Stewart/Labonte share Homestead glory.

Tony Stewart claimed his second successive Homestead victory in an intense battle at the 1.5-mile track but the day belonged to Bobby Labonte who clinched his first Winston Cup title with a fine fourth place.

Joe Gibbs was a very happy man on Sunday afternoon in Miami as both his cars took victory in the Pennzoil 400. Tony Stewart won the 267 lap race on the track and Bobby Labonte took victory in the season long quest for the Winston Cup title as he drove the #18 Interstate Batteries Pontiac to a fourth place finish in a gruelling battle at the Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Stewart claimed his sixth win of the season and his victory total can now not be matched by anyone else with just one round to go in this year's Winston Cup Championship.

The driver of the #20 Home Depot Pontiac survived a number of early race caution periods, which accounted for eight drivers within the first 100 laps and then stretched the field as the second half of the race ran virtually caution free.

However it wasn't all plain sailing for Stewart who had to fend off a stiff challenge from Jeremy Mayfield and Mark Martin in the closing stages but he had just enough to keep his pursuers at bay and take preserve his perfect record in Winston Cup competition at the Florida circuit.

The Indiana driver took a sizable chunk out of Dale Jarrett's 113 point advantage over him in the points chase as both he, Jarrett and Ricky Rudd battle for fourth place overall in the standings in what was the most successful day in the Joe Gibbs team's history.

Mayfield hit another boom in his 'boom' and 'bust' year and came home behind Stewart for just his sixth top five result of what has been a hugely disappointing year for the fiery driver while Martin took his second top three slot of the weekend after Jeff Gordon beat him into second place in yesterday's Busch Grand National event.

Martin gained some valuable ground on Rusty Wallace in the standings as the pair battle for seventh in points but the real points story was resolved a little way behind the leading trio as Bobby Labonte came home to open the Championship door that he has been knocking on for several years.

With Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Burton both starting well down the order, Labonte did exactly what was required of him and conserved his machinery en-route to fourth position in a race where only six cars remained on the lead lap such was the pace of the leaders.

With overtaking on the almost flat circuit not at a premium, Labonte kept himself within sight of the leaders all day and well away from the carnage that depleted the field in the early stages and kept himself ahead of Jimmy Spencer and Ricky Rudd as the race drew to a close to confirm his status as the Winston Cup Champion.

Brother Terry was on hand for the celebrations despite only coming home 25th, a full three laps down on Stewart and the Labonte's become the first set of brothers to win a Winston Cup title.

The task of charging through the field from respective starting positions of 31st and 37th proved too much for Burton and Earnhardt who saw their faint title hopes finally evaporate in a race where the luck that both needed to take the title fight down to the wire in Atlanta next Sunday just didn't materialise. Burton was two laps down in eleventh and is now second in the standings after a fighting drive while Earnhardt was a distant 20th, three laps down and never looking truly comfortable with his set-up.

Jeff Gordon was the first lapped runner home in seventh place while Steve Park, Dave Blaney and Casey Atwood completed the top ten. Blaney continued his late season run with his second consecutive top ten result while the 20 year old Atwood recorded his and Ray Evernham's first top ten result as a team-owner in the Motorola Ford after a highly impressive run, albeit two laps down on the winner.

Rusty Wallace could only manage a 15th place result while Jarrett was 17th on a day where very few people could hold a candle to the electric Stewart.

A spate of early caution periods accounted for Scott Pruett and Andy Houston on lap 23 to complete a miserable day for team boss Cal Wells who saw his two cars finish 42nd and 43rd while another multi car pile up on lap 31 saw Ward Burton, Mike Bliss and Geoffrey Bodine exit stage left. Before the race had reached the 100-lap mark, John Andretti, Darrell Waltrip and Stacy Compton had all joined the other five on the sidelines but after Waltrip departed the scene on lap 94 of his penultimate Winston Cup event, the race ran cleanly to the end.