DHL 400 - Terry Labonte Notes

TOP-10 DOUBLE FOR LABONTE: For the first time since June 2003, Terry Labonte has back-to-back top-10 finishes. Consecutive seventh-place showings at Dover (Del.) International Speedway and Pocono Raceway have lifted him into 19th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings heading into this weekend's event at Michigan. This same sequence of races last year -- Dover, Pocono and Michigan -- yielded three straight top-10s as Labonte laid the groundwork for his second-half surge into NASCAR's Top 10.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY: The Chevrolets of Vickers, Labonte and Jimmie Johnson will sport slightly different looks this weekend at Michigan. Along with nine other NEXTEL Cup drivers, the Hendrick Motorsports trio will carry special paint schemes honoring Father's Day. The highest-finishing driver in the program will earn $25,000 toward their dad's favorite charity.

SUCCESSFUL 600TH: Labonte's seventh-place finish last weekend in his 600th start for Chevrolet enabled him to advance two spots in the standings. The two-time champion has now jumped six positions in two races after reaching a season-low of 25th following the May 30 event at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Labonte, driver of the No. 5 Kellogg's Chevrolets, is 644 points behind series leader Dale Earnhardt Jr., but just 103 behind 15th-place Rusty Wallace.

CLOSING THE GAP: With 12 races remaining before the finalists in NASCAR's "Chase for the Championship" are determined