Labonte takes Atlanta Winston Cup win

Starting 37th, his only provisional start of the season, the Pontiac driver won his fifth NASCAR Winston Cup race of the season in the NAPA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

He denied season points champion Dale Jarrett a double by almost three seconds.

Jarrett goes to the annual banquet having beat the best stock car drivers in the world by 201 points. Labonte was the next best driver.

Jeremy Mayfield, Mark Martin and Jeff Burton rounded out the top five in a scrappy race filled with one-car cautions.

The rash of yellow fever made the difference for Labonte.

'We had great, quick, short runs,' said Labonte, who acknowledged his chassis set-up was so poor in practice that he was 'frightened.'

It took more than 60 laps and a pit stop before The Usual Suspects worked their way to the front. Even then, Steve Park was the unlikely driver pacing the field, having traded the lead with polesitter Kevin LePage, Michael Waltrip, Dave Marcis and Martin.

Martin was the only points contender worrying the top five before Todd Bodine slapped the wall on lap 42 and enabled wholesale pit stops. By the 75th circuit, Park led Jarrett, Martin, a resurgent Labonte and Ward Burton.

Concern for tires was the issue after Jimmy Spencer, in his 300th Winston Cup start, slapped the wall in the third solo wreck of the day on lap 80.

Terry Labonte avoided being a statistic by pitting when he noticed right front symptoms earlier in the race.

As Labonte took the lead on the lap 91 restart, crew chiefs passed the word: 'Everybody's who's popped a tyre was using 44 pounds.'

Lap 100 of 328 showed Park leading Burton, Labonte, Jarrett and Ricky Rudd. The latter was looking to continue his streak of wins every year since the early 80's (he
would finish running seventh).

Although he started in 36th place, Dale Earnhardt ran in eighth, with his son staying out of trouble in 18th place.

Senior would drift backwards and bypassed by Junior for 16th on lap 118.

Martin pitted 20 laps later, early for a green flag stop, taking just right-side rubber.

Part of his right front tyre was literally broken off to reveal the cord.

The entire field followed suit over the next eight laps - most taking four tyres.

In a startling flashback of a 1990 incident that killed a Bill Elliott crew member, John Andretti spun into the pit wall as Kenny Irwin tapped him on pit entry.

There were no injuries, but Andretti was out of competition and Irwin's career with Robert Yates Racing ended ignobly.

Johnny Benson, running 11th at the time, brought out the fourth solo caution in turn two on lap 172. It was a break for Martin whose emergency pit stop allowed
for no adjustments.

The green waved just briefly when Jeff Gordon's motor blew up in a puff of smoke, followed by Dave Blaney slapping the wall on lap 185.

That brought out the fifth caution.

Gordon's retirement capped his worst Winston Cup season, knocking him out of the top five in points and highlighting the loss of his crew chief and over-the-wall gang.

'We've got to make a lot of adjustments in the off season,' said the three-time champion.

'We weren't prepared for the end of the season and you have to be ready to click.'

The only multi-car accident of the race was a hard one. Michael Waltrip lost his engine on lap 199 and smacked the driver's side of his car against the wall. He collected Terry Labonte while Kenny Wallace and Rick Mast also tangled and clogged turn four.

Waltrip sat unconscious in his car; pit road was closed ten minutes as emergency crews tore off the roof and extracted him on a backboard.

He was airlifted to the Atlanta Medical Center, reportedly conscious and alert, for 'precautionary evaluation.'

When the green finally waved on lap 215, Labonte, Jarrett, Mayfield, Rudd and Earnhardt were at the point.

Stewart, who was virtually absent from the top ten all day, surfaced in fourth with 100 laps to go.

Labonte held a two-second lead over Jarrett 20 laps later, but the new champion was on a march. He passed the Pontiac with Mayfield in tow to lead for the first time on lap 251.

Jeff Burton, Stewart, Martin, Skinner, Earnhardt, Rudd and Park rounded out the top ten with one gas stop needed before race's end.

Martin started the cycle with 62 laps to go. Stewart's crew battled an air-gun problem through an excruciating 41 second stop. Jarrett's aces had similar problems. Farther up pit road, Earnhardt Jr ran into one of his tyre carriers, apparently with no lasting effects.

Injury and pride aside, the green flag exercises meant nothing because of a series of cautions. Buckshot Jones waved the yellow a seventh time after he scraped the turn four wall on lap 285. Jeff Burton took the green on lap 290, but his two-tyre pit stop left his car sliding up the track, letting Labonte, Mayfield and Jarrett by.

Robert Pressley scraped the wall for caution #8 three laps later.

Labonte left the field behind on the final restart, the top ten points no longer a factor - and bragging rights for runner-up the only thing to contest. So it was fitting a damaged #98 re-entered the race with five laps to go, down 194 laps to the leader.

Rick Mast, never a Cup winner, was the only driver to be running at every race's conclusion in 1999.