Race: Labonte breaks his duck

It had taken 20 attempts for Labonte and his Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac team to shake off the monkey on their back, but it wasn't for a want of trying. Instead, with the bad luck that often follows the good, the Texan had just never managed to get it all together - until now.

June race-winner Ricky Rudd's Robert Yates Racing Ford and Jeff Gordon's Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet had dominated until after the two-thirds distance mark, but got dropped down the order in the later pitstop sequences.

With just a handful of laps to go on the 2.5-mile triangular track - more like three straights and three corners, rather than a classic tri-oval - Little E was at the head of the pack in his DEI Chevy. But Labonte hunted him down and passed for the lead with a decisive move into the bumpy Tunnel Turn on the penultimate lap.

"Our car was great all day on long runs," said the Corpus Christi native. "We've had a tough season, but yesterday our car kept getting better and better.

"It finally feels like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel," he quipped.

Earnhardt hung on for second, with Labonte's team mate Tony Stewart in third, ahead of the Dodge of Bill Elliott.

Johnny Benson made it three Pontiacs in the top five, finishing ahead of the Fords of Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin in sixth and seventh.

Gordon finished the day in eighth, with Rudd fading to 11th as the traffic proved a little too intense to set about reeling off. In the points battle, however, it was good news for both drivers, for Dale Jarrett's Yates Ford crashed out of the race after a fracas with lapped traffic.

Jarrett had headed to Pennsylvania equal on points with Gordon, but the result leaves the triple champ back in sole command of the points lead and 45 ahead of Rudd, who pushes his team mate into third overall.

For Labonte, the win consolidates eighth overall in the standings. But with 16 races still to go, anything is theoretically possible.

Next weekend is the second biggest race on the Winston Cup schedule, the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis. Ford has ruled the roost in testing, so watch out for a push for the points lead from Rudd and Jarrett.

For full race results, click here.