Bush-league driving by some midpackers on a restart denied Terry Labonte a victory that by all rights was his by Bruce Newman Terry Labonte's strategic pit stop catapulted him past everybody except winner Jeff Gordon in a rain-shortened Food City 500. (Margin of victory: under caution) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 342 laps (500 scheduled) at 91.308 mph Terry Labonte, Chevrolet, 342 laps Mark Martin, Ford, 342 laps Dale Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 342 laps Rusty Wallace, Ford, 342 laps 1 hour, 59 minutes, 47 seconds; 5 flags, 37 laps run under caution Mark Martin 123.578 mph with point totals (and points earned this weekend) 1 Dale Jarrett 933 (150) 2 Dale Earnhardt 896 (160) 3 Ricky Rudd 852 (126) 4 Ricky Craven 836 (138) 5 Terry Labonte 819 (170) Back in the '50s, the drivers who brought stock car racing out of the North Carolina hill country—and out of the Tennessee hollows that surround Bristol International Raceway—hauled equal amounts of corn liquor and ass. They're mostly gone from NASCAR racing now, but a few veteran drivers still cling to the sport's outlaw traditions. Among the noblest of those is "stealing" a race by taking NASCAR's eminently pliable rules and bending them until what's left looks a lot like a car sitting in Victory Lane. Terry Labonte was trying to do just that when he dived into the pits for servicing moments before he expected—correctly, it turned out—NASCAR officials to red-flag the Food City 500 because of rain. Labonte had been in fifth place, nearly a lap behind race leader Jeff Gordon, when rain began to pour down. In his 19th NASCAR season and nearing the record for most consecutive starts, Labonte sensed an opportunity. "We were the last car on the lead lap, so we had nothing to lose," he explained. "We knew if the race went back to green, everybody would have to get tires." As Labonte was pitting, the rest of the field was lining up along the backstretch for what turned into a 33-minute rain delay. Sitting at the back of the long line, 324 laps into the 500-lap race, Labonte knew full well that when racing began again, the other cars on the lead lap would need to make pit stops, and then he would go flying past them into the lead. "We outsmarted them, and we should have come out leading the race," he said. But in reality Labonte was at the back of the line. When the race restarted, some midpack drivers were slow to get on the gas, leaving him stuck at the rear while the leaders sped off to make their pit stops. Jeff Gordon photograph by Don Grassman/CIA Gordon and Rusty Wallace were back out on the track before Labonte could even get to the start-finish line to take the lead. Labonte did inherit second place when Wallace rushed once again into the pits to top off his fuel tank, but there were only three more laps of racing before Darrell Waltrip crashed and sent fuel all over the track. When it started to rain again, the race was halted on Lap 342, this time for good, giving Gordon his third win of the year and second in a row. "We should have been over in Victory Lane drinking champagne," said Labonte's crew chief, Gary DeHart. Or corn liquor.