Bobby Labonte turned the tables on brother Terry in Sunday's DieHard 500, a race slowed by the kind of wild, multicar crash that has become a Talladega Superspeedway trademark.
Terry was leading a tight four-car pack as the 187th of 188 laps began on the 2.66-mile oval. But Bobby, who put himself in position for a shot at the win by passing Jeff Gordon for second place on lap 180, led a three-car train past his older brother's Chevrolet.The younger Labonte then held off a determined effort from Fords driven by Jimmy Spencer and Dale Jarrett to become the first Pontiac driver to win at Talladega since Richard Petty in 1983, and only the second in the track's history.
"I felt like once I got up front, I could stay there," Bobby Labonte said as he celebrated his second win of the season and the seventh of his career. "When you get a chance, you've got to hit it right."
The races at Talladega and Daytona, the two biggest and fastest tracks in the stock car sport, have been slowed since the late '80s by carburetor restrictor plates, which also tend to keep the field bunched dangerously close together most of the day.
The final shootout was minus some of the strongest cars in the field, thanks to a spectacular 20-car crash at the start of lap 142.
It was ignited near the front of the tightly bunched field when Ward Burton bumped the rear of Dale Earnhardt's car and sent it careening into Bill Elliott's Ford near the finish line. Both Earnhardt and Elliott slammed into the wall, with Elliott's car bouncing onto its roof and sliding toward the first turn in flames.
Behind them was an eerie scene, with smoke and debris filling the air as cars spun and collided all over the track and the tri-oval grass.
Elliott came away with a bruised sternum, and Earnhardt had second-degree burns to his face and neck. No other injuries were reported.
"Just about the same thing happened to Elliott that happened to me here in (July) '96," Earnhardt said. "It was a big wreck. The fire came off Elliott's car and singed my hair and burned my mustache a little bit."
The aching Elliott left the track immediately after being checked at the infield care center. He flew his private plane from the airport just behind the Talladega track to his home in Georgia, where he said he planned to see his family doctor.
The crash brought out a red flag, and the race was halted for 27 minutes while the track was cleared.
When the action resumed, Bobby Labonte was out front. But Terry, who was sixth on the restart, came forward quickly, shooting into the lead with the help of Hendrick Motorsports teammate Gordon on lap 166.
It didn't take long for Bobby to pass Gordon and set up the dramatic finish, which was a reversal of the race here last October when Terry held off his brother for the win.
This was the first win at Talladega for both Bobby Labonte and his Joe Gibbs Racing team.
Reminiscent of last spring, when the race went all the way without caution, this one got to lap 109 before a piece of metal debris on the backstretch prompted a yellow flag from NASCAR.
There was another harmless yellow on lap 129 when both Johnny Benson and Kenny Irwin blew engines and left oil on the track, but the only other caution came on the big wreck.
Bobby Labonte, who earned $141,870, averaged just 160.439 mph.
Rusty Wallace, who finished 12th, held onto his series lead, moving 36 points ahead of Penske teammate Jeremy Mayfield, who was 13th. Jarrett moved to third, one point behind Mayfield, while Gordon, the defending Winston Cup champion, slipped one spot to fourth, 73 points behind.