Talladega IROC: Labonte beats Brack

Labonte took the lead coming off the fourth turn heading to the white flag when he passed David Green. Labonte was able to stay ahead of a charging Kenny Brack from CART and Buddy Lazier from the Indy Racing League. Brack is the 1999 Indianapolis 500 winner and Lazier won the Indy 500 in 1996.

The final race to the chequered flag was set up when NASCAR's Dale Jarrett crashed in the fourth turn wall with three laps to go. Lazier also spun across the tri-oval grass, but caution flag laps do not count in IROC and he was able to maintain his position on the restart.

When the green flag waved, Brack pushed Green into the lead with three to go, but Labonte was able to make the race-winning pass off turn 4, lead the final lap and win the race.

"I think with about 12 or 15 laps to go, I got shuffled back when I tried to get by Dale Jarrett," Labonte said. "I went all the way to the back and that might have been the deciding factor. Jeff Burton and I were passing cars pretty good on our way back to the front. When they had that yellow flag for the accident, I was running third and I knew I would be inside of the second row, which is a good place to be.

"When they had the restart with three to go, I got a push from Eddie Cheever and went by Jeff Green. With that many laps to go, I was in the right place at the right time on the restart. I got by Jeff Green and that was that."

NASCAR's Ricky Rudd was fourth, followed by Eddie Cheever of the IRL. Labonte was able to win his second straight IROC race at Talladega.

Brack's second place finish helped boost the CART driver in the IROC standings to second, five points behind Labonte.

"It was an interesting race, kind of wild," Brack said. "I thought I could catch Bobby at the end, but they were running two-wide and I couldn't get anybody to push me along. It got wild there for a while. I ran in the grass for two laps in a row. These NASCAR drivers really bang up each other. I think it was every man for themselves."

Race winner Labonte believes the CART and IRL drivers are getting better at driving a stock car in IROC.

"They are definitely getting better at it," Labonte said. "Kenny Brack was good at Daytona and Eddie Cheever has won a race in this series before and this was only Buddy's second race. The strategy is a little different, the chess game is a little different here than some other places, but for the most part, they have gotten better over the years.

"There was a cycle where some new guys got in that weren't as familiar with stock cars as guys like Al Unser Jr. But they are getting better."