Bob Labonte Passes

[ron.brown11]

Bob Labonte passed away this week. There weren't any funeral details listed in the story. He did a lot to put Texas asphalt racing on the national map. I'm sure that Nick Holt can add much more on that, as I was just coming to TX as Terry was moving to Cup. RIP sir..

[HiTech]

 SAD  . I LAST TALKED to bob and martha after terry won his second champiomship   the day after  . BOB SAID HIS  head was so big he had a hard time getting through the doors ..  remember bobby won the race ..  bob and i were standing  next to each other at cc speedway when terry came down for the rick baldwin race .. . we had been chewing  the fat  about the old days  when i asked  how did u make that 57 so fast .. / a dumb quetion  i suppose .he said  lol handleing  he did things to that car that no one else  had been doing .. .. .  HE was never rude to me . steven and i sent two heads  one i owned and one he owned  to bob  for justins mustang he was racing  . one turbo illegal here and one plain .we  had plenty  so why not ..   WE didnt charge bob for them  . .  but steven  asked for   autographed items which bob sent  .and a 100 dallor  check anyway  /steven never  cashed  it and  put it  in a picture frame . steven has  passed on  and i  do not know where  it went.. RIP BOB U DESERVE IT . ..

 

 

 

 

[NickHolt]

I was hoping Mike would chip in here, and he did. 

I never met Bob.  Back in the day, he and Terry were running at Corpus and I was either busy running the Mini Stock at Pan American or crewing on San Antonio cars.  In those days most teams didn't travel much.

And they only ran San Antonio Speedway that 1st year and I was still running at Pan American.

So our paths never crossed. 

But Rick Rapp had a bunch of stories to tell about Bob. Terry and Rick fought for every inch of track when they were both running CC and quite often things got heated in the pits with Bob, more often than not, in the middle of dustup. I will say that Rick respected the Labontes and had no animosity towards Bob once they landed in NASCAR-land. In fact, Rick and Terry ended up being pretty good friends once all was said and done.

Bob was raised in the next town to where I grew up in Maine but was about 10 years older and joined the Navy while I was still in grade school, so our paths didn't cross there either.

[ron.brown11]

5 hours ago, NickHolt said:

I was hoping Mike would chip in here, and he did. 

I never met Bob.  Back in the day, he and Terry were running at Corpus and I was either busy running the Mini Stock at Pan American or crewing on San Antonio cars.  In those days most teams didn't travel much.

And they only ran San Antonio Speedway that 1st year and I was still running at Pan American.

So our paths never crossed. 

But Rick Rapp had a bunch of stories to tell about Bob. Terry and Rick fought for every inch of track when they were both running CC and quite often things got heated in the pits with Bob, more often than not, in the middle of dustup. I will say that Rick respected the Labontes and had no animosity towards Bob once they landed in NASCAR-land. In fact, Rick and Terry ended up being pretty good friends once all was said and done.

Bob was raised in the next town to where I grew up in Maine but was about 10 years older and joined the Navy while I was still in grade school, so our paths didn't cross there either.

Nick, I was sure that you would know more than I do about Bob, and you did. All I ever heard was third party stuff. I too was glad to hear Mike with some personal info. I had always heard the Bob could be a little rough around the edges, but was a good guy. I never went to CC, going to SA on a GI's pay was about all I could afford then, while living in Del Rio. I was glad that he was able to get Terry & Bobby to Cup. I know that have been other Texans to make it, but none had the impact that Terry & Bobby had. I don't think I ever heard Ken Squire say Terry Labonte. It was always "Texas" Terry Labonte. Like you Nick, I was born somewhere else. But TX is my adopted home. God willing, this is where I'll die too.

[HiTech]

2 hours ago, ron.brown11 said:

Nick, I was sure that you would know more than I do about Bob, and you did. All I ever heard was third party stuff. I too was glad to hear Mike with some personal info. I had always heard the Bob could be a little rough around the edges, but was a good guy. I never went to CC, going to SA on a GI's pay was about all I could afford then, while living in Del Rio. I was glad that he was able to get Terry & Bobby to Cup. I know that have been other Texans to make it, but none had the impact that Terry & Bobby had. I don't think I ever heard Ken Squire say Terry Labonte. It was always "Texas" Terry Labonte. Like you Nick, I was born somewhere else. But TX is my adopted home. God willing, this is where I'll die too.

 dont die to soon ron .. .  in those days at cc   it was a tough bunch i saw some nasty take outs  on the track  in the pits tire iron jacks and what ever .. but over all  fun .. WHAT WAS IT BOB SAID TO RICK / did i ever thank u  rick for all of this .i bet rick was honored ..sorta funny how they became such good friends . sorta like  i didnt like nick  at first till  later  on ..not a surprise for nick i know .. i have alot of respect  for nick now . we have had some  good talks . you find folks are not what  u think they are   on social media ..

