in 1998, labonte was able to win the pontiac exitement 400 but dropped to ninth in points. despite a win at his home track at texas motor speedway and the winston in 1999, labonte finished 12th in standings, the first time he finished outside of the top 10 points since 1993. the year 2000 saw labonte's consecutive start break be broken after he had an ear infection at the pepsi 400, and was forced to miss the brickyard 400 and global crossing @ the glen. he began in 2001 with two top-six finishes in the first seven races but he had the worst finish of his career at the time when he finished 23rd in final points. he dropped back to 24th in 2002.