NASCAR champ Bobby Labonte opens up about startling health battle
Bobby Labonte presents with the Winston Cup prize in the wake of coming out on top for the championship for Joe Gibbs Racing. Driving the Interstate Batteries Pontiac, Labonte came out on top in four Cup races while heading to the title. (ISC Images and Archives through Getty Images)
Bobby Labonte waves to the crowd prior to the SRX qualifying race at Sharon Speedway on July 23, 2022, in Hartford, Ohio. (Jason Miller/SRX/Getty Images)
He expressed that in 2019 he began to feel unwell and went to a specialist to get looked at.
He said the specialist informed him regarding a spot on his kidney and that it was something worth talking about to watch out for.
He said two years after the fact the mass on his kidney had "significantly increased in size" and specialists prescribed a medical procedure to eliminate it.
A lot of emotions came over me at that time because I was relieved but then also like, wow, that’s crazy because one-third of the patients that are diagnosed with this don’t make it," he said.