[HiTech]

 I AM 68 NOW  and 15 1971  SO  i am going off an old memory i may have spoke about somewhere  on speedzone  

 .i saw where bob sr spole about this once but  didnt finish  with all the truth . .. a man if i remerber  correctly  named mike  put up the money  to have  terrys  motor  checked. i was told by frank  to stand watch  for some reason while   the left head was removed . i dint know what = i was suppose to see . but i acted it out well i stayed out of the way . sorta looked the part  standing next to dub rollins car .  . some guys i wont name or could all of them started laying big money on the dash  of the car betting  he was or was not legal .. frank saw that and made them  pick the money up  the words he said i wont repeat .. frank  told us including me to push the car out under walters little light bulb on the flagstand . then everyone  except terry me kim  bob  walter and one other  were the only ones who can stay  .. the man  who put up the money  for tear down walks out  looks at  the cylinder number two  and said sure dont look like a 283 to me ..  . not a good ideal  . terry pushed the man  forward  bob took him by the arm  and then his head and shoved his face  as far as he could  and said now does that look like a 283  .yep he said with a ring  around  his face  funny as heck  . the motor was legal  30 over  where they could have gone 60 by rule  

the thing was   tech picked the side they wanted ..  i believe back them some teams would over bore  one or two  cylinders  if not one side larger than the other side..  i suppose  to get more   hp .. ..the face in the cylinder part or how  it went down  was not mentioned in the story ..

[RodneyRodriguez]

I need to find the Revved interview with Terry, he talked in depth about his dad, Rapper, all those great times in CC.

[ron.brown11]

On 4/10/2024 at 3:48 PM, HiTech said:

 dont die to soon ron .. .  in those days at cc   it was a tough bunch i saw some nasty take outs  on the track  in the pits tire iron jacks and what ever .. but over all  fun .. WHAT WAS IT BOB SAID TO RICK / did i ever thank u  rick for all of this .i bet rick was honored ..sorta funny how they became such good friends . sorta like  i didnt like nick  at first till  later  on ..not a surprise for nick i know .. i have alot of respect  for nick now . we have had some  good talks . you find folks are not what  u think they are   on social media ..

Mike, I'm not planning on checking out any time soon, of course my wife might have something to say about that lol.. But hey, I'm 67, and have had 25 surgeries between March 2008 and Jan 2021. Both my parents died at age 71, so maybe my time is getting close too.

I always used to think that all of the fighting, and shit like that was because everyone was so competitive. I've come to believe that almost all of it was simply hard headedness. Once we get past that, it's funny how much we have in common. Then comes respect for each other, then friendship. I sure wish I'd been smart enough to realize that a bit sooner.

I haven't known Nick anywhere near as long as you have Mike, but I've always respected him. He always played things straight, and by the book. When I was helping Greg Baber with his modified, he hired Nick for his expertise on chassis setup. I'd like to think that I learned a lot from him, but he didn't have a great student. Geometry was never my best course in school. But he still took his time explaining why he wanted adjustments etc, and never got frustrated. I also took his classes, and he showed patience there too. Again, I really respect that. 

[ron.brown11]

On 4/9/2024 at 5:22 PM, ron.brown11 said:

Bob Labonte passed away this week. There weren't any funeral details listed in the story. He did a lot to put Texas asphalt racing on the national map. I'm sure that Nick Holt can add much more on that, as I was just coming to TX as Terry was moving to Cup. RIP sir..

All of Mr. Labonte's funeral services have been posted, and will take place in High Point, NC on Fri & Sat.

[HiTech]

1 hour ago, ron.brown11 said:

Mike, I'm not planning on checking out any time soon, of course my wife might have something to say about that lol.. But hey, I'm 67, and have had 25 surgeries between March 2008 and Jan 2021. Both my parents died at age 71, so maybe my time is getting close too.

I always used to think that all of the fighting, and shit like that was because everyone was so competitive. I've come to believe that almost all of it was simply hard headedness. Once we get past that, it's funny how much we have in common. Then comes respect for each other, then friendship. I sure wish I'd been smart enough to realize that a bit sooner.

I haven't known Nick anywhere near as long as you have Mike, but I've always respected him. He always played things straight, and by the book. When I was helping Greg Baber with his modified, he hired Nick for his expertise on chassis setup. I'd like to think that I learned a lot from him, but he didn't have a great student. Geometry was never my best course in school. But he still took his time explaining why he wanted adjustments etc, and never got frustrated. I also took his classes, and he showed patience there too. Again, I really respect that. 

we have to be careful with  with talking to much good about nick .. swollen  head at his age  is dangerous . //

[HiTech]

12 hours ago, RodneyRodriguez said:

I need to find the Revved interview with Terry, he talked in depth about his dad, Rapper, all those great times in CC.

THAT WOULD  BE COOL  i didnt hear that one .. .