~

   When qualifying was over, Bonnett found himself rolling off from the 20th position, while his ol' buddy Dale Earnhardt qualified in 11th~ The pole position was awarded to "Awesome" Bill Elliott, and the #11 Budweiser Ford, with Ernie Irvan and the #4 Kodak Film Chevrolet on the outside of row number one~   

                                          Neil awaits the start of the 1993 "Die Hard 500"~

    This was the first race at Talladega since the death of Davey Allison, and for some weird reason, Robert Yates put Robby Gordon in the #28 Havoline/Our Teammate Forever Ford~ As fate would have it, Gordon would bring out the first caution of the day, putting him out of the race with a last place finish~ I feel like Davey was smiling that day~ Robby Gordon doesn't deserve to drive Davey's car at Talladega, and it was like Davey put a stop to it himself~

    The next caution happened on lap 70, and it was a massive, vicious crash that sent Johnny Horton and the #32 Active Chevrolet over the wall, and out of the race track in tremendous fashion~ Rick Mast, Loy Allen, Kenny Wallace, Stanley Smith, and Ritchie Petty were also caught up in the incident, with Smith getting the worst of it~

    As track workers were checking on Horton, it appeared obvious that something was wrong with Smith~ He appeared on raw footage of the race completely soaked in blood, as a tire from one of the other cars came through and hit him in the face, while it was still attached to the car~ Smith had sustained a basilar skull fracture in the accident, and spent many months in recovery~ This is the same kind of skull fracture that would later kill Bonnett, as well as Earnhardt, Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin, and several others before safety measures were improved~

                                                   Ted Musgrave ruined it for everyone~

    Bonnett was battling with Ted Musgrave, and Jimmy Hensley on lap 132 when Musgrave gave Bonnett a tap coming out of the turn, sending him slamming into the wall and catch fence~ Hensley was caught up in the accident, as well as Loy Allen, who was making his second career Cup start~ Bonnett's car was totaled, and he finished what would be the last full race of his Cup career in 34th place~

    After a lengthy delay to repair the catch fence, racing resumed.. and man, what a battle it was!~ I've probably watched this race over 100 times in my life, and it's just a wild race from the start, and all the way down to the finish~ It ended up being a six car battle for the win, and eventually a five car battle when Bobby Labonte's #22 Maxwell House Ford ran out of gas~

    In the end, Dale Earnhardt prevailed over Ernie Irvan by just a couple of inches~ They ran the remaining 49 laps under green, and battled like maniacs the entire way to the checkered flag~ No need for "green white checkered" overtime crap.. these guys knew how to race, and they proved it in this wild race at Talladega~ Mark Martin finished third, followed by Kyle Petty and Dale Jarrett~

                                                     Neil's final race~ Atlanta - 1993~

 
    Neil's final Cup race was ran as a favor to his ol' buddy Dale Earnhardt, to help him secure his sixth Winston Cup championship~ Ten drivers would fail to qualify for the 42 car field, but Neil wouldn't be one of them, as he had secured a 35th place starting spot with his qualifying run~ A few notable drivers who failed to make the show include Jeremy Mayfield, Jimmy Means, Bob Schacht, John Andretti, Norm Benning, and P.J. Jones~

    Earnhardt qualified 19th, and had to finish 34th or better to win the championship, and Rusty Wallace pretty much had to win the race to have a chance~ When the race went green, Bonnett did as he had been told, and pulled in after three laps  with "engine" issues~ Earnhardt held on for a 10th place finish, and even though Rusty Wallace won the race, still had enough points to secure his sixth Winston Cup Championship~

    Rusty was followed to the checkered flag by Ricky Rudd, Darrell Waltrip, Bill Elliott, and Dick Trickle~ Neil's three lap run was good enough for last place, in what would be the final race of his career~ But not before he gave it another go at the start of the 1994 season, driving the #51 Country Time Chevrolet~

