2nd, Gordon 3rd, and Labonte 5th). Labonte won the title by 37 points over Gordon, and 89 points over Jarrett. Terry Labonte's 2 wins gave him the championship over Jeff Gordon's 10 wins. Even though Gordon scored the most wins of 1996, he lacked consistency in the final stretch of the season. Labonte's consistency in the last 4 races of the season was better than Gordon's. Labonte won the title by 37 points. This would be the 3rd and final time in Bob Latford's Winston Cup points system that a driver winning 10 or more races in a season failed to win the championship due to lack of consistency. The 1st time was in 1985 when Bill Elliott won 11 races but lost the title to Darrell Waltrip, who had 3 wins, due to lack of consistency in the final stretch of the season. Waltrip won the title by 101 points. The 2nd time was in 1993 when Rusty Wallace won 10 races, but lost the title to Dale Earnhardt, who had 6 wins, also due to lack of consistency in the final stretch of the season. Earnhardt won the title by 80 points. Terry Labonte would join the late Alan Kulwicki and win the championship by winning only 2 races in a season. Only Matt Kenseth, who won one race in 2003, has won fewer races while winning a championship. Ross Perot Jr. was the grand marshal for this race. Bobby Labonte's victory was also the last victory for Joe Gibbs Racing fielding Chevrolets until 2003, as the following season would see the team switch to the Pontiac Grand Prix. NASCAR Suzuka Thunder Special The NASCAR Suzuka Thunder Special was a non-points exhibition race ran on November 23 at Suzuka Circuit - East Circuit. Rusty Wallace won the pole. This was the first ever NASCAR race in Japan. Top ten results 2-Rusty Wallace 3-Dale Earnhardt 24-Jeff Gordon 5-Terry Labonte 15-Wally Dallenbach Jr. 30-Johnny Benson 77-Bobby Hillin Jr. 31-Mike Skinner 61-Rick Carelli 38-Butch Gilliland NASCAR legend Elmo Langley was intended to drive the pace car for this race, but suffered a massive heart attack 2 days prior in the pace car when trying to get familiar with the course. Langley was 68 when he died in a nearby hospital. Results and standings Drivers' championship (key) Bold – Pole position awarded by time. Italics – Pole position set by owner's points