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Can Kurt and Kyle Busch become NASCAR’s winningest Brothers

by Steve Wronkowicz

I am co-host of the syndicated radio show: ON PIT ROW. Over ten years on the air and three on the net; see what can happen when I don't let the facts get in the way of my opinions.

March 30, 2011 7:38 am UTC No Comments

Kurt Busch Loudon New Hampshire in car bure 10

Don’t expect the most prolific NASCAR brother combo of our time to challange for the most Cup wins ever by siblings.

Kurt and Kyle Busch currently sit in sixth place all-time with a combined forty-two wins in the Sprint Cup Series; Kurt with twenty-two and Kyle twenty. But there is a formidable task ahead as sitting atop the brothers win list are Bobby and Donnie Allison with ninety-four Cup wins.

While Kurt and Kyle have one thing on their side in a quest to move to the top of this category–time; their ability to win Cup races at a fast enough rate isn’t looking plausible. Even if the brothers could average winning a combined five races per year it would take them into the 2021 season to even tie the Allisons. Averaging those five wins per year would be based on Kurt and Kyle continuining to win a combined 15 percent of the races they enter. Currently Kyle is winning at just shy of nine percent of the Cup races he enters and Kurt is at six percent.

With 369 Cup starts Kurt has been starting races at NASCAr’s highest level for ten years and one would wonder if he has ten more in him. Last night Kurt talked ON PIT ROW about his career, racing in his home town of Las Vegas and his new found love for drag racing. You can watch the entire interview with Kurt here. Is Kurt’s foray into the drag racing world a preview of things to come as a veteran looks toward his future?

Younger brother Kyle has only 227 Cup starts under his belt and would seem to be better suited to carry the brothers torch toward knocking off the Allisons. Kyle not only has a better winning percentage than Kurt but most likely has more years left in him winning at that higher percentage.

Most of the brother acts ahead of the Busch brothers show lopsided win totals. The Waltrips have a combined win total of 88; Darrell with 84 and Michael with four. The Flock brothers with 62 wins; Tim with 39 while Fonty has 19 and Bob only four. Donald Thomas has one win to combine with brother Herb’s forty-eight.

Only the next tandem above the Busch’s of Terry and Bobby Labonte show an equal number of wins, with twenty-two and twenty-one respectively.

If Kurt and Kyle are to have any chance of rising to the top in this NASCAR catagory it looks as if brother Kyle needs to concentrate on winning in the Cup series at a much more prodigious rate.

photo credit: Glenn Bure/ON PIT ROW

Filed under: Darrell Waltrip, Joe Gibbs Racing, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Michael Waltrip, NASCAR, NASCAR History, On Pit Row The Fastest Two Hours on Radio, Terry Labonte, The Waltrips

Tagged with: Bobby Allison, Bobby Labonte, Darrell Waltrip, Donnie Allison, Fonty Flock, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Michael Waltrip, NASCAR Brothers, Terry Labonte, Tim Flock

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NASCAR History: Car Number 44 and Terry Labonte

by JamesJ, Special To NASCAR commentary and driver pictures, 2012 NASCAR schedule, video, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

Sundays of my youth consisted of NASCAR racing and cold bottles of Mountain Dew. Thirty years later not much has changed for me. However, nearly everything has changed in NASCAR.

January 1, 2010 9:24 am UTC No Comments

Over the next several weeks we’ll be featuring car numbers in NASCAR history. We started with #50 and are working our way down the line. With each car number we’ll take a brief look at a couple stats related to the featured car number, but we’ll primarily spotlight either a driver, sponsor, car owner, manufacturer or other significant subject closely tied to the car number of the day.

NASCAR car number 44 Terry Labonte and Piedmont Airlines sponsor Today’s number is one that I looked forward to spotlighting in the car number countdown to the Daytona 500. This is because car #44 was one of my favorites back in the mid ’80s. I have childhood memories of getting a large plastic toy car for Christmas with the #44 and Piedmont Airlines logo stickers all over it. I remember getting the diecast Piedmont Airlines airplane each time my parents would stick me on a plane flying out of Cincinnati, OH to Orlando, FL. It was there that I would spend my summer break from school with my grandparents and my uncle Terry. And it is my uncle Terry who I give credit for my love of NASCAR. Most all of my fondest memories from childhood revolve around my uncle, and many of those include the simple things such as playing checkers or UNO and drinking a Mountain Dew (out of a glass bottle!) while watching a NASCAR race on TV. Yeah, spotlighting the #44 is going to be cool for me.

NASCAR Cup champion Terry Labonte

Stats for cars running the #44:

Number of Races: 884
Number of Wins: 13
Number of Top 5s: 155
Number of Top 10s: 314
Number of Poles: 27
Number of Drivers: 89

Check out current NASCAR race statistics here at On Pit Row!

