There is guaranteed drama in one form or the other — intrigue and incredible narratives too — when it comes to stories about how some of the icons of NASCAR got their first win in the Cup Series. The two-time champion Terry Labonte’s first win, which came in the 1980 Southern 500, had it all.
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Labonte had started the Crown Jewel race in 10th place and was never in contention to win until the last two laps. Dale Earnhardt, David Pearson, and the other Titans were the dominant drivers that the Lady in Black was courting that day. However, something completely remarkable happened in the final moments.
Pearson smacked the wall of Turn 2 and Earnhardt crashed out of the blue. Third-running Benny Parsons slid down the track as well. This led to a battle between Pearson, who’d managed to keep his car in control, and Labonte, who was just 23 years old at the time. Labonte made a pass on Pearson in the last seconds to reach the flags and cruised ahead to victory lane.
Terry Labonte’s first career victory came in dramatic fashion.@TooToughToTame | 1980 pic.twitter.com/L7he7eagMl
— NASCAR Classics (@NASCARClassics) December 28, 2024
The margin between the two cars was mere inches when taking the white flag.
“I didn’t run through any oil or water or anything,” Labonte said, trying to explain the anomaly that his competitors faced. “Obviously, something happened to them that didn’t happen to me.”
The 1978 Darlington race that put Labonte on the map
How many rookies today are capable of competing with the best in the sport right out of the gate? None.
But when Labonte made his first Cup Series appearance at Darlington in 1978, he finished in fourth place. The only ones who did better than him were Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, and Darrell Waltrip. Not bad company to be with, right?
Years later, he fondly remembered how tired he had been racing at the track that day.
“I wasn’t smart enough to look at the scoreboard to see what my car number up there. But I kept looking up there to see how many laps were left because I thought ‘This is the longest race I’ve ever run in my life’,” Labonte had recalled in an interview.
It cannot be attributed to any other factor than luck and fate that Darlington is where Labonte scored his first (in 1980) and final Cup Series win. It came in the 2003 Southern 500, of all fixtures.
The icon jokingly admitted that he would have retired right after that race had he known it would be the last time he won. Labonte eventually called it quits in 2014.
The Lady in Black has had many lovers over the years. But she had chemistry with only a select few like Labonte. In the 54 dates that they went on, Labonte reached top-10 20 times, top-5 11 times, and victory lane twice.
