Labonte Wins Winston Cup Series

Fourth place on Sunday assured Bobby Labonte of first place in 2000.

Labonte clinched his first Winston Cup Series championship to overshadow a dominating performance by teammate Tony Stewart, who won the Pennzoil 400 for the second straight year.

"We had a great year, a great run," Labonte said. "It's pretty great to beat the guys we beat. It's just awesome."

Because Labonte led two laps, he needed only a sixth-place finish in the next-to-last race of the year to capture the title, which was worth $3 million.

"I was hoping it was going to happen, but you never know until it's over," Labonte said.

He started third and spent most of the day running fourth to eighth, often more than half a lap behind Stewart. But the steady performance was typical of Labonte, who earned his 18th top-five finish this year.

"It's a great day for Joe Gibbs Racing," said Stewart, who led for 166 of the 267 laps. "For Bobby to win the championship, I couldn't be prouder of him."

For the second year in a row, Stewart won the race but shared the applause. Dale Jarrett finished fifth at Homestead last year to clinch the Winston Cup Series title.

Labonte, who drives a Pontiac for Joe Gibbs Racing, finished second in last year's points standings.

He and Terry Labonte became the first brothers to win Winston Cup titles. Terry was the champion in 1984 and 1996.

"Just watching him sure helped a lot," Bobby Labonte said. With a laugh he added, "I'm still one behind."

Labonte's closest pursuer in the points standings, Dale Earnhardt, started 37th in the 43-car field Sunday and finished 20th.

Jeremy Mayfield finished second, 4.5 seconds behind Stewart, and Mark Martin was third. Polesitter Steve Park kept the lead for only nine laps and finished eighth.

Three-time NASCAR champion Darrell Waltrip struggled with handling problems, completed only 94 laps and finished 36th in the next-to-last race of his career.

Labonte led the 93rd lap after leader Stewart pitted for gas. But by the 100th lap, Stewart was back in front and Labonte had slipped to eighth place, a half lap behind the leader.

Pit stops by other drivers also put Labonte ahead on the 152nd lap. He then fell back to seventh but avoided heavy traffic most of the rest of the way.

Ricky Rudd, seeking his first victory in two years, twice took the lead coming out of the pits. Each time Stewart overtook Rudd, moving into first for the final time on the 219th lap.

Homestead's 1 1/2-mile, nearly flat oval makes passing difficult, and drivers spent most of the race strung out around the track, with little side-by-side racing.

There were two wrecks, the most serious occurring when Earnhardt tapped Ward Burton's Pontiac in the rear bumper to start a crash that involved four other cars.

The initial collision sent Burton into the wall on the back straightaway, and he was then hit by Geoffrey Bodine. Cars driven by Stacy Compton, Mike Bliss and Robert Pressley were also damaged, while Earnhardt kept running.

"Some of it was my fault," Burton said. "And probably some of it was Dale's fault."

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