Sharpie 500 - Terry Labonte Notes

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN: This weekend marks the fifth anniversary of one of the most memorable finishes in the history of Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. In 1999, Terry Labonte and the Kellogg's Racing team dominated the Aug. 28 event and were leading on the final lap when Labonte was sent spinning into the outside wall of the second turn after a bump by Dale Earnhardt. Earnhardt drove on to Victory Lane amid a chorus of boos while Labonte was saddled with an eighth-place finish.

LABONTE AT BRISTOL: In 51 career starts at Bristol, Labonte has 33 top-10 finishes -- a track record -- with more than $1.5 million in career winnings. In this year's first trip to .533-mile oval back in March, Labonte twice rallied from a lap down to finish 18th, on the lead lap with race winner Kurt Busch.

TEAMMATES TIED: Labonte's 27th-place finish Aug. 22 at Michigan International Speedway left him tied with Vickers for 23rd in the series standings, 55 points behind 20th-place Sterling Marlin and 381 behind No. 15 Jamie McMurray. There are three races remaining before the 10 finalists in the "Chase for the Championship" will be determined.

LABONTE SEEKING THIRD BRISTOL WIN: Labonte has two victories on Bristol's half-mile oval, both coming in the track's late-summer night race (1984 and 1995). He's also finished second four times, most recently in 1998, and has qualified on the front row six times, including a pole position for this race in 1987.

FIRST POLE CAME AT BRISTOL: On Aug. 25, 1984 at Bristol, Geoffrey Bodine captured the first pole position for Hendrick Motorsports in NASCAR's Cup Series. Since then, Hendrick Motorsports teams have earned more than 120 first-place starts.

TERRY LABONTE, DRIVER OF THE NO. 5 KELLOGG'S CHEVROLETS: (ON TRACKS COMING UP ON THE SCHEDULE.) "We're not going to be in the top-10 run for the championship, but we definitely are hitting some tracks where we can win races and that's what the team is focusing on now. We've had good success at Bristol, we ran very well earlier this year at Fontana (Calif.) and Richmond (Va.) is one of my favorite tracks."

(EDITOR'S NOTE: On May 2, Labonte finished seventh in this year's first race at California Speedway, where the tour stops Sept. 5, and he has three career victories at Richmond International Raceway, site of the Sept. 11 Chevy Rock & Roll 400.)

LABONTE: (ON THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS.) "Sure, we're disappointed that we're not as far up in the point standings as we thought we'd be. But there are 13 races left in the season and plenty of time for our team to show its strength."