Labonte wins in photo-finish

At the end of the race at the Talladega Superspeedway, just .002 of a second separated the two leaders, providing a dramatic finale to a race which saw nearly half the field damaged in an accident.

"I've been in close finishes here, but never that close," said Labonte after the 113-lap race.
"Jeff Purvis helped me win the race, he was pushing me there at the end."

In third place was Jeff Purvis, followed by Matt Kenseth and Lyndon Amick.

Nemechek's anguish at the end came in spite of him dominating 20 laps of the race, during which he kept Labonte, Purvis, Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt, Jr at bay. It looked as though he had done enough to win, but Labonte persisted to eventually win.

Accidents were anticpated because of the high number of rookie drivers competing, but no serious incidents happened for most of the race.

It was not until the 68th lap when 20 cars were caught up in an accident. Kelly Denton, who briefly led the race, tapped polesitter Ken Schrader.

Schrader hit the outside wall and while spinning a number of times took 20 other cars in turn He escaped, but his car burst into flames.

There were no serious injuries, but a 10 lap caution period was called, and when the race restarted only 17 cars remained.



Touchstone Energy 300 Unofficial Results Talladega Superspeedway Talladega, Alabama -
April 24, 1999

Poition Car Driver Sponsor Make Laps Notes

1 44 Terry Labonte Slim Jim Chev 113 $35,575

2 87 Joe Nemechek BellSouth Mobility Chev 113 Running

3 4 Jeff Purvis Lance SnacksChev 113 Running

4 17 Matt Kenseth DeWalt Tools Chev 113 Running

5 35 Lyndon Amick Scana/Powertel Chev 113 Running

6 3 D. Earnhardt Jr ACDelco Chev 113 Running

7 00 Larry Pearson Cheez-It Pont 113 Running

8 27 Casey Atwood Castrol GTX Chev 113 Running

9 1 Randy LaJoie Bob Evans Chev 113 Running

10 41 David Green AFG Industries Chev 113 Running

11 5 Dick Trickle Schneider National Chev 113

12 64 Barry Bodine Luxury Trvl MtrCh Chev 113 Running

13 38 Glenn Allen Jr Barbasol Chev 113 Running

14 93 Dave Blaney Amoco Pont 113 Running

15 40 Stanton Barrett ChannelLock Chev 113 Running

16 99 Matt Hutter Red Man Chev 113 Running

17 32 Jeff Green Kleenex Chev 112 Running

18 61 *Tony Roper IWX Motor Freight Pont 112 Running

19 53 Hank Parker Jr B.A.S.S. Chev 111 Running

20 75 *Kelly Denton Food Country Chev 109 Running

21 34 Mike McLaughlin Goulds Pumps Chev 106 Running

22 77 Ed Berrier Lear/UAW Ford 84 Too slow

23 45 *Adam Petty Spree Prepd Foncard Chev 82 Running

24 74 Tony Raines BACE Motorsports Chev 81 Running

25 63 Chuck Bown Exxon Superflo Chev 77 Running

26 59 Mike Dillon Kingsford/Matchlght Chev 76 Accidnt

27 43 Shane Hall Central Tractor Chev 74 Handlng

28 36 Tim Fedewa Stanley Pont 74 Too slow

29 8 Bobby Hillin Bobby Hillin Racing Chev 73 Handlng

30 37 *Kevin Grubb Timber Wolf Chev 73 Handlng

31 66 Todd Bodine Phillips 66 Chev 73 Too slow

32 89 Jeff Fuller Heritage ConsumrPrd Chev 69 Handlng

33 95 B. Hamilton Jr Shoney's Inn Chev 69 Too slow

34 15 Ken Schrader Oakwood Homes Chev 68 Accidnt

35 10 Phil Parsons Alltel Chev 68 Accidnt

36 90 Brad Loney Coyne Textile Svcs Chev 68 Accidnt

37 50 Mark Green Dr. Pepper Chev 68 Accidnt

38 83 Wayne Grubb Link-Belt Chev 68 Accidnt

39 56 Jeff Krogh Clearwater Forest Chev 68

40 57 Jason Keller Fleming Team/IGA Chev 40 Handlng

41 98 Elton Sawyer Lysol Ford 15 Engine

42 22 Jimmy Kitchens Air Jamaica Vacatns Chev 7 Engine

43 33 Jason Jarrett Bayer/Alka Seltzer Chev 7 Engine

Time of Race : 1 hr 59 min 36 sec

Average Speed : 150.792 mph

Margin of Victory : 0.002 seconds, closest ever in Series history

Point Leaders:

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 1241

Matt Kenseth 1141

Elton Sawyer 1127

Mike McLaughlin 1114

Jeff Green 1078

Casey Atwood 954

Randy LaJoie 946

Jason Keller 942

Terry Labonte 939

Jeff Purvis 926