                                                   Neil with Donnie and Bobby Allison~

    Neil never got to make a start in the #51 Country Time Chevrolet, as he passed away after being involved in a practice crash just nine days before the start of the 1994 "Daytona 500"~ I could have written quite a bit more about Bonnett, and the 1993 "DieHard 500", but it's all been written about much better than I could do.. and I just wanted to go over the basics with everyone again with this post~

    Bonnett's career was full of highs and lows, just the same as all the other drivers, but he had a unique personality.. a very likeable personality that current drivers lack~ I miss that the most about Neil, and drivers like him~ They were genuinely nice guys... smart guys, who had wonderful personalities~ I could sit and listen to Neil talk for hours about racing, and never get tired of it~ He just had a way of talking that regular guys like me admired, and could relate to~

   I find myself watching old episodes of "Winners" all the time~ That show can't be replicated because Neil made it what it was... he was that show~ You could duplicate the show, but you just can't duplicate Neil Bonnett's personality that we all admired and enjoyed over the years~ Neil's memory will live on as long as I'm alive, and hopefully for many years after that~

                                                 Neil Bonnett #31 Mom 'n' Pops Chevrolet~

                                                               Click pics to enlarge~

    This car was released in the 1993 Premier set, and had a limited release of 10,000 pieces~ As with all Premier cars, I'm not a fan of the gold stand, and gold trim on the card~ I'm also not a fan of the fat tires the Premiers had, or the clear windows~ Some people prefer the clear windows to the standard black ones, but they started out with the blacked windows, so that's what I prefer~

    Other than that, Racing Champions captured the beauty of Neil's real car pretty flawlessly~ Every little detail is there in 1/64 scale form, just the way his car was back in 1993 @ Talladega~ The card features Neil grinning from ear to ear in front of the car, and you sure can tell how happy he was to be back at the track as a driver~

    I give this car a B+ on the Racing Champions quality scale, with points taken off for being a Premier car instead of a standard issue~ The current price of this one isn't much cheaper than its 1/24 scale counterpart, with the cheapest 1/64 version currently on Ebay going for 33 bucks, whereas the 1/24 version can be found for $39.00 after shipping~ The main problem with these Bonnett #31 cars is that people aren't offering them for sale, thus the high price point when they do~

   I'm not saying that's an issue all the time.. I lucked up and found mine at the flea market for a couple bucks, but that's not normal.. so be happy if it happens to you~ Usually you find a bunch of commons, but moments like finding a Bonnett Mom 'n' Pops car for a couple bucks are what the hunt is all about!~ I have nearly 1,400 diecasts now, and I'd guess that less than 50 of them were bought on Ebay~

  Ebay takes the fun out of going and finding them on your own, and I personally only use it for cars that I know I don't have a chance of finding locally, or whenever I see one going for so cheap that I just can't pass it up~ I recently bought a Sterling Marlin #40 Prilosec OTC Dodge Action 1/64 from Ebay, but only because I got it for $1.75 free shipping~ I would never have found such an odd promo for that price, so I picked it up~ You can overspend on these little hunks of metal and memories... and that doesn't have to be the case~ Before I ramble your eyes out of your head.. let's just move on to the bonus car for this post~

                                                    Diggity Dave #14 Dekalb Corn Ford~

    Well, here's this ol' thang~ I've got a hat that has the Dekalb corn logo on it, and so I made this car out of boredom one day~ As with the previous post, I have other cars that I'd like to post now, but I've got several requested cars I've still got to post, and a lot of these "Diggity Dave" fantasy cars that I've got done up already... so I'm trying to get that stuff out of the way a little bit first~

    Obviously I never raced this car, but if I did... I don't think I would have won any races~ Dekalb Corn sounds like a sponsorship Derrike Cope would have, and I don't think his sponsorship deals are worth too much, so best case scenario.. let's just say for pretend that I got a danged top 5 somehow at Bristol, let's just blame it on Danica crashing a bunch of people, knocking them out of the race.. and I survived through it to finish 3rd, behind Morgan Shepherd in the #21 Citgo Ford, and Derrike Cope in the #12 Mane n' Tail Shampoo Ford~ See.. in fantasy world, anything is possible~ So congratulations on your 3rd Winston Cup victory, Derrike!~ :)

