Bobby Labonte wins again at Atlanta

Monday, March 9, 1998 | 1:27 a.m.

Labonte gave Pontiac its first victory of the 1998 season, coming on strong late in the 325-mile race on the 1.54-mile oval. He passed the Ford of defending race winner Dale Jarrett on lap 279 and led the rest of the way.

"We were struggling a little there," said Labonte, who led only the last 47 laps. "We couldn't get it balance up real good, but the guys kept working on it and it was great at the end."

Jarrett, whose brother-in-law, Jimmy Makar, is Labonte's crew chief at Joe Gibbs Racing, said: "When he got by me, I got caught in a little traffic and there wasn't any chasing him down. He could maneuver through the traffic better than anybody. They played their cards just right."

The younger of the two racing Labonte's won the last two season-ending races at Atlanta Motor Speedway. This latest victory made him the first driver to win consecutive events at this track since Dale Earnhardt won in the fall of 1995 and the following spring.

The winner averaged 139.501 mph and earned $106,800 for his sixth career victory.

Labonte won under a yellow flag. Jeff Burton, who was running third, brought out the last of seven caution flags when his right rear tire blew as the leader was about to start the last lap.

Burton brought the biggest cheer of the day from the shivering crowd of about 40,000 - perhaps a third of the crowd that would have turned out Sunday - when he was able to drive slowly to the finish with flames shooting from beneath his Ford.

Despite NASCAR's latest rule change, slicing a quarter-inch off the rear spoilers of the Fords last week to slow the new Tauruses, Labonte was the only driver able to keep it from being a Ford sweep.

At Las Vegas on March 1, Fords took the top seven spots and 13 of the top 14. Monday, eight Tauruses followed Labonte's Grand Prix across the finish line.

Behind second-place Jarrett were Jeremy Mayfield, series points leader Rusty Wallace, rookie Kenny Irwin Jr., Dick Trickle, Kenny Wallace, Burton and Johnny Benson, the first car a lap down.

Front-row starter Todd Bodine was 10th in a Pontiac, followed by the Ford of Bill Elliott and the Chevrolets of Terry Labonte and Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt.

Defending series champion Jeff Gordon, driving a Chevy, was never a factor and wound up 19th after making an unscheduled tire stop late in the race.

There were two single-car crashes, both apparently the result of blown tires. Mike Skinner sustained a concussion and was being kept overnight for observation at Georgia Baptist Hospital. Derrike Cope bruised his chest and was taken to the same hospital for X-rays.

Wallace leads teammate Jeremy Mayfield in the Winston Cup standings by 49 points after the first four races of the season. Earnhardt, who came into the race trailing by 56, slipped to third, 87 behind.

Labonte jumped from 13th to sixth in the standings, 140 behind Wallace.

The race, which was rained out on Sunday, started about 30 minutes late because of a wet track and was slowed twice by light showers.