ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, October 30, 1996 TAG: 9610300053
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
MEMO: ***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on Oct. 31.
Correction
The owner of Winston Cup driver Terry Labonte's car was incorrectly
identified in a story in Wednesday's sports section. Labonte's car is
owned by Rick Hendrick.
BOBBY HAMILTON and Terry Labonte leave the fast lane behind after a big Sunday at Phoenix.
One driver won his first NASCAR Winston Cup race three days ago, and the other is on the verge of winning his second Winston Cup championship.
But Bobby Hamilton and Terry Labonte haven't let these career moments keep them from leading normal lives away from the race track.
Hamilton was busy at Nashville (Tenn.) Speedway on Tuesday helping his son and friends prepare their cars for a big Late Model Stock race there this weekend.
And Labonte was looking forward to a hunting trip in the mountains of Montana this weekend.
``As quick as we got done, we got on an airplane and headed back home,'' Hamilton said, describing his activities after winning the Dura-Lube 500 on Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway. ``The party was all in Victory Lane and a little press conference afterward.
``I don't think the real fun part has happened to me yet. For me, it doesn't never sink in until about three or four days later.''
As Hamilton spoke Tuesday during the weekly Winston Cup teleconference, the noise of race cars reverberated in the background.
``They've got a 300-lapper here at Nashville Speedway this weekend and all the kids are going to run,'' Hamilton said, including his son, Bobby Jr. ``I'm just here to help them get ready for that.''
Labonte spent Monday and Tuesday trying to recover from all of the stress he put on his left hand after breaking a bone at the base of his index finger in a crash during practice Friday at Phoenix.
``We really haven't done any therapy on it yet,'' he said. ``The problem right now is the hand is still swollen up real bad. It's kind of black-and-blue looking. They're saying the swelling should go down in the next day or so, so I'll go back to the doctors Thursday or Friday and reassess the thing.''
Labonte said the good news from the doctors who examined it Monday was ``we didn't do any damage to it on Sunday. That was one of the downside deals of getting the shot in my hand to kill the pain. I couldn't tell if I was hurting it [further] or not. But I didn't, and it's not going to require surgery or anything.''
Labonte said the injury will not stop him from going on a scheduled hunting trip to Montana with his car owner, Richard Childress.
``I'm left-handed, but I shoot with my right hand, so it's OK,'' he said.
For the Winston Cup season finale at Atlanta on Nov.10, ``we're probably going to have to have some sort of splint on it, but we don't know exactly what we're going to do yet,'' Labonte said. ``I don't know if we're going to have to do the pain shots again, but if we do, we do.''
Labonte is 47 points ahead of teammate Jeff Gordon in the battle for the Winston Cup championship. He need only finish eighth or better to clinch his second title, but he won't be conservative at Atlanta.
Coincidentally, Labonte's average finish for the last five races at Atlanta is precisely 8.0.
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines KEYWORDS: AUTO RACINGby CNB