Spotlight Subject: Driver Terry Labonte

Now sure, most people are going to associate Terry Labonte with the #5. After all, the #5 is the car number he closed out his full time career in. Also, he ran 368 races in the #5 versus 259 races in the #44 earlier in his career. But his average finish was slightly better in the #44 car with a 14.4 average versus 17.4. One thing is for sure though, and that is that Terry’s thirty year career has been an impressive one making him one of the most respected and liked drivers in the Cup garage and with the fans.

Terry came into the Cup series on fire starting only five races in the 1978 Cup season for car owner Billy Hagan (whom he would drive for from 1978 through 1986). He would have 1 top five, 2 top tens in his first three starts. The final two races were DNFs due to mechanical failure and a wreck. He didn’t slow down in 1979 either when he ran his first full season competing for Rookie of the Year honors. Coming up short for the Rookie title, he did manage to finish in the top ten in points for the season. The following year Terry would take his first win in Winston Cup competition at Darlington Raceway. Twenty-three years and twenty victories between, Terry would score his 22nd and final victory in Cup competition again at Darlington.

NASCAR Cup champion Terry Labonte Terry, known for his calmness under pressure on the track, had the nickname of “The IceMan.” He always just seemed to show up there at the end of the race in the right position and with opportunity to take a win. In 1984 and 1996, The IceMan took top honors by bringing home the Championship trophy to his car owners Hagan and Hendrick, respectively. He has finished in the top 10 season standings an outstanding seventeen times! Other honors include the 1993 and 1989 IROC Championships, the 1988 and 1999 The Winston Champion (now the All Star Challenge), and in 1998 being named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers. In 2004 Terry announced the season would be his last full time season. Over the last few years he’s driven part time rides for teams such as Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing, and Hall of Fame Racing.

With a career spanning 30 years (and counting) it’s interesting to note that Terry almost exclusively ran General Motors cars other than 3 races in a Toyota (2007 fill in for Michael Watlrip Racing) and the 1989 season in which he ran a Ford for Junior Johnson. Out of those 851 races and 22 wins, it’s hard not to look at his 1995 win at Bristol as one of the most exciting. Four years later, Terry would show Earnhardt how to make a last-lap clean-pass for a win only to once again be given the knock spinning Terry out.

1995 Goody’s 500 victory while wrecking

Filed under: Bristol Motor Speedway, Dale Earnhardt, James Jones, NASCAR, NASCAR History, Terry Labonte

Tagged with: Bristol 1995, Piedmont Airlines, Terry Labonte

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NASCAR History: Car Number 47 and Jack Beebe

by JamesJ, Special To NASCAR commentary and driver pictures, 2012 NASCAR schedule, video, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

Sundays of my youth consisted of NASCAR racing and cold bottles of Mountain Dew. Thirty years later not much has changed for me. However, nearly everything has changed in NASCAR.

December 29, 2009 3:52 pm UTC No Comments

I found myself with a bit of challenge for number 47. Instead of putting the spotlight on a driver named Jack with the most Cup success in the #47 (Jack Smith, who has twenty-one career wins), I’m going to direct the attention to a car owner named Jack Beebe. Ron Bouchard's car number 47.

Stats for cars running the #47

Number of Races: 753
Number of Wins: 24
Number of Top 5s: 131
Number of Top 10s: 258
Number of Poles: 29
Number of Drivers: 58

Check out current NASCAR race statistics here at On Pit Row!

Spotlight Subject: Car Owner Jack Beebe

From 1978 to 1986 car owner Jack Beebe fielded a car in 211 Cup races resulting in 2 wins, 32 top fives, and 82 top tens. In his 9 years of car ownership he employed only 5 different drivers, but he ran only one car number, the #47.

Of those 5 drivers, 4 of them are pretty well known. Can you guess who they are?

One is now also known for his work with bobsleds.
One was considered a “handsome” “high line runner.”
One has a brother, and both of them won Winston Cup Rookie of the Year.
The final driver is a roller-skating veteran who races for Jesus.

I’m betting most of you readers figured them all out except for the brothers. Am I right?

If you guessed Geoff Bodine (Bo-Dyn Bobsled project), Harry Gant, Ron Bouchard (brother is Ken Bouchard), and Morgan Shepherd, then you’re good!

Geoff Bodine’s stay in the car was the shortest of all drivers (only 3 races vs. Satch Worley’s 4 races in the Beebe owned #47). From what I’ve been able to find, Beebe was somehow in the school bus business in Connecticut prior to his venture into NASCAR and was giving Bodine his Winston Cup debut in his cars. It seems that Bodine expressed some negative comments about the Beebe organization. Bodine was let go after only 3 races, he wouldn’t return to a full time Winston Cup ride for another 3 years.

Harry Gant in the number 47 car. Enter driver Harry Gant. The opportunity to race for Jack Beebe’s ride would be Gant’s first full season in Winston Cup. He would contend for Rookie of the Year honors, but the rookie competition was stiff that year with Terry Labonte and eventual Rookie of the Year winner Dale Earnhardt.

