Burton Outlasts Labonte

The longest race on NASCAR’s Winston Cup circuit presents handling problems for most drivers. Don’t include Jeff Burton in that category.

Equally strong before the sun went down and after darkness fell, Burton powered his way to victory in the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday night at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C.

Winning for the third time this year and the eighth in his career, Burton wound up about 10 car-lengths ahead of Bobby Labonte. Mark Martin was third and Tony Stewart fourth, successfully completing his odyssey of driving the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day.

Stewart, however, paid a price, driving most of the last half of the 600 while battling an upset stomach, and was wheeled on a gurney to the infield care center. He battled Labonte for the lead as late as 100 laps from the end, but was unable to contend in the closing segment.

“I think he’s OK. He just needs some fluids,” said Joe Gibbs, who owns the cars of both Stewart and Labonte.

Later, Stewart said he wouldn’t attempt the double next year. “As much fun as I had today, it wasn’t fair to these guys to give them 90% for the last few laps,” Stewart said.

The 400-lap, 600-mile race usually confounds many teams because the track conditions change dramatically. Burton, however, started second and led 49 of the first 64 laps while sunshine and 82-degree temperatures kept the track warm. Burton’s Ford Taurus stayed strong as the sun gave way to a full moon and the track cooled. He wound up leading nine times for a race-high 197 laps on a night when several prominent drivers had problems.

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Mika Hakkinen won the Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona, leading nearly all the way over McLaren-Mercedes teammate David Coulthard to close the gap in the drivers’ season standings.

Michael Schumacher was third, followed by Ferrari teammate Eddie Irvine in the 65-lap race over the 2.94-mile Circuit de Catalunya north of Barcelona. Hakkinen won by 6.2 seconds over Coulthard with Schumacher 10.8 behind the winner.

It was the second victory of the season for Hakkinen, 11th of his career.

After five races he trails Schumacher by six points, 30-24.

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An attorney for the family of one of three spectators killed during a race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway has filed a lawsuit against the track’s owners, the Indy Racing League and track President H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler.

The lawsuit, filed by the attorney representing the estate of Dexter Mobley, 41, claims the defendants contributed to the deaths by allowing Indy cars to race on the high-banked, 1 1/2-mile oval, and by failing to erect higher catch fences around the track, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.