Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 - Terry Labonte Notes

LABONTE NINTH IN POINTS: Heading into the final four weeks of the season, Terry Labonte is on track to post his best finish in the point standings since he wound up ninth in 1998. The two-time champion is currently in ninth place, 90 points ahead of Bill Elliott. Since slipping to 31st in the standings following the Texas Motor Speedway race in March, Labonte has gained 22 positions. The only driver with a bigger improvement over the same period is Elliott, who has advanced 23 spots.

IMPROVED QUALIFYING FOR NO. 5 TEAM: One of Kellogg's / got milk? Racing's goals for the 2003 season was to improve its qualifying efforts and Labonte has done just that. For 23 of the 32 races run this year, Labonte had a better starting position than where he qualified in 2002. The turnaround includes a pole position at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway and a front-row start last month at New Hampshire International Speedway.

'TEXAS TERRY' DNF-FREE FOR 38 RACES: Labonte has extended his overall string of consecutive races without a DNF to 38, currently the longest streak in the series. The last time the Corpus Christi, Texas, native failed to finish was last fall at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. The modern-era record is 56 straight finishes, set by Jeff Gordon in 2001-02.

LABONTE 32-FOR-32 IN 2003: Only two drivers have completed all 32 Winston Cup races this season -- Labonte and Brickyard 400 winner Kevin Harvick.

PACING THE FIELD: Of the 500 laps run at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway on Sunday, Hendrick Motorsports led 372 of them. Race-winner Jeff Gordon was out front for 313 circuits, while Labonte (40) and Joe Nemechek (19) also led. Although Jimmie Johnson never took the point in the fourth Hendrick entry, he did post a runner-up finish -- his 10th top-five of the season.

LABONTE LEADS MOST SINCE '99: The 40 laps Labonte led in the Subway 500 at Martinsville on Sunday was his best single-race total since he led 155 circuits in the August 1999 race at Bristol, Tenn.

TERRY LABONTE, DRIVER OF THE NO. 5 KELLOGG'S / got milk? CHEVROLET: (ON HIS SIXTH-PLACE FINISH AT MARTINSVILLE.) "That was a huge points day for our team. We've worked so hard to get back into the top 10, and now we want to stay there. At the start of the day, we were five points up on 10th place and when we finished, we were 90 ahead."

LABONTE: (ON HIS RECORD AT THE REMAINING TRACKS ON THE 2003 SCHEDULE.) "I've won at Phoenix and Rockingham, and we had a good test at Rockingham just last week, so I'd have to say those would be our best shots at one more victory before the season ends. Although we weren't at our best in the first Atlanta race this year (20th), I've had some good runs there in the past. Homestead? I'm not sure anyone knows what to expect with the new banking so we'll just have to wait and see."

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