Bobby Labonte passed Tony Stewart in the final turn of the final lap to win the Aaron’s 312 NASCAR Busch Series race at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday.
The victory was Labonte’s first of any kind since winning a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway in April 2005, and his first Busch Series victory since 1998.
Labonte won the race by using an old-fashioned slingshot move coming off Turn 4 to pass Stewart, his former NASCAR NEXTEL Cup teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing. Labonte hugged the rear of Stewart’s car through Turn 4, then moved past Stewart on the outside and beat him to the finish line by .052 seconds (approximately one car length).
“Coming down through the tri-oval, I thought, ‘Well, I could push Tony to the win or I could try it myself,’ ” Labonte said. “I went to the right side, and it just slowed him down. I went to the right and I’m like, ‘Dude, that was a good move.’ ”