From an early age, Labonte\'s life has revolved around racing. At the age of five, Labonte strapped himself into his first competitive machine, a quarter-midget, and began his path to success. Bobby, the younger brother of two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Terry Labonte, is a native of Corpus Christi, Tex. He grew up not only watching his older brother compete, but deciding for himself that he wanted to be a winner too. The early start to his racing career was met with good fortune. He won his first national quarter-midget race at the age of only seven. His pre-teen days were spent winning numerous quarter-midget races throughout the United States. Like champions, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart, who made their starts in quarter-midget racing, it was Labonte who dominated the scene years before. The stepping stones complete, Labonte\'s racing career took more of a concrete shape during his teen years. His brother worked up the ranks of Sprint Cup, and Labonte moved with his family to North Carolina in 1979. It was soon after when he was first introduced to NASCAR and Sprint Cup. Labonte worked for Hagan Enterprises in 1982 as a mechanic and fabricator on the cars that his brother raced to a third-place finish for the national championship. The introduction into Sprint Cup racing convinced Labonte that he wanted to be a champion. A goal reached later in his career. First, however, Labonte had to prove that he was a championship-caliber driver and had the commitment to the sport it commands. Labonte didn\'t take this challenge lightly. While continuing to work at Hagan Enterprises, he raced late models throughout North Carolina and in his spare time began building his own NASCAR Nationwide Series car. Labonte wanted to show others his skills of building his own car, taking care of his own equipment, and being a winning driver were better than none. This approach is almost unheard of in today\'s ‘young gun\' era where drivers rarely work on their own cars or have ever owned the machines they have driven. The hours of work were countless, but the time was well spent. Labonte made his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut in 1982 at the age of 18 at Martinsville Speedway. The youngster finished 30th and took home just $220. The humble beginnings were the start of Bobby Labonte Racing, and the platform used to propel him into the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Throughout the 80\'s Labonte continued making Nationwide Series starts for his own team, but really honed his driving skill racing late model stock cars at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C., and Concord Motorsports Park in Concord, N.C. Labonte won the late model championship at Caraway Speedway in 1987 and won six times at Concord Motorsports Park in 1988. His best Nationwide Series finish was fourth at the North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham, N.C.