Labonte wins fuel battle at Dover Downs

his first ever NASCAR Winston Cup race at Dover on gas fumes. He won from the pole but led just 44 laps in a race highlighted by long green flag
runs.

The key to victory? Labonte trusted his crew chief while the rest of the
leaders blinked; Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Tony Stewart and Dale Jarrett
rounded out the top five after late fuel stops.

"We really didn't have much choice," said crew chief Jimmy Makar. "We
couldn't run with these guys so we had to hope we could run to the end."

Labonte improved his season points standings, trailing Jarrett and Jeff
Burton by 69 points.

"We're only a week late and a million dollars short," said Labonte, still
hurting from his narrow loss at Charlotte a week ago when a bonus was on
the line and won by Burton.

From the start it was clear just a few cars had the right setup for a
sunny and pleasant day. Martin steam rolled the field in the first 100
miles, lapping up to 24th place. After green flag pit stops, Stewart
played The Dominator on lap 113 and only a dozen cars were on the lead
circuit by lap 145.

Saved from a long day of frustration were Ken Schrader and Dick Trickle,
who brought out the first caution in separate accidents on lap 7.
Michael Waltrip lost an engine on lap 99 and retired as Dave Marcis
struggled to cure a smoking machine.

Perhaps Marcis did the top ten a favor, sparing more cars from Stewart's
march. Marcis left a trail of fluid thick enough to oil down the track
and pit stalls, bringing out the yellow on lap 162. The field circled for
five minutes as track crews worked to make pit road safe. Almost a dozen
cars, running on - or near - empty, circled on the track apron while
others ignored NASCAR's flag and ducked in for some precious fuel.

Stewart, Labonte, Martin, Rusty Wallace, Gordon, Jarrett, Kenny Wallace,
Mike Skinner, Burton and Jeremy Mayfield comprised the top ten and lead
lap cars.

NASCAR let the cars in for gas and the running order was the same
afterwards, as the yellow period continued as cleanup resumed when the
fuel crisis was past. The race went green, finally, at lap 177.

Labonte took the point at lap 179, battling Kenny Irwin who got a jump on
the restart and attempted to get back on the lead lap. One of the better
cars on the track was that of Dale Earnhardt. Starting 34th, the
seven-time champ went down a lap and deep in the field rundown early in
the race, then muscled his Chevy back to 12th - first car a lap down. He
finished 11th.

Stewart watched teammate Labonte lead the halfway lap then resumed the
lead on lap 208. Gordon got by the polesitter for second, but trailed his
fellow open-wheel driver by 1.3 seconds. Stewart lapped 10th-running
Skinner on lap 229 as the second round of green flag pit stops began.

Gordon had the lead - Stewart was challenging - when Chad Little spun in
front of them and brought out the third caution on lap 279. Some fast
cars pitted, but the lap 285 restart showed Gordon, Stewart, Martin,
Labonte and Rusty Wallace resuming their chase. It was short-lived as
Kenny Wallace, running sixth, touched the wall and Mayfield, then spun on
the back straight. Stewart and company pitted during the lap 292 caution,
turning the lead over to Jarrett, Burton, Wallace, Gordon and Martin.

The restart on lap 296 featured Earnhardt trying to get back on the lead
lap and a fur ball among the top six cars dicing for the lead. Earnhardt
(9th) succumbed to Jarrett 10 laps later as he came under pressure from
Gordon and Wallace. Gordon took the point on lap 312 and Stewart was
marching to the front.

One cloud hung over the field. Few if any cars could make it to the
checkers without a short gas stop. Could a driver feather the throttle
and nurse the car to a win on fumes? As the laps wound down, the field
seemed content to cruise until the fuel window.

Except for Stewart. He ducked in with 33 laps to go for fuel and four
tires, a much longer strategy than usually employed in gas mileage races.
Jarrett came in 12 laps later for gas only, a no-rubber decision used by
every other front runner.

Gordon, Martin and Labonte cruised on with ten to go - and Stewart in
4th. Gordon came in with six to go for just 2 seconds of gas as Labonte
gambled on his fumes last nourished 107 laps earlier. It paid off. Just
not as much as Charlotte would have.