Labonte wins Darlington marathon.

In what has been described as one of the most bizarre races in Winston Cup history, points leader Bobby Labonte came from 37th on the grid to win a rain shortened race.

There were a total of three rain delays, which were responsible for the inordinately long race time, and when the weather gods finally got their way after 328 of the scheduled 367 laps it was Labonte who had been in front.

The first rain delay occurred after just 36 laps and lasted for more than two hours while the second, shorter stoppage came after 207 tours. With skies continuing to threaten the race was a team managers nightmare as a wrong pit call could ruin the race for you.

With pit strategies varying almost from lap to lap, this strange event not only saw some great fighting for the lead but also a variety of different leaders leaving the race wide open all day long.

Pole position holder Jeremy Mayfield took the lead in the early going and was rarely headed in the opening 100 laps, the only other driver to lead for any length of time during that period was Dave Marcis who rekindled memories of his classic 1982 victory at Richmond by staying out behind the pace car in the rain while others pitted.

Once the race was underway again Marcis was soon overhauled but still played an integral part of the race when he failed to see Mayfield approaching on lap 120 trying to put the #71 Realtree Chevrolet driver a lap down. The two collided and while Marcis was able to gather his car together, Mayfield was headed for the wall and another early bath.

With Mayfield gone, the race developed a new pattern and the long suffering Darlington crowd were treated to a great battle for the lead involving Burton brothers Jeff and Ward, Dale's Jarrett and Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon and the impressive Jimmy Spencer. Labonte meanwhile was still fully acclimatising himself with his secondary car, which wasn't set-up as well as his primary machine that he crashed on Friday. Despite this, the Interstate Batteries driver slowly moved up through the field and was on the brink of the top ten when rain interrupted once again on lap 207 the points leader was well placed to pounce.

The second rain delay was a prime example of the situation that the NASCAR teams were faced with as drivers needed to make a pit stop but were afraid to do so in case officials called the race.

As the field continued to circulate behind the pace car, all but Earnhardt and Jarrett pitted and for a while it looked as though they may have made the correct gamble. However when it became clear that the rain was going to stop and that racing would continue, both Dale's were forced into the pits and had to make their fight back from the rear of the field.

That left Ward Burton in front and the winner of the Mall.com 400 at the track back in March held off a closely following pack that included his younger brother, Gordon, Labonte and Spencer. When Spencer was eliminated from proceedings in a crash on lap 304, the #22 Caterpillar driver was still ahead but with pit-stops, and dark clouds looming large on the horizon it was clear that this one was far from over.

With Burton leading a six car train for the lead on lap 315, Jerry Nadeau's Michael Holigan sponsored Chevrolet expired on the back stretch. The caution was thrown and the leaders all made their way down pit road, everyone knew that this was the most crucial stop of the race. While Ward struggled with his stop, Labonte's Joe Gibbs crew produced a piece of pure magic and had the car turned around in almost record time. A cheer from those fans brave enough to still be in the grandstands erupted as Labonte and Jeff Burton ran almost side-by-side down pit lane and it was the bright green machine that got out with a nose ahead.

Burton lined up in second place with the recovering Earnhardt in third and Gordon fourth. Jarrett's Robert Yates crew also produced a lightning fast stop to emerge in fifth place while Ward was relegated to sixth.

Somebody must have been smiling on Bobby Labonte on Sunday for as the leaders resumed their position behind the pace car, the heavens opened and the circuit was thoroughly drenched. With darkness approaching, officials had no choice but to call this incredible race after 328 laps.

"I don't think I've had a more emotional day," said Labonte who now moves 111 points ahead of Jarrett in the title chase. "We got in only a couple of laps in the primary car, but we worked on the backup car and worked on it for the race. It was good, but it wasn't as good as the primary car."

The success was Labonte's first ever at Darlington but in truth the race could have easily gone to any one of at least half a dozen drivers. In fact, such was the nature of the event that over a quarter of the field led the race at some point, making it one of the most open races of the year with third placed man Earnhardt summing it up most succinctly.

The Intimidator has seen almost everything there is to see in NASCAR racing in his 25 years in the sport but even he was amazed by the events that unfolded on Sunday. "It was a weird day, starting and stopping and not sure if it was going to rain or not rain, do you pit or don't you pit. We just had to fight through it."

Behind Burton in seventh place was the FamilyClick.com Ford of Kevin Lepage while Ricky Rudd, Tony Stewart and Steve Park rounded out the top ten. Dale Earnhardt Jr was the best-placed rookie in eleventh place while Marcis finished a strong 23rd on a day when he led his first laps of the year.

Despite the interruptions, Darlington played true to form and its reputation as a car breaker is still firmly intact. Of the 43 starters only 28 were left running competitively at the end and amongst those who failed to make the finish were Rusty Wallace and front row man Johnny Benson who both crashed and Matt Kenseth who recorded one of his worst results of the season to date with a 33rd place finish.

The NASCAR circus has less than a week to prepare for the next round of the series at the three quarter mile Richmond oval and with the American weather in such a fickle mood, anything can happen.