    Ok, back into reality world... as of this post, the blog now has over 100,000 views, so I want to thank everyone that has visited during these past couple of years for that accomplishment~ I've enjoyed doing these posts, and hope you've enjoyed reading them~ Please share this post on social media, and click the follow button at the top of the page here~ Below I've included some clips from throughout Bonnett's career, and until next time, always remember... You can't roller skate in a buffalo herd!~ :P

                                                               1983 Daytona 125 win~

                                            Neil wins the 1980 Talladega 500~ Amazing!~

                                                           1993 Die Hard 400 crash~

                                               Inside Winston Cup Racing tribute to Neil~

                                                                               

Terry Labonte #14 Kellogg's Corn Flakes Chevrolet

    Hello again to all of you NASCAR Racing Champions diecast fans!~ I've been busy with work the past couple of weeks, so it took me a while to get this post up, but it's finally here.. Terry Labonte's #14 Kellogg's Corn Flakes Chevrolet~ This car was driven by Terry for only one season, 1993, and was owned by Billy Hagan~

    Labonte and Hagan had a previous working history together, teaming up to win the 1984 Winston Cup Championship.. but this time around, things were different~ Hagan was on his way out of the sport, after being in the business for 20 years, and the team just wasn't competitive on the track anymore~ So let's jump into this thing, and take a look at Terry's time in the #14 Kellogg's Corn Flakes Chevrolet~

                                               Beautiful sky in this Kellogg's promo card~

    Labonte first teamed back up with Hagan during the 1991 Winston Cup season, driving the #94 Sunoco Oldsmobile~ He did the same for 1992, but the team switched sponsors for the start of the 1993 season, and along with the new colors came a new number, and the car was now #14~ The team also made the switch to Chevrolets for the season~

    Terry qualified 19th for the 1993 "Daytona 500", and finished just shy of a top 10, with an 11th place run~ The race was won by Dale "Boring" Jarrett, followed by Dale Earnhardt, Geoff Bodine, Hut Stricklin, and Jeff Gordon~ 

    After a 21st place qualifying effort for the "GM Goodwrench 500" @ Rockingham, Labonte was again able to wheel his way up to the front runners, finishing the day in 10th place~ Rusty Wallace won the race, in what was a doozy of a battle with Dale Earnhardt, who finished in 2nd place~ Ernie Irvan was 3rd, followed by Alan Kulwicki, and Mark Martin~ Even though he wasn't in great equipment, Labonte was looking pretty good early on, and was confident moving forward that he could pick up a win before the season was over~ At this point, he hadn't won a race since the "1989 DieHard 500" @ Talladega~

                                       Terry wishing he was still driving for Junior Johnson~

    Labonte struggled in the next two races... finishing 24th in the "Pontiac Excitement 400" @ Richmond, and 33rd in the "Motorcraft Quality Parts 500" @ Atlanta, after starting from the 8th spot~ After starting 17th in the "Transouth 500" @ Darlington, he was able to turn his bad luck around, and picked up a 9th place finish~ He then had a minor hiccup in the "Food City 500" @ Bristol, finishing 60 laps off the pace, in 21st place~

    After qualifying 6th for the "First Union 400" @ North Wilkesboro, Labonte was able to get as close as he would all season long to a top 5 finish, coming home in the 6th position~ He followed that up by finishing 9th in the "Hanes 500" @ Martinsville~ Hoping to get back to his winning ways at the track where he got his last win, he qualified 38th for the "Winston 500" @ Talladega, which wasn't exactly what he was hoping for~

   He had moved up somewhat during the race, but due to the tight racing that was going on all race long, Labonte was caught up in a horrible nine car accident on lap 130, ending his day, and winding up with a 37th place finishing position~ Ernie Irvan went on to win the race, while Dale Earnhardt crashed Rusty Wallace, who flipped his car across the finish line in 6th place~ Jimmy Spencer was second, followed by Dale Jarrett, Earnhardt, and Joe Ruttman had a strong run in the #20 Fina Lube Ford, to finish in the 5th spot~