Sticking with a similar pattern as Bodine and Gant, next would be rookie Ron Bouchard’s debut in Winston Cup competition. Unlike Bodine, Ron would keep the ride full time. And unlike Gant, Bouchard would claim the Rookie of the Year title. Although Ron only had one career victory, it came in grand style, at a grand track, by sneaking the win from two drivers who eventually became Winston Cup champions. The race was at Talladega and the win came down to the last turn of the last lap. Terry Labonte and Darrell Waltrip battled for the lead as NASCAR driver Morgan Shepherd Bouchard cut under both of them and took the win in an exciting photo finish!

In 1986 Morgan Shepherd’s name was above the driver’s window net. He would race in what would become Jack Beebe’s final 12 races in Winston Cup competition. But of those 12 races, Morgan Shepherd would take the car to 6 top 10 finishes and 1 win for Jack Beebe. The win would come at the beginning of the 1986 season at Atlanta and it would be Morgan’s second of four career victories to date, and Jack Beebe’s final victory as car owner.

Filed under: Dale Earnhardt, NASCAR, NASCAR History, Terry Labonte

Tagged with: Dale Earnhardt, Geoffrey Bodine, Harry Gant, Jack Beebe, Jack Smith, Ken Bouchard, Morgan Shepherd, Ron Bouchard, Terry Labonte

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Stop Jeff Gordon Or Not: Last Day to Vote in the Sweet 16 Greatest NASCAR Drivers

by Charlie Turner

Thanks for stopping by OnPitRow.com and the Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie blog. The best NASCAR and IndyCar news and opinion, exclusive pictures and video. I'm Charlie Turner. Follow me on Twitter @onpitrow

April 22, 2009 10:42 am UTC 2 Comments

Mindy Monday says pu-lease don’t let Jeff Gordon win. But you can vote your bias any way you want. Here’s the recap of the Sweet 16 in the NASCAR 64 Greatest Drivers Tournament at Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie.

We’ll leave the voting open until midnight PST. Join Bootie Barker, Geoff Bodine, Bobby Labonte and many others and let us know who you like.

Filed under: Bill Elliott, Bobby Labonte, Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip, Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson, Modified Racing, NASCAR, NASCAR 64 Greatest Driver Tourney, Nascar Legends, Terry Labonte, The King, The Pettys

Tagged with: Bobby Allison, Booty Barker, Cale Yarborough, David Pearson, Fireball Roberts, Geoffrey Bodine, Herb Thomas, Joe Weatherly, Junior Johnson, Mindy Monday, NASCAR 64 Greatest Driver Tourney, Ned Jarrett, Richard Petty, Tim Flock

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Terry Labonte vs Curtis Turner: 64 Greatest NASCAR Drivers Round 2

by Charlie Turner

April 5, 2009 10:30 pm UTC 9 Comments

A Classic match up NASCAR legends kicks off the the second round Fast Lap Region games in NASCAR’s 64 Greatest Drivers Tournament at Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie. The Babe Ruth of Stock Car Racing against the Iron Man.

Terry Labonte is known as NASCAR’s Ironman because of his 655 consecutive Cup Series starts. He won Winston Cup Championships in ’84 and ’96 and grabbed 21 Cup Series wins in his career. Though Terry won just two times each of his championship years, he also had 24 top ten finishes in each . Terry and Bobby Labonte are the only brothers to win Winston Cup championships.

Curtis Turner won the fourth race ever in NASCAR’s top division and went on to record 17 wins and 16 poles in 183 starts His nickname came from a Sports Illustrated article. Turner is the only driver to win consecutive races from pole and lead every lap in both. He was also the only driver to win for Nash and the first to qualify for a NASCAR race at faster than 180 mph.

Labonte bested Dave Marcis in the first round while Curtis Turner got by Jerry Cook. Who will move on to the Sweet Sixteen? Leave you comments please.

Filed under: NASCAR, NASCAR 64 Greatest Driver Tourney, Nascar Legends, Terry Labonte

Tagged with: Curtis Turner, NASCAR 64 Greatest Driver Tourney, NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers, Terry Labonte, The Babe Ruth of Stock Car Racing, Winston Cup

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NASCAR’s Return of the One Car Wonders

by Charlie Turner

January 29, 2009 6:02 pm UTC No Comments

Who said the single car NASCAR Sprint Cup team was dead? Not our own Mindy Monday.

In the latest – and apologetically late - Monday Morning Crew Chief, Mindy tips her hat to several, brand new one car operators. She also disses Brian France. But what else is new?

Watch Mindy’s latest right here. Sorry we’re late.

Filed under: Bench Racing TV, Brad Kesolowski, Brian France, Car of Tomorrow, Jeremy Mayfield, Joe Nemechek, Mike Wallace, Monday Morning Crew Chief, NASCAR, NASCAR Bidness, NASCAR Rumors, NASCAR video, On Pit Row The Fastest Two Hours on Radio, Phil Parsons, Sprint Cup Series, Terry Labonte, Tommy Baldwin, Tommy Baldwin Racing, TRG Motorsports, Warren Wallace