Labonte wins Virginia 500

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Bobby Labonte isn't one for the bumping and banging that characterize short-track racing. So when the Pontiac driver found himself in prime position Sunday, he just had to drive.

On a day when Kevin Harvick wasn't allowed to race, the Virginia 500 NASCAR Winston Cup race still featured plenty of banging, and one near gift from Tony Stewart that Labonte turned into his 19th victory.

"I'm never going to push anybody out of the way like I've seen other guys do, so I figured if I was up front I probably had a better shot than being behind somebody," Labonte said of his first short-track victory.

Harvick's growing status as NASCAR's bad boy was solidified hours before the race, when the governing body made him the first driver barred from an event because of rough driving in the series' 54-year history.

Harvick's penalty came after he clashed several time with Coy Gibbs during the Advance Auto Parts 250 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race on Saturday.

Harvick's Richard Childress-owned Chevrolet was driven instead by fill-in Kenny Wallace, who spun out after 73 laps and wound up 32nd.

Despite the buzz about Harvick and the unprecedented penalty in the garage area before the race, the 500 laps went on in typical Martinsville fashion with most every car leaving the track with marked-up exteriors.

In all, there were 14 caution flags that slowed the pace for 104 laps, many caused by the nose-to-tail and side-by-side contact that typify short-track racing, and got Harvick in trouble with NASCAR officials.

The race even ended under a final-lap caution after a crash, allowing Labonte to cruise home in the glow of the pace car's flashing lights.

In all likelihood, he had Stewart to thank.

Stewart led the race until Stacy Compton and Johnny Benson got together, Benson spinning into the wall to bring out the 11th yellow flag.

Only 55 laps remained, but Stewart and Bobby Hamilton, who was running fourth, pitted to take on two new tires, giving Labonte the lead.

"I saw (Stewart) going in and I said, 'He might fake us out,' but he didn't. I thought, 'There's usually a lot of cautions here the last 60 some-odd laps and I'm better off just trying to stay out,"' Labonte said.

Labonte was right, as two more cautions flew before the final lap, all but depriving Stewart from getting his dominant car back to the front.

Labonte's crew chief, Jimmy Makar, said he loved his driver's call.

"Usually your driver wants four tires every time a caution comes out, so when he even mentioned the words 'staying out,' it was like a breath of fresh air to me," Makar said. "I was all over that really quick."

Stewart came back out 13th and rallied for third despite the late cautions and a duel between runnerup Matt Kenseth and Dale Jarrett that had them battling side-by-side, effectively blocking Stewart's progress.

"If he'd have stayed out, he probably would have won," Labonte said.

Stewart initially declined to comment after the race, then accepted partial blame for the costly decision to come in for the two tires.

Long Beach GP

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Michael Andretti extended his record as CART's career victory leader to 42 as he captured the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Andretti started 15th and was well back in the field until Team Motorola took a calculated gamble by keeping his Honda-powered Reynard on track while most of the leaders pitted on lap 33 of the 90-lap event.

He slipped back into the field when he pitted under green on lap 47, but took the top spot for good when leader Jimmy Vasser and the other front-runners made their final stops on lap 62.

Vasser finished second and Max Papis was third.

San Marino GP

IMOLA, Italy -- World champion Michael Schumacher led a 1-2 Ferrari finish to win the San Marino Grand Prix for his third victory in four races this season.

The German beat Brazilian teammate Rubens Barrichello by 17.9 seconds on Ferrari's home circuit for the 56th victory of his career.

Ralf Schumacher, Michael's younger brother, was third in a Williams BMW, 19.7 seconds behind the winner.

-- From wire reports