Bobby Labonte runs for the TRG 71 car (2009-10)
Join me throughout this year as I take a look at when some of the sport’s biggest stars drove some unusual cars! (Presented in no particular order).
Why? After being released from a crumbling Petty Enterprises, Bobby Labonte latched on at Yates Racing in their 96 car (which was “Hall of Fame Racing” in name-only). But when THAT team ran out of sponsorship funds, Labonte began moonlighting for The Racers’ Group (TRG), which had debuted in Cup that season. Labonte would stick with TRG through the midway point of the 2010 season.
How successful were they? Even by new-team standards, this was a disaster, as Labonte finished better than 18th once in the TRG 71.
What was the aftermath? While TRG would hang on through the 2011 season, Labonte would return to full-time racing with JTG-D in 2011 and 2012, then revert to a part-time schedule through 2016. He was never able to return to his JGR-level form.
Ranking on the Strange-O-Meter? 7 Tax Slayers out of 10—Bobby Labonte had quite a fall from grace, and running for a team that was gone in just a few years was the best evidence of that.
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A MOXOC Media production