Sunday, August 06, 2000
Admiring Labonte pays tribute to Waltrip
INDIANAPOLIS — Bobby Labonte took his parade lap in the seat of honor — perched conspicuously on the back of a convertible — but he felt a stronger kinship with the spare tire.
Saturday was supposed to be Darrell Waltrip's day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway — the last race the charismatic driver would run at America's most revered racetrack — and here was Labonte sharing a ride with the man of the hour as they ceremoniously circled the famous old, oval.
It was like riding shotgun with Elvis: Very loud and intensely awkward.
“There were a lot of fans cheering,” Labonte said. “And they were all cheering for him. I wanted to slide down and get out of the way.”
Bobby Labonte won Saturday's Brickyard 400 because he refused to get out of the way, chasing Rusty Wallace at close range until the race leader developed claustrophobia and turning troubles. Yet before and after his relentless run to the checkered flag, Labonte behaved with due deference.
Not hard to be humble
Today's NASCAR points leader remains humble in the presence of yesterday's pioneers. He knows his place, and his history.
“The first time we came here in '94, I rode around in the pace car with Bill Elliott,” Labonte said. “He said, "I've seen a lot of things, but this is the biggest thing I've ever seen in my life.' To me, that's how important this race is.”
The Daytona 500 remains the Super Bowl of stock car racing, but Indy's niche comes next. No other track can seat 300,000 spectators. No other motorsports venue evokes so many misty memories.
For Labonte, Saturday's race was unusually poignant. His older brother, Terry, missed his first NASCAR event in two decades, ending a Ripkenesque streak of 655 straight starts. The elder Labonte felt dizzy during the week — the residue of a recent concussion — and saw no reason to take any unnecessary risks at 180 mph.
Terry Labonte had planned to take his leave Saturday with about 20 laps to go, but he stuck around long enough to see his kid brother make the hard left into Victory Lane.
“Maybe I haven't really thought long enough about the streak ending,” Terry Labonte said. “I guess with Bobby winning the race, it was a good way for it to end.”
For everything, there is a season. For race drivers, autumn comes early. Darrell Waltrip, 53, had to sense his exit cue had come when Bobby Labonte told him he had posed for a class picture more than 20 years ago in a Darrell Waltrip T-shirt.
"It's an honor, sir'
Saturday, sitting together on the parade lap, both drivers were struck by the enormity of Waltrip's ovation.
“We were on the back straightaway,” Labonte recalled, “and it gets a little quiet back there. He asked me, "Well, what do you think?' And I said, "I think it's just an honor riding with you today, sir.' ”
Labonte handed Waltrip his hat, and asked for an autograph. Then the car came up on Turn Three, and another grandstand erupted with sound.
“It is an awesome feeling riding around this racetrack that slow,” Labonte said, “with all those people that you see that they fit in this place. To me, that's the most special thing.”
Sarah Waltrip, age 7, surveyed the scene and asked Labonte: “Doesn't your arm get tired of waving all that time?'”
“Yes, it does,” Bobby Labonte said.
Tim Sullivan welcomes your email at tsullivan@enquirer.com.
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