Jarrett Gets the Breaks in Victory

When it’s your day, even the accidents go your way.

Dale Jarrett got some help on the way to winning Sunday’s UAW-GM Quality 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., first when Bobby Labonte, driving a Pontiac for owner Joe Gibbs, spun on an oily track, then when a wedge of rubber used to adjust his car’s suspension fell out.

After that, Jarrett’s Robert Yates Racing Ford challenged and eventually passed Labonte.

“We talked about taking the spring rubber in the left front out and we forgot to do it,” Jarrett said. “So God got it out of there for us. It fell out on a pit stop.”

Even then, Jarrett was surprised he outran Labonte so easily. He crossed the finish line 4.142 seconds ahead, about half a straightaway on the 1.5-mile oval.

Jarrett, third in the season points, didn’t gain much on second-place Mark Martin or leader Jeff Gordon with his victory as those two finished fourth and fifth in the race. Gordon, who came in leading Martin by 135 points and Jarrett by 222, now leads the runner-up by 125 and Jarrett by 197.

But Jarrett at least kept his title hopes alive with a career-high sixth victory of the season and 14th overall.

Jarrett, who earned $130,000, averaged 144.323 mph in the race slowed by only four caution flags for a total of 33 laps.

Jarrett led five times for 85 laps, including the last 58.

Dale Earnhardt, driving a Chevrolet, was third after two consecutive second-place finishes.

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Jim Head, John Force and Jim Yates won finals at the 10th Pennzoil Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park in Millington, Tenn.

Head, with stellar starting-line reaction times, took the top fuel final with a 4.677-second run at 308.53 mph in the Close Call Phone Car dragster to Dixon’s quicker 4.671 at 312.17.

Force, setting a funny car national speed record of 314.35 mph, claimed his fifth victory, and Yates earned his seventh victory in the pro stock.

Force, of Yorba Linda, also collected his third consecutive victory and moved closer to his seventh Winston funny car championship this decade.

Force used a 5.172-second run at 296.34 mph in his Ford to defeat Cruz Pedregon.

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Butch Gilliland of Anaheim earned his fourth NASCAR Winston West Series victory of the season by winning the Fry’s Electronic/Iomega Zip 100 at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma.

Gilliland, who won $15,700, extended his lead in the NASCAR Winston West Series championship standings. He has 1,925 points with Sean Woodside of Saugus second at 1,851.

Woodside finished second in the race, followed by Jay Sauter.

In the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Sears Point, Joe Ruttman took the lead after a late-race crash by leader Dave Rezendes, then withstood a furious, single-lap challenge from Tom Hubert for his third victory of the season.

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Doug Chandler won his third MBNA Superbike championship by driving his Kawasaki to a cautious eighth-place finish in the series’ final race of the year at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Mat Mladin of Australia was the event’s winner with record average speed of 90.154 mph on the 2.5-mile infield course.