The Up-And-Coming Airline
9
Honors, cash bestowed on PI race team
With honors and accolades for
winning the 1984 NASCAR Win
ston Cup Grand National Cham
pionship still coming in, Teriy
Labonte and the Piedmont race
team haven’t had much of an off
season since clinching the title
in November.
First there was the Winston Cup
awards banquet in early December
at a site far removed from the noise
and hot asphalt tracks of the
Grand National circuit.
In tuxedos and black ties,
Labonte and the team accepted the
Cup and $295,706 in award money
at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New
York City. Bill Howard, Piedmont’s
president and chief executive
officer, joined other Piedmont
executives in honoring the team
there and in being honored for
sponsoring the top race team in
1984. With the racing world's eye
on Labonte and Piedmont, public
ity dividends mounted.
Then Labonte traveled to Los
Angeles where he was named to the
1984 Skoal All-American racing
team — one ofjust 11 drivers from
different motor sports named to
the team and, at 28 years old, the
youngest driver in that elite group.
The pit crew that supports
Labonte on the tracks wasn’t for-
Join Labonte
Fan Club and
Follow your team
Fans of Winston Cup Cham
pion Terry Labonte and the
Piedmont Airlines race team
can Join the Terry Labonte Fan
Chib andJoUow the team
closely throughout the 1985
Grand National season.
Annual membership isjust$6
single and $10Jamily. You get a
membership certificate, photo
graphs. newsletters, ID cards,
decals, patches and other items
that keep you informed about
Terry and the racing season.
To Join, write: Terry Labonte
Fan Club, PO Box 4617, Arch
dale, NC 27263. You 'll receive a
membership application and be
part of Terry's and Piedmont's
bid for another successful year
on the Grand National circuit.
Piedmont's Public J^airs Depart
ment has recently produced an
excitingjilm about Terry Labonte's
championship season. The 11 '/z-
minute tape, shown at the recent
management meeting, is now avail
able in both VHS and Beta cassettes
through the employee store in
Winston-Salem. The cassettes sell
for about $15.
gotten either. In January, the crew
was honored with the 1984 Skoal
Motorsports Award of Excellence as
the best all-around team in Grand
National racing. A $ 10,000 prize
came with the honor, awarded by
the 40-member Skoal Motorsports
Press Panel.
‘Driver of the Year’
Next on the list of honors was
one of the most prestigious: the
"Driver of the Year" award, com
pliments of the National Motor
sports Press Association. Add not
only $30,000 to Labonte’s earnings,
but a touch of special pride also.
"This award means a lot to me
because the press voted on it and,
as everybody knows, I don't talk
that much,■' Labonte said. "I'm very
cooperative with the media, but I
don't talk as much as some of the
other drivers."
pole position
On the same day that Labonte
was named Driver of the Year, he
was also named to the pole of the
newest race on the Grand National
circuit — The Winston — a 105-
mile, 70 lap sprint with a $500,000
purse, the richest in motorsports’
history.
All winners of Grand National
races last year will compete in The
Winston, to be raced May 25 at the
Charlotte Motor Speedway. As Win
ston Cup Champion, Labonte got
the pole, a nice compliment to his
having the best top-five and top-10
record of any driver last year: 17
finishes in the top five — including
two wins — and 24 finishes in the
top 10.
best finish
In late January, Labonte flew to
Chicago where he was honored for
receiving the Union 76 award and
its $76,000 prize. The award is
given to the driver who uses Union
76 products and finishes the high
est in Winston Cup points. And on
that same trip, he attended the
Lathrop-Chicago Boys Club’s
annual National Driving Cham
pionship Recognition Dinner, a
nationally known charity banquet
that honored Labonte and two
other 1984 racing champions:
Mario Andretti of the Indy cars,
and Cale Yarborough, who won
the International Race of Champ
ions event.
Labonte has been named to the
limited field of top drivers for the
l.R.O.C. event in 1985.
These are just the standouts of
all the awards, honors and appear
ances that Labonte has enjoyed
since winning the championship.
Closer to home, Labonte was
honored by INT RES soon after
clinching the title with a "Teriy
Labonte Day ’ — complete with lun
cheon for the team, a raflle and
plenty of autographs that Labonte
signed for Piedmont employees and
the general public who attended.
It’s been a busy time but, as
Labonte said when named Driver of
the Year, "It's been the most enjoy
able year of my life. "
The next racing year has ;ilready
begun. The Daytona 500 Week
began F'ebruary 10 with the Busch
Clash. As a pole winner in 1984,
Uibonte was also in that field for
the 50 mile, $200,000 purse sprint.
It should be the start of another
great season for Uibonte and the
Piedmont race team.
NASCAR Champion Terry [j^bonle
in his Piedmont racecar
1985 NASCAR
WINSTON CUP GRAND NATIONAL SCHEDULE
February 17
Daytona 500
July 4
I’epsi Firecracker 400
February 24
Miller 400
July 13
F'epsi 420
March 3
Carolina 500
July 21
Like Cola .500
March 17
Coca-Cola 500
July 28
Talladega 500
March 31
Valleydale 500
August 1 1
Champion Spark I’lug 400
April 14
Transoulh 500
Auf>ust 24
I5usch ,500
April 21
Northwestern 400
September 1
Southern 500
April 28
Sovran 500
September 8
Wrangler 400
May 5
Winston 500
September 15
Delaware 500
May 11
Coors 420
September 22
Goody's 500
May 19
Budwelser 500
September 29
Holly Farms 400
May 26
World 600
October 6
Miller ,500
June 2
Budweiser 400
October 20
American 500
June 9
Van Scoy 500
November 3
Atlanta Journal 500
June 16
Miller 400
November 17
Winston Western 500