#4-Mike Wallace was leading and took the white flag with #44-Justin Labonte close behind. But as Wallace entered Turn 1, he suddenly slowed. Labonte and then #22-Jason Keller quickly raced past him. Wallace was out of gas. And Labonte was in Victory Lane. Labonte, 23, finished .419 seconds ahead of Keller to win Saturday’s wild Twister 300 at Chicagoland Speedway, his first NASCAR Busch Series victory in 31 starts. His previous best series finish was 14th in 1999 at Myrtle Beach, S.C. The finish left members of both Labonte and Wallace’s teams stunned on pit road. Labonte, the son of two-time Nextel Cup champion Terry Labonte, took a cue from his father and instead of a more traditional burnout, stopped his #44 Coast Guard Dodge at the start/finish line, took the checkered flag from flagman, and drove it around the track. Keller finished second, followed by #9-Jeff Burton, #38-Kasey Kahne and #46-Ashton Lewis Jr.. Series points leader #8-Martin Truex Jr. finished 14th and holds a 52-point lead over rookie #5-Kyle Busch. The race was slowed eight times by caution for 35 laps. There were 19 lead changes among 10 drivers. The lead was the most for a stock car race at the track. The pole sitter, #25-Bobby Hamilton Jr., lost an engine 8 laps into the race and finished dead last.(Thatsracin.com)
Race results at:
ThatsRacin.com
BGNRacing.com
MotorsportsOne
NASCAR.com.(7-10-2004)
