Bobby Labonte took it upon himself today to show that with Pontiac, wider might be better, but “longer is stronger”! With late race pit strategy shuffling the field and making the last run a typical Pocono “is there enough fuel” run. Some took tires, some just gas and some stayed out. The Interstate Battery team of Labonte’s knew a long run was in their favor so they waited out the last chance to “top off” and raced Dale Earnhardt, Jr. for the win. As laps wound down the Pontiac “wound up” and slipped by Junior for his first win of his championship season.

“Now Let’s Go Racing!!!”

I have to start with a quick “attaboy” to Todd Bodine. He put his #66 car on the pole for the second time in 3 races. Now this is the car that Ol’ DW had to use so many provisionals to get into a race that they had to change the provisional rule. For those of you who still hold out with hopes of the “long time with no wins” old veteran winning again, remember, the best pass their prime. There comes a time…
Oops, where was I… Oh yeah, so Todd Bodine started on the pole with the #66 and even led a few laps before Elliott Sadler got loose in turn 3 and Mike Waltrip punted him from behind. Buckshot Jones got loose trying to get slowed and ended up sliding into Sadler before the yellow flag flew for caution #1 at lap 3. Ricky Rudd, who started outside front row took the lead from Bodine as they came around to take the yellow. At lap 5 the green flag found Rudd leading followed by Bodine, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Kenny Schrader. Rudd was able to hold on for a few laps but Jeff Gordon was coming on strong and showing he was going to throw the gauntlet down to Jarrett and challenge him to an all out battle for the championship.

By lap 11 Gordon TOOK the lead from Rudd and then totally dominated the race. I was ready to start writing up the race report at lap 20 because it was a sure thing that the Dupont car was going to do some “rompin’ and stompin’” today. From lap 11 on it was ALL Jeff Gordon. Green flag pit stops at lap 35-40 let a few other cars lead; Martin led for 4 and Jeff Burton and Dale Jarrett each led one. But by lap 42 it was Gordon back out front and the rest of the field praying for a plume of smoke from that #24. Nobody was going to outrun him today. A second caution at lap 70 for a clean up of the Terry Labonte #5, who either blew up according to early reports of “oil on the track”, or else ran out of gas as later reports had us believing, let Gordon stop and gas up. He was suffering gas mileage problems (or gas gauge) and his teammate’s “demise” was very convenient for him. This time Ricky Rudd got back out first but it only took Jeff 1 green flag lap to get back out front.

A second round of green flag stops at lap105 let Bobby Labonte get a taste of the short lived lead, followed by Junior and Matt Kenseth before Gordon resumed clobbering the field upon their pit stops. With no chance to run all the way on only 1 more stop the Dupont team decided to short pit, stopping for gas after only 28 laps and getting fresh tires for a run until their final green flag stop. Other cars began to stop and when a yellow came out on lap 144 for Kyle Petty’s slow car on the track the field took a big shake up due to some drivers having not pitted yet. Jeff was forced to stay out so that he wouldn’t get caught up in traffic while most others pitted.

When the green flew at lap 147 it was Gordon once more out front (seems like he was all day) followed by Bill Elliott (yes WW, that Bill) second, then Rudd, Ward Burton and Tony Stewart showing up near the front. Bill slipped by Gordon to lead the next lap but Gordon took it right back. At lap 151 before Jeff could pull away and dominate once more Ward Burton, in 4th was pinched high by Stacy Compton who got loose. Jeff Burton, close behind brother Ward, smashed into the rear of Ward and spun both. Their cars quickly collected Kevin Lepage, a lap down but up front after the restart and Dale Jarrett, who took a serious setback in his race for the championship. The field remained Gordon, Elliott, Rudd, Labonte and Stewart when the race resumed at lap 155 but this time they only got to lap 159 when DJ’s hastily repaired car lost a tire and slammed the wall, ending his day.

Since the restart was sure to come with less than 40 laps everybody decided to pit and refill for the end run. Jimmy Spencer and Johnny Benson remained out, sure they couldn’t run the rest of the race without another stop but the rest of the cars stopped for a full tank. In a questionable move, Gordon took on 4 tires and returned to the track in 23rd spot with only 40 laps to run. In a race that was showing position to be very important this move only proved to be a good one when a rear tire was found to be down on pressure after the stop. But mired that far back in traffic it was the end of the day for the Jeff Gordon Show. Spencer made a late yellow dive down pit road to fill up but Benson remained out to take the green at lap 162 followed by Junior, Elliott, Stewart and Labonte.

The cars managed to run 9 more laps before Kurt Busch lost a tire on the track and the final yellow flew at lap 171, right after Junior took the lead from Benson’s faltering car. All of the front-runners remained on the track to hold track position and with 29 laps to go the Pontiacs of Tony Stewart and Bobby Labonte were sitting in 3rd and 4th, knowing they only got stronger the longer they ran. Junior jumped out to grab a quick 2 ½ second lead while the other cars battled for spots. By lap 180 Labonte had slipped by Stewart and Benson and was setting his sites on the #8 Budweiser car. The laps wound down and as Junior began to slow with tire wear Labonte was able to remain more consistent and slowly close the gap. Junior did all he could but Bobby was too strong in the long run and passed the #8 at lap 198. Pulling away, Labonte took the checkers for win #1 of the 2001 season and proved “longer is stronger” for Pontiac.

Kudos go out to Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (2nd) who wished the race was 2 laps shorter, Tony Stewart (3rd) who was closing for 2nd but still got Gibbs Racing a 1-3 finish, Bill Elliott (4th) who I had to look up how to spell his name since it’s been so long since I sent him a kudo, Johnny Benson (5th) who’s getting warmed up for that return to Dover in September and his first win, Rusty Wallace (6th) who had a 6th place car all day, Mark Martin (7th) holding out for a top 10, Jeff Gordon (8th) who just got lost in the last few shuffles of the race, Robert Pressley (9th) who continues to have great runs and is this seasons “big surprise” so far, and Ricky Craven (10th) the “has-been” that keeps telling the unbelievers “I’m not quite dead!”. A special attaboy goes to Dale Jarrett who despite taking a big whack in the points today gave a truly amazing interview when that reporter shoved the mike in his face. I’d have been ready to smack his tape recorder under the nearest truck. But the Big Yahoo goes out to Bobby Labonte and the whole Gibbs/Interstate team. Great job today champs!

Next week we’re off to Indy and the Brickyard 400. Look for all the crying and whining about the rule change in this week’s “Notes & Quotes” found on my front page. And leave your opinion on the message board at: Stooge’s Racing Forum. Until then:

Keep The Shiny Side Up!

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