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Where Are They Now? Catching up with Bobby Labonte

By
Jerry Bonkowski NASCAR.com May 20, 2021 at 12:03 PMAs his NASCAR Cup career was coming to an end, Bobby Labonte began thinking about what his post-racing future would be like.

“I told myself I can’t wait until I turn 50: I’m going to go to the beach, put my feet in the sand, drink beer all day and watch the sun come up and go down,” Labonte told NASCAR.com. “Well, I tried it and don’t think I lasted a couple hours.”

Ever since his last Cup race in 2016, Labonte has been anything but retired. What’s more, he’s still racing these days, albeit not in NASCAR, but still competing on his own terms primarily in modified and late model racing.

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“I have never used the retirement word, never mentioned it,” Labonte said. “I just said, ‘Well, you’ve got to get to this point.’ I like being busy. Sometimes, whenever I think of doing less, I don’t enjoy that.

“Being busy and staying busy, I guess I’m either a glutton for punishment or something because I just enjoy doing things. So put it in that perspective. I like to be on the go and like to be doing stuff. Sure there’s time to slow down. But right now, I feel like I’m still good enough to keep going.”

And that means still going behind the wheel of a race car.

Even though his last Cup race was more than five years ago, Labonte never really stopped racing. He went on a leisure trip to Europe in 2017 that resulted in his competing in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Elite 1 Series for parts of three seasons, including a podium finish in 2018.

“I ran several races, sometimes two a weekend,” Labonte said. “That was the most fun, getting to meet people from all over the world.

“In the garage area, I made friends from England, Spain, Germany, Italy, France. To me was just so much fun.”

He even learned a very valuable lesson on how racing in Europe is markedly different from in the U.S. You might say racing in Europe is more gentle.

“I was in France and I was coming up on a guy’s bumper and I thought, ‘Well, I could do the old shove him out of the way – or no,’ ” Labonte said. “I decided not to because I thought to myself that I really don’t need to show these guys that this is how you raced. It’s not how you really race. If I would have shoved him out of the way and wrecked him, well, OK, it must be normal, but that’s not what you want to do.

“I went over there (to Europe) something like nine times in 11 months. That was really, really cool. I mean, I just really enjoyed that. I really got to spend some quality time or good time and fun time with people.”

Speaking of having a good and fun time with people, six years before he called it quits from NASCAR, Labonte began planning for his post-racing career by forming a company with his wife Kristin called Breaking Limits. In its 11 years, the firm has become quite successful in both the public relations and marketing genres, including working with a number of current IndyCar teams such as Arrow McLaren SP and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing for sponsor activation, hospitality experiences and more.

The Labontes are also exploring the possibility of starting a subsidiary that will manage athletes, much like Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. are currently doing.

PHOTOS: Bobby Labonte career highlights, top moments

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Labonte’s European experience laid the foundation for a return to racing back in the U.S., particularly in the Modified class. He was only able to compete in a handful of races last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but plans to compete in at least 11 races this season, along with likely competing in at least one Late Model race later this year.

He’ll also take part in all six of the upcoming Ray Evernham/Tony Stewart-led Superstar Racing Experience series races that begin in mid-June and run through the end of July.

“Last year was kind of a bummer,” Labonte said. “I started the year off running a race at Sebring. I’d never been there before. Then I ran a vintage race and an enduro race and won it. Then COVID hit and I didn’t get a chance to run again until last fall. But that’s my competitive juices. I still want to do this.

“So I took the year off not by wanting to, but it kind of just happened that way. Then I realized how much more I missed it.”