                                    During 1993, Terry's life was like a bowl of Hate Flakes~

     He followed up his poor showing at Talladega with an impressive 9th place finish in the "Save Mart Supermarkets 300K" @ Sonoma~ This was followed by four horrid finishes of 33rd in the "Coca-Cola 600" @ Charlotte, 20th in the "Budweiser 500" @ Dover, 32nd in the "Champion Spark Plug 500" @ Pocono, and 20th in the "Miller Genuine Draft 400" @ Michigan~

    Every now and then, someone would toss some fruit into Terry's bowl of Hate Flakes, and he'd pull off a decent finish~ After starting 31st in the "Pepsi 400" @ Daytona, he was able to use his experience to pull off a 9th place finish~ The bad part is that he started 5th in the "Slick 50 300" @ Loudon a week later, and blew an engine with just 20 laps remaining, resulting in a 31st place finish~

   The series returned to Pocono for the "Miller Genuine Draft 500", and after starting 36th, Labonte was able to crawl his way up to a 16th place finish~ He finished 14th in the "Die Hard 500" @ Talladega, and after starting 3rd for the "Budweiser at the Glen" @ Watkins Glen, he encountered issues throughout the race, and had to settle for a 23rd place showing, two laps off the pace of race winner, Mark Martin~




                                               Early promo card for the #14 Kellogg's car~

    Labonte had his worst qualifying effort of the season in the "Champion Spark Plug 400" @ Michigan, starting dead last in the 41 car field~ He finished in 29th place, 17 laps off the pace of race winner,  Mark Martin~ He qualified 18th for the "Bud 500" @ Bristol, but was caught up in a crash early on, and finished dead last, in 34th place~

    After starting the "Mountain Dew Southern 500" @ Darlington from the 20th position, Labonte blew an engine on lap 299, which resulted in a 33rd place finish~ The race was won by Mark Martin, followed by Brett Bodine, Rusty Wallace, Dale Earnhardt, and Ernie Irvan, who had taken over Davey Allison's famous #28 Texaco Havoline Ford earlier in the season~

    The rest of the season was somewhat kind to Labonte, starting with the "Miller Genuine Draft 400", where he qualified 23rd, but was able to hang on during the race, with an 8th place finish~  Rusty Wallace fittingly won the race, followed by "Awesome" Bill Elliott, Dale Earnhardt, Ricky Rudd, and Brett Bodine~

                                                  Labonte awaits the start of another race~

    Qualifying wasn't Labonte's strong point during 1993, and that showed once more when he qualified 27th for the "SplitFire Spark Plug 500" @ Dover~ He was however able to move up drastically during the race, finishing in 8th place~ Rusty Wallace won the race, followed by Ken Schrader, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Jarrett, and "Handsome" Harry Gant~

    The qualifying bug bit again for the "Goody's 500" @ Martinsville, with Labonte starting from the 29th position.. but just like the Dover race, he charged his way up to the front, and held on for a 7th place finish~ Ernie Irvan had an emotional victory following an extremely dominating race, while Rusty Wallace finished runner up, followed by Jimmy Spencer, Ricky Rudd, and Dale Jarrett~

    In what had to be the team's shining moment of 1993, Labonte qualified 4th for the "Tyson/Holly Farms 400" @ North Wilkesboro~ He actually got out front and led 53 laps, and battled till the end for his chance at victory lane~ In the end, he settled for a 7th place finish, in what turned out to be the final top 10 of Billy Hagan's career as a Winston Cup team owner~

                                                        Terry looking forward to 1995~

    Terry qualified 22nd for the "Mello Yello 500" @ Charlotte, and didn't fare much better in the race, though he did manage to move up to finish in 16th place~ He qualified 24th for the "AC Delco 500" @ Rockingham, and went home in the 15th position~

