Tom Kristensen and Rinaldo Capello headed an Audi one-two-three in the American Le Mans Series at Trois Rivieres in Canada.

The 46-year-old passed fellow veteran Rusty Wallace 11 laps from the end and then defended his lead on a restart.

The victory, in the second biggest Nascar race of the season after the Daytona 500, underlines the rejuvenation of Elliott's career.

The former Nascar Winston Cup champion has clawed his was back to competitiveness since joining Ray Evernham's team.

Elliott had the dominant car all day but found himself fifth after the final pit stop by the leaders on lap 130.

The green flag came out again on lap 134 of the 160-lap event.

Elliott was third by lap 137, took second from Tony pole-winner Stewart on lap 139, and quickly chased down Wallace, another former Nascar champion.

It took Elliott some time to set up Wallace's Ford for the pass, but finally pulled it off with ease coming off turn two on lap 149.

Despite another caution, he eased away to win by 1.269 seconds - about 15 car lengths.

Matt Kensetth finished third, followed by rookie Ryan Newman, Kevin Harvick and three-time Brickyard winner Jeff Gordon, who never led in the 400-lap race.

Elliott was a struggling driver-owner when Evernham bought out his team and hired the driver from Dawsonville, Georgia.

Elliott responded by finishing 15th in the 2001 season points and ending a 226-race winless streak late in the year.

Elliott said: "Man, Rusty was tough. I kept working on him and working on him and I finally got close enough to stick my nose under him and get by.

"I look back and feel like I've had a second chance at life. Every bit of the struggles and trials and tribulations I went through in the '90s, I'm glad I stuck through it."

A late-race pit-stop for tyres secured victory for Tom Kristensen and Rinaldo Capello in the American Le Mans Series race at Trois Rivieres in Quebec.

Italian Capello decided to change tyres as well as add fuel during a pit stop in what turned out to be the final caution period of the three-hour race.

That enabled him to catch and pass the leading Audi of Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro when they returned to the track.

It was an impressive win from 20th on the grid after the pair had been unable to post a fast lap in qualifying.

The win extended Dan Kristensen's series lead and returned Audi to the winners' rostrum after being beaten by Panoz drivers David Brabham and Jan Magnussen in Washington two weeks ago.

The third Audi of Johnny Herbert and Stefan Johansson was third after an early accident dented his hopes victory.

Herbert damaged bodywork early on when he tangled with Steve Knight's MG.

He was forced to pit for repairs, but responded in style and had got his team back into contention before Johansson was handed a stop-go penalty, losing the car a lap.