A Hendrick Motorsports teammate battle, a points lead that changed hands in October and a 37-point margin in Atlanta decided the 1996 title.
The 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup season ran from February 18 to November 10. Terry Labonte won his second title over teammate Jeff Gordon by 37 points, even though Gordon won ten races to Labonte's two. Labonte's steadier finishes made the difference over the season.
The 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series ran from February 18 to November 10 and gave Terry Labonte his second championship, by 37 points over his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon. Gordon won ten races that year and Labonte only two, so the title was decided by consistency rather than victories. Bobby Hamilton's first career Cup win, at Phoenix in late October, was one of the late highlights.
How did the 1996 title fight start?
Jeff Gordon entered 1996 as the defending champion, having claimed the 1995 title as the youngest modern-era champion. Dale Earnhardt was chasing an eighth championship, but the battle that developed was between Gordon and Labonte, his Hendrick teammate for the whole season.
Several other drivers were in the conversation. Sterling Marlin had won the Daytona 500 in each of the two previous years, Mark Martin had twice finished runner-up in the points, and Labonte and Rusty Wallace were former champions. Veteran Dale Jarrett was also in contention.
Labonte also had a streak to protect. He tied Richard Petty's record of 513 consecutive starts at North Wilkesboro in April, running a special silver Ironman scheme for that race and the next one at Martinsville. His 514th consecutive start, at Martinsville, broke the record.
Early results did not favour either Hendrick driver. Gordon finished 40th at North Carolina Speedway in February after a blown engine, and Labonte led the most laps at Daytona and Rockingham early in the year without the points to match. Entering Richmond, Labonte was 30th in points and Gordon 43rd.
Ernie Irvan won race two of the Gatorade Twin 125s at Daytona, leading from start to finish with Ken Schrader alongside him on the final lap. Earnhardt's form was steadier through the spring, and his Purolator 500 victory at Atlanta was his last Cup win until the 1998 Daytona 500.
Gordon won the Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond on March 3, and by the end of that race Labonte had climbed to 17th and Gordon to 27th. The gap between the two teammates then began to narrow and widen through the spring and summer.
Jeff Burton had been second in the points before the Purolator 500, but he failed to qualify there. Provisionals for the first four races used 1995 owner points, and his Roush team was new for 1996, so he fell from second to 14th and never returned to the top ten in points. At Pocono on June 16, Todd Bodine won while subbing for the injured Bill Elliott. Dale Earnhardt Incorporated made its Cup debut the same day with a #14 Chevrolet driven by Jeff Green, who started 33rd and finished 36th. Irvan's win at New Hampshire on July 14 was his first Cup victory since his injuries at Michigan in 1994.
Gordon won ten races, but Labonte's steadier finishes carried him to a second championship by 37 points.
Why did Terry Labonte beat Jeff Gordon?
Labonte won only twice but finished more consistently, averaging 8.2 for the season against Gordon's 9.5. Gordon's ten wins were not enough to overcome Labonte's steadier results, and the final margin was 37 points. Labonte's results were steadier across the year than Gordon's, even though Gordon's victories were far more numerous.
The average finishes tell most of the story. A gap of more than a position per race, held across a full season, is hard for a rival to overturn late in the year.
Gordon's victories came in bunches. He won early at Richmond and Darlington, took the win at Dover on June 2, and then won at Darlington on September 1, Dover on September 15, Martinsville on September 22 and North Wilkesboro on September 29. That run was the core of his season.
Labonte's two wins came at North Wilkesboro in April and at Charlotte in October, and the rest of his results were consistent enough to keep him at the front of the standings.
Gordon's tenth and final victory of the year came at North Wilkesboro on September 29.
What happened in the autumn points swing?
The title turned in October. Gordon led Labonte by 111 points before the UAW-GM Quality 500 at Charlotte, where Labonte won and Gordon finished 31st, cutting the lead to one point. Labonte then took the lead for good after finishing third at North Carolina Motor Speedway on October 20.
On lap 210 at Charlotte on October 6, Ernie Irvan spun in turn two, and although he avoided serious injury, Robby Gordon's car hit the inside wall hard enough to dislodge it.
At the AC Delco 400 Gordon finished 12th while Labonte was third, which moved Labonte ahead in the standings. From that point he held the lead for the rest of the season, and the points gap was still close when the teams reached Phoenix.
At the Dura Lube 500 in Phoenix on October 27, Labonte finished ahead of Gordon again. That result extended the lead to 47 points going into the season finale at Atlanta, where Gordon needed to make up ground.
The finale at Atlanta was the decisive race. Gordon finished third, and Labonte came home fifth, two places behind him, which was enough to secure the title with a 37-point margin. Labonte's second title came 12 years after his first.
Which crashes marked the 1996 season?
Several serious wrecks shaped the season. Ricky Craven's car flipped into the catch fence at Talladega in April during a 14-car pileup, and Bill Elliott broke a femur in a single-car accident on lap 77. Earnhardt was injured in July when contact from Ernie Irvan sent him into the wall.
Craven's crash came on lap 131 of the Winston Select 500. He had entered that race fourth in points and fell to 20th by the end of the year, because the injuries he suffered derailed a campaign that had been going well.
Elliott was sidelined for five races after breaking his leg, and Harry Gant came out of retirement to fill in for him at The Winston Select.
Earnhardt's injuries came at the DieHard 500 on lap 117, when contact from Irvan sent him and Sterling Marlin into the tri-oval wall. The result was an 11-car pileup, and Earnhardt suffered a broken collarbone and sternum. He was still able to take the pole for The Glen two weeks later and finished sixth.
The DieHard 500 was also the last points race televised on tape delay. CBS had moved away from its live coverage during a rain delay to show a Senior PGA Tour final round, and the race aired flag to flag the following week.
Rivalries and fights
A scuffle broke out at Dover's MBNA 500 on September 15. After a crash involving several cars on lap 456, Jimmy Spencer climbed out, went to Wally Dallenbach Jr.'s car and tried to punch him through the window net before an official held him back.
In the garage, Derrike Cope was attacked by crew chief Larry McReynolds after a crash, and McReynolds was angry about an earlier wreck that had taken Irvan out. Later, as the cars came to a halt on pit road, Kyle Petty and Michael Waltrip argued too.
Team SABCO had made a point at Dover in June, when Kyle Petty ran a black and silver scheme on his car to protest a penalty for rough driving. The team said Earnhardt had done a similar move at Rockingham without being penalised. The car returned to its normal scheme the following week.
At Indianapolis the feud between Irvan and Sterling Marlin spilled into the garage, where a fight broke out with crew members from Morgan-McClure Motorsports over the Talladega crash. Some of Marlin's crew had posted signs mocking Irvan's eyesight.
Selected race results
| Date | Race | Track | Winner | Notable detail |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 18 | Daytona 500 | Daytona International Speedway | Dale Jarrett | Second Daytona 500 victory |
| March 3 | Pontiac Excitement 400 | Richmond International Raceway | Jeff Gordon | Labonte 17th, Gordon 27th in points |
| March 10 | Purolator 500 | Atlanta Motor Speedway | Dale Earnhardt | Jeff Burton failed to qualify |
| April 14 | First Union 400 | North Wilkesboro Speedway | Terry Labonte | 513 consecutive starts |
| April 28 | Winston Select 500 | Talladega Superspeedway | Sterling Marlin | 14-car pileup, Craven injured |
| May 26 | Coca-Cola 600 | Charlotte Motor Speedway | Dale Jarrett | Johnny Benson knocked unconscious |
| June 2 | Miller 500 | Dover Downs International Speedway | Jeff Gordon | Team SABCO protest paint |
| July 28 | DieHard 500 | Talladega Superspeedway | Jeff Gordon | Earnhardt broke his collarbone |
| August 11 | Bud at The Glen | Watkins Glen International | Geoff Bodine | Final Cup victory for Bodine |
| September 15 | MBNA 500 | Dover Downs International Speedway | Jeff Gordon | Spencer and Dallenbach fought |
| October 6 | UAW-GM Quality 500 | Charlotte Motor Speedway | Terry Labonte | Gordon's lead cut to one point |
| October 27 | Dura Lube 500 | Phoenix International Raceway | Bobby Hamilton | First career Cup victory |
| November 10 | NAPA 500 | Atlanta Motor Speedway | Bobby Labonte | Terry Labonte clinched by 37 points |
Rookies and the Suzuka exhibition
Johnny Benson was the only driver to run a full-time rookie schedule in 1996, which made him the Rookie of the Year. Benson ended the season with one top five, six top-ten finishes and one pole. Among the other candidates, Randy MacDonald and Stacy Compton tried for it, but neither ran enough races to challenge him.
The season ended with a non-points exhibition at Suzuka in Japan on November 23, the first NASCAR race held in that country. Rusty Wallace won the pole and the race. Elmo Langley, who was to drive the pace car, suffered a heart attack two days before the race and later died at the age of 68.
Earnhardt and Gordon finished second and third there, behind Wallace. Ross Perot Jr. had served as grand marshal at Atlanta in the finale, and Bobby Labonte won that race from the pole.