    Labonte rolled off from 26th in the "Slick 50 500" @ Phoenix, and finished the race in 14th place, one lap off the pace of race winner, Mark Martin~ Ernie Irvan finished second, followed by Kyle Petty, Earnhardt, and Bill Elliott~ In his final race with the team, Terry started 30th in the "Hooters 500" @ Atlanta, and came home in the 14th spot, one lap off of race winner Rusty Wallace~

     Terry Labonte ended the 1993 Winston Cup season with 30 starts, and 10 top 10's~ He had an average start of 21.9, and an average finish of 18.4, and finished 18th in the final points standings~ He would go on to race for Hendrick Motorsports the following year, and won his second, and final Winston Cup Championship in 1996~ A new team, and a new year can do a lot for a driver sometimes, and the end of the 1993 season was a happy ending for Labonte indeed~

                                       Terry Labonte #14 Kellogg's Corn Flakes Chevrolet~

                                                               Click pics to enlarge~

    This is by far my favorite car that Labonte ever drove~ It's the best looking Corn Flakes car of all time, in my opinion~ Terry was so bad in this car, that when I first bought the Racing Champions version of it, I thought it was a BGN car~ He was rarely seen during the 1993 Cup season, so I just assumed he was driving it in the Busch series~ In reality, he was driving the MW Windows car in the BGN series during the 1993 season~

    The colors on this car go perfectly together, and creates an amazing looking car~ The paint on the rear tire is messed up, but I don't really mind about that.. just makes it look like a used tire~ I'm gonna give this car an A- on the Racing Champions quality scale~ The car is perfect, but I feel like the card could have been a bit better~ If this car had a better card, it would easily be an A+ car~

    I never was much of a Terry Labonte fan~ He was a good driver, a consistent one for sure, but he was always kind of boring for my tastes~ Although I was never a fan of his, this was one of my favorite Racing Champions cars as a kid~ It was a truly awesome car, from a truly horrible team that would be out of the sport completely following the 1994 Cup season~ Now that we're done with this one, let's take a look at the bonus car for this post~

                                                      Rick Ware #22 Otter Pops Pontiac~

    First things first, this obviously isn't a Pontiac, but heck.. the Rob Moroso car that I used for this one looked pretty much just like the Otter Pops car that Rick Ware drove in the 1990 Budweiser at the Glen, in what turned out to be his only Cup series start~ He qualified 35th in the D.K. Ulrich owned Pontiac, and lasted 42 laps until dropping out of the race due to brake issues, finishing in 36th place~

    Rick attempted to make the field for the 1998 "Save Mart / Kragen 350" @ Sonoma in his own ride, but failed to do so, thus ending his endeavor as a Cup series driver~ He ran two BGN races, 1 in 1990, and the other in 1995, with a best finish of 25th in the 1990 "Pontiac 300" @ Nazareth, where he was also sponsored by Otter Pops, this time in a Chevrolet, and also competed in a total of 16 Truck series races, with a best finish of 13th in the 2000 "O'Reilly 400" @ Fort Worth~

    Ware eventually retired from the sport, and became a car owner, mostly in the BGN/Xfinity series~ As an owner, his stats are 417 total races ran in 10 partial seasons, with 1 top 5, and 4 top 10's~ His drivers are almost always the worst of the worst, and the team has only led a total of 15 laps in 417 races~ Even though Ware sucked as a driver, as well as an owner, he brought the Otter Pops sponsorship to the series, and that's pretty cool~ Jeffrey Earnhardt is the only other driver to drive an Otter Pops car in the Cup series~

    Thank you all for stopping by to visit the blog again!~ Posts may become sparse in the coming months, because I'm gonna be out of state working music festivals... but I'm not gonna forget about y'all~ I'll find a way to get a few posts out here and there, and things should get back to normal in a few months~ Below is some clips spanning Terry Labonte's career~ As I said earlier, he wasn't much in this car, so footage is hard to come by~ Please share this post on social media, and don't forget to click the follow button at the top right hand side of this page~ :)

                                                       Terry and Bobby talk about 1996~

                                                    The spin and win @ Bristol - 1995~

                                     
                                                1989 DieHard 500 finish~ Labonte win~