Bobby Labonte got his start in racing like many other big-time NASCAR guys, by racing quarter midgets when he was just five years old. Since then, he has competed in an impressive 932 races. If his last name sounds familiar, that’s because he’s the brother of Terry Labonte. These two brothers are one of the only pairs of brothers along with the Buschs to both win the Cup championship.
Bobby is the first driver to win both the Winston Cup Championship in 2000 and the Busch Series Championship in 1991. He’s also the first driver to complete the NASCAR Triple Threat, meaning he won three of NASCAR’s top races at the same track at Martinsville. Nowadays, Bobby can be found on FOX Sports working as an analyst for NASCAR RaceDay.
Herb Thomas- 228 Races
During the 1950s there was a North Carolina-born native who took the auto racing world by storm. The former farmer developed an interest in auto racing in the late forties and in 1949 he partook in NASCAR’s Strictly Stock race. His first win came at Martinsville Speedway in a privateer Plymouth.
This picture was snapped in 1955 and it shows Thomas posing with his Fish Carburetor 1939 Plymouth Modified that he came in fifth place with at a NASCAR event. Thomas drove Plymouth but after a fellow driver suggested that he switch to a Hudson Hornet, Thomas made the switch and quickly proceeded to win six races. Over Thomas’ 13-year career, he won 48 races, which ranks him 14th.
Dale Jarrett- Three-Time Daytona 500 Champion
As we’ve already seen, race car driving runs deep in the family blood. Well, the Jarretts seem to know all about this. Dale Jarrett has followed close behind his father’s footsteps, winning the Daytona 500 NASCAR Winston Cup a total of three times. He first won in 1993, 1996, and 2000. Those weren’t Jarrett’s only big wins.
In 1999, he won a NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship. Nowadays, Jarrett prefers to work behind the tracks as the lead racing analyst for ESPN. In 2014, he was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, joining his father who was inducted three years before.
Rex White- 223 Races
88-year-old Rex White is a retired stock car racer who began his career in 1956. He became one of the first drivers to compete for the first Ford racing team. For the majority of his NASCAR career, he drove General Motors brand cars. By the time he won the title as the NASCAR Cup Series champion in 1960, he’d already won six races and had 35 top-ten finishes out of 41 starts in that year.
When he won the championship, he received a check for $13,000. He was a big name in the sport until he retired in 1964. He retired from the sport with 73 career wins. In 2015, he was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Kevin “The Closer” Harvick- Sprint & Xfinity Champion
In 1980, Kevin Harvick a little five-year-old received a kindergarten graduation gift. The present was what most kids would kill to have; a go-cart. At a young age, Kevin started to receive attention and wins on the go-kart racing circuit. This young boy grew up to be one of the best race car drivers around.
He officially started his NASCAR career in 1995. He has had 45 wins at the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and 47 at the NASCAR Xfinity Series. He is only the third of five drivers to have won a championship in the Spring Cup series and the Xfinity Series.