Texas Terry Wins at TMS
Terry Labonte was able to claim his first win in his home state of Texas by taking the checkered flag for the Primestar 500. Labonte used a daring move on lap 323 to get around leader Dale Jarrett, passing Jarrett on the outside and ducking under the lapped car of Chad Little to take the lead. Labonte would hold off Jarrett to take the 21st win of his career.

Jarrett said of the pass, "We kept pushing more and more as we would get some laps on the tires, but I still thought that maybe if I could use up enough race track I could keep Terry behind me, but the lapped cars were wanting to stay on the lead lap, I guess. As I caught one of them in three and four, my car pushed up as I tried to get back in the throttle and that hurt me then. Terry just got up high and got a run to the outside and there was nothing I could do after that. "

The race would end under caution, three laps short of the finish, when Jimmy Spencer and Robert Pressley were involved in an accident, to give Labonte a win before the home crowd.

“Terry has been wanting to win the Daytona 500 for awhile, but I think we got him the second most meaningful race for him today. This is his home state, and this race meant a lot to him. It’s good to get the first win of the year under our belts. It feels real good to be back," said Labonte's crew chief Andy Graves.

Labonte led the most laps, staying out front for 124 of the race's 334 laps.

“This is a great win for us today here in Texas. Our car was awesome all day long. I knew when we started the race we had an awful good car. We kept adjusting on it a little bit all day long. It was a great run for us. It’s real important for me (to win at Texas Motor Speedway) because I’ve got a lot of friends here and a lot of relatives, so it meant a lot to me. I know when we come down to Texas that Bobby and I have a lot of fans and we like to run good here," said Labonte.

Terry's brother Bobby Labonte, drove the full 334 laps with a broken right shoulder and finished third. The Labonte brothers have both now finished in the top ten in all three races at the Texas Motor Speedway.

“We came down here the first time and finished third. I think we were sixth last year. I know we put a lot of effort into this. We came down and tested and brought two cars and went home and talked about it and brought a different car back, but I know Bobby’s team put a lot of effort into this race, too," Labonte said.

Today's race featured many hard crashes, most all were caused by right front tire problems. Jeff Gordon hit the wall hard on lap 68 and had his second DNF of the season.

“All the X-rays they took, they said no broken bones, but the doctor told him he was going to be sore. He’s a pretty tough kid, tougher than people think," said crew chief Ray Evernham.

Mike Skinner hit in about the same place Gordon did on lap 124, preliminary indications are that he has a broken shoulder.

Skinner said, "The car was running great and then, all of a sudden, we were into the wall. This is nothing like last year, though. I’m not all woozy like I was then. The doctor (Dr. Rob Genzel, medical director of Texas Motor Speedway) said that he couldn’t be sure if I fractured my right shoulder exactly where I did last year or if it’s just bruised. It hurts but nothing like last year. I’m like a motorcycle rider. I’m learning how to crash."

Mark Martin hit the wall while leading the race on lap 215 when the right front tire went down.
"Just one of those ol' race tracks that's mean on tires. I've been involved with Goodyear on developing a tire, testing the original tire for the original track. This place is just a tough nut," said Martin.

With a seventh place finish, Jeff Burton continues to hold on to the Winston Cup point lead, but barely. Burton now holds a two point lead over second place Bobby Labonte.