Evening for Race Fans
When: 5 p.m. Friday
Tickets: $50 (must be ordered in advance; includes autograph session, dinner buffet, memorabilia auction)
Guests expected to attend: Terry Labonte, Jack Hewitt, Jeff Babcock, Earl and Bernice Baltes, Roger Slack, Mike King.
For more info: 419-586-2219
Terry Labonte has three NASCAR Truck Series races to his credit, including one win. Will there be a fourth when the Camping World Truck Series visits Eldora Speedway in 2013?
“Nope,” Labonte said quickly during a phone interview Tuesday.
Would he consider it?
“Nope,” he said almost as fast as he drove his Chevrolet to a pair of Winston Cup titles in 1984 and 1996.
Labonte will visit Ohio on Friday, though, as the featured guest for the 18th annual Evening for Race Fans at Romer’s Banquet Facility in St. Henry. Proceeds benefit the Celina-Mercer County Chamber of Commerce, State of the Heart Hospice and Community Health Professionals Hospice. Tickets are $50 per person and must be ordered in advance.
Being in the shadows of Eldora Speedway isn’t likely to sway Labonte’s decision to participate in NASCAR’s first race on dirt in its three major series since the Winston Cup drivers did it in 1970.
“The last Truck race I ran, I won it,” Labonte said. “I said I don’t need to do that again. It was the first year of the Truck Series (in 1995) and Rick Hendrick had a Truck team. NASCAR kind of pressured some of the owners to have Truck teams to help the series out. I ran three races for him and I won the last one. He told me after the race, ‘You don’t have to run anymore Truck races for me. At least we proved we can win.’ I said, ‘OK good.’”
So how does driving a Truck compare to that Chevy Winston Cup car?
“I told them they’re just like a car,” Labonte said. “Either that or my car drives like a truck. I’m not sure.”
Labonte took a few other topics for a spin, too.
On the most unusual items he’s been asked to autograph: “A guy came through the line one day and he reached into his pocket and says can you sign my toothbrush? I thought to myself, ‘Man, I don’t want to touch this guy’s toothbrush.’ I guess I kind of looked at him funny. He said he’s an orthodontist and it’s brand new, he just collects autographs on toothbrushes. So I signed the toothbrush for him.”
On the new look Sprint Cup cars, including the Chevrolets. Labonte is partners with Rick Hendrick in a Chevy dealership: “I think they more resemble the cars the dealerships have. … They used to look like that. Everything kind of goes in a big circle sometimes and it’s nice to see them going back to that. But (NASCAR officials) don’t remember that they used to look the cars the dealerships sold and the manufactures made. They got off track and wanted all the cars to look alike. I think this is a good step in a positive direction.”
On whether he reminds brother Bobby that he won his Cup titles first. Bobby won his in 2000: "Not really. We're not really competitors as far as trying to get one up on the other. I've always been a big fan and supporter of his and I think he feels the same way about me. Nobody ever rubbed it into the other one."
On where NASCAR is heading: “If you look at a lot of other sports they’ve all faced the same thing. The crowds are down, but they’re still huge crowds. They went through a spell where they kept adding seats and adding seats because the thing was growing so fast. Now it’s back to reality and they’re really having to work at it a little more. I think they’ve turned the corner. … The biggest problem I see is the cost of the sport. … It is possible (to control it). They just have not done a very good job at that.”
And finally, on running dirt: “My son has a dirt car he runs. I’ve driven it a couple of times, and that thing’s hard to drive. Dirt racing is something if you don’t do it a lot you don’t need to do it. It’s definitely a different animal running dirt compared to asphalt.”
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