Labonte Comes Through for Allison Family in IROC

BROOKLYN, Mich. —  The late Davey Allison was declared winner of the Dodge International Race of Champions when replacement driver Terry Labonte finished sixth Saturday at Michigan International Speedway in the fourth and final race of the 1993 series.

The prize money of $175,000 will be presented to the Children of Davey Allison trust fund.

Allison, who died July 13 after crashing the previous day while piloting a helicopter at Talladega, Ala., was the IROC points leader going into the Michigan race. He had finished second to Bill Elliott at Daytona, won at Darlington, S.C., and was sixth at Talladega on May 1.

“I was glad to win this one for Davey,” said Labonte, a former Winston Cup champion. “He was just a great guy and a tough, tough competitor.”

Labonte, who started 11th and last, moved up to eighth midway through the race before passing Ricky Rudd and Arie Luyendyk in the final laps to claim sixth place.

“I knew the whole Allison family and it’s a real honor to win it for them,” Labonte said. “I don’t like the circumstances for being invited, but it worked out good.”

Al Unser Jr., who would have won his third IROC title if he had finished second, wound up third behind out-of-work sports car driver Geoff Brabham, the winner, and Elliott.

Brabham was left without a job when Nissan withdrew from the International Motor Sports Assn.’s Camel GT series, although he joined the Peugeot team for one race and helped drive its car to victory in the 24 Hours of LeMans.

Brabham, in his fifth year with IROC, won race No. 3 here last year. Saturday, he averaged 159.017 m.p.h. for the 100 miles and won by .410 seconds over Elliott.

Winston Cup leader Dale Earnhardt, who has filled in for the late Alan Kulwicki since the 1992 stock car champion was killed last April 2 in an airplane crash in Tennessee, finished fifth after leading most of the race. Earnhardt led three times for 36 laps.

All drove identically prepared Dodge Daytonas.