UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 - Terry Labonte Notes

LABONTE OFF TO SOLID START: Top-20 finishes in the first two races of the 2004 season have put Kellogg's Racing and driver Terry Labonte 16th in the NEXTEL Cup standings, a considerable improvement over where the team was a year ago. Heading into last year's event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Labonte was tied for 32nd in the standings, a distant 190 points behind the leader. This year, he trails Dale Earnhardt Jr. by just 120 markers and is a mere 21 behind 10th-place Joe Nemechek.

CHAMPIONSHIP CALIBER: The members of Kellogg's Racing find themselves ahead of their pace of eight years ago, when Labonte embarked on what would be his second Cup Series championship run. After the first two races of 1996, he was 30th in points, 183 behind then-leader Dale Jarrett.

THE STREAK: By running to the finish of the Feb. 22 Subway 400, Labonte extended his series-high streak of consecutive races without a DNF (did not finish) to 44. The last time he failed to complete a race was in the fall of 2002 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. The modern-era record is 56 in a row, set by Jeff Gordon in 2001-02.

NO PROVISIONAL, THANKS: Labonte has now gone 17 races without the need of a provisional starting position, his longest such streak since he put 24 straight races together in 1998.

HENDRICK LOOKING FOR SECOND 'W': This weekend, Hendrick Motorsports will be shooting for its second-ever win at Las Vegas. Jeff Gordon and the No. 24 DuPont team went to Victory Lane in 2001, which is also Chevrolet's only win in six tries.

TERRY'S LUCKY NUMBER: On March 7, 1999, Labonte enjoyed his best day in six starts at Vegas, leading seven laps en route to an eighth-place finish. Kellogg's Racing hopes the number "7" might be lucky this weekend as the seventh running of the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 falls on March 7 once again.

NO REST FOR LABONTE: Despite the break in the NEXTEL Cup schedule last weekend, Labonte stayed busy. He was in South Florida Feb. 26-27 to participate in a promotion with the United States Coast Guard, which is sponsoring his son Justin's 2004 Busch Series program. This week, there was a test session at Atlanta Motor Speedway, followed by a Kellogg's appearance in La Quinta, Calif., just prior to his arrival in Las Vegas.

TERRY LABONTE, DRIVER OF THE NO. 5 KELLOGG'S CHEVROLETS: (ON HIS STEADY START TO THE 2004 SEASON.) "We haven't been spectacular, but we haven't stumbled out of the gate, either. In fact, we're in better shape than we were after two races a year ago and I like some of these tracks coming up. We've tested in Atlanta, won last fall at Darlington and I really enjoy racing at Bristol."