“ The football coach said I could play Friday night , and race Saturday and Sunday . I said , ‘ Here ’ s what I ’ m going to do : I ’ m going to race Friday night , Saturday night and Sunday night .’”
PHOTO : NATE VAN WAGNEN
“ We got everything loaded up and I was feeling pretty happy and before we even got on the interstate he said , ‘ Hey son , that race is over . Now we ’ ve got to go and try to win tomorrow ,’” Labbous remembered . “ At the time , you ’ re thinking that was the cruelest thing ever . Now I understand where he was coming from . Our job is to win the next one . You got the trophy , you got the check , now let ’ s go get another one . It ’ s a very valuable lesson he taught me at the beginning of my career .”
Onto the next one is a fitting theme for a guy whose mind is on the next race at the moment . For a guy that makes well over 1,000 runs per year in a variety of sportsman classes , excelling in 2017 in Super Gas and Super Comp , only a handful of memorable moments really stick out .
In the middle of an incredible 2017 NHRA Sportsman season , where he is the national points leader in both Super Gas and Super Comp , the only thing on Labbous ’ mind is the next race . It ’ s part mindset , part not buying into his own hype . He doesn ’ t do social media , he ’ s quiet on and off the track , and there isn ’ t an ounce of arrogance in discussing his brilliant career . Labbous simply doesn ’ t have time to spend extra energy on that type of fanfare , mostly because there ’ s another race to think about .
“ When I get done Sunday evening , I ’ m already thinking about the next week , where I ’ m going and what I have to do to prepare for it ,” Labbous added . “ This is a very large portion of my life . It ’ s my family and racing . I like going to the beach but after about three days I ’ m over it and ready to go back to what I ’ m supposed to do , and that ’ s race .”
But don ’ t mistake the mindset as simply a means to an end . Sure , sportsman racing is Labbous ’ profession . It puts food on the table for a family that includes his wife of 17 years , Jennifer , and his two daughters , 14-year-old Morgan and 11-year-old Maci , and he knows he has to be successful to provide for them . It ’ s very much a grind at times and it can be grueling , constantly focusing on having to do well each time he ’ s in the car . Labbous , though , loves every minute of it – well , almost . The losses still sting , but the racing aspect , making pass after pass , it ’ s something he still loves .
That happened early in his life , playing with Hot Wheels in his father ’ s pit , and it hasn ’ t stopped . He was never forced in the sport , never coerced into continuing in the sport and never had to fight getting burnt out . Labbous simply loves drag racing . He always has and he doesn ’ t foresee that stopping .
“ I wouldn ’ t have it any other way . This is all I ever wanted to do ,” Labbous explained . “ It ’ s all I knew , all I talked about . It was always about racing . I can ’ t answer for everyone , but for me it was the will to win . As bad as it sounds , it was my needle . I ’ ve never done a drug a day in my life , but this was my needle . It was like a natural high to me . This is all I know and I ’ ve never regretted it .”
Labbous has plenty of examples to show that nothing else provides the rush drag racing does . He skipped his senior trip in high school to hit up a bracket race and his football career abruptly came to end by the time he was a freshman . The
reason ? Friday night games eliminated one extra chance to race during the weekend .
“ The coach asked me why I didn ’ t come for tryouts and I said I wasn ’ t going to play ,” Labbous said . “ He said I could play Friday night , and race Saturday and Sunday . I said , ‘ Here ’ s what I ’ m going to do : I ’ m going to race Friday night , Saturday night and Sunday night .’”
Labbous ’ mind had been made up and it ’ s never wavered . It started with bracket races at Music City Dragway , just outside of Nashville , and Beech Bend Raceway Park , and included annual vacations to Florida . These were working vacations for Labbous ’ father , of course , as the first portion was spent at West Palm Beach International Raceway for the Moroso Five-Day Bracket race , an event Labbous himself won for the first time in 2005 , an achievement he considers one of his career highlights . From there , the annual vacation would go to Bradenton Motorsports Park for a Thanksgiving weekend race , creating a routine that took place year after year . “ I ’ ve been at the racetrack my whole life ,” Labbous said .
It ’ s not an exaggeration , either . He ’ ll start in mid-February , like he did this year , and race every weekend until the end of November . Labbous ’ schedule this year includes a mix of NHRA
“ The football coach said I could play Friday night , and race Saturday and Sunday . I said , ‘ Here ’ s what I ’ m going to do : I ’ m going to race Friday night , Saturday night and Sunday night .’”
national events , Southeast Divisional races , big-money bracket races and other bracket races , even smaller ones at Beech Bend or Music City .
This year has gone especially well , including an incredible weekend in Charlotte at the Four- Wide Nationals when Labbous became just the 22nd driver in NHRA history to double-up at a national event , winning in both Super Comp and Super Gas . It ’ s been that kind of season for Labbous , maintaining the national points lead and putting him in position to have a chance to win a championship in both classes . It would be a tremendous feat , but Labbous isn ’ t entertaining that possibility yet .
“ Obviously , it ’ s been my best year ever in NHRA racing and for the most part things have kind of fallen my way this year ,” Labbous admitted . “ At the end of the year , it will be about chasing points . It ’ s been a phenomenal year and I hope I can finish strong . It would be a huge feat to win both of them , but I ’ m making myself not go there . Until I get there ,
I don ’ t want to entertain the idea of it .”
Of course , not everything goes as planned , and when you race as much as Labbous , picking up the pieces and focusing on what ’ s next becomes imperative . His weekend at the NHRA national event in Norwalk didn ’ t go as he hoped , losing in
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