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The Race Report.
Steve Park finally ended NASCAR's longest and most difficult week in years by winning the Dura Lube 400 at the North Carolina Speedway. Round two of the 36-race season began on Sunday, was quickly stopped by rain, then ended on a bright, warm and emotional Monday afternoon.
Park, the outside pole-sitter in a Chevrolet, led 171 of the 393 laps, including the final 40. He won by two car-lengths over the Pontiac of Bobby Labonte, then the Chevy of Jeff Gordon, the Pontiac of Tony Stewart and the Ford of Ricky Craven. The back-five: Johnny Benson in a Pontiac, points-leader Rusty Wallace in a Ford, Sterling Marlin and Dave Blaney in Dodges, and the Ford of Dale Jarrett.
"This is a dream finish," said Park, who deftly blocked Labonte's high-side, last-lap bid after Labonte had come from fourth to second in the final 20 laps. "I did what Dale Earnhardt would have wanted me to do. I had some tears toward the end until I wiped my nose and got up on the wheel. Dale's gone, but he's surely not forgotten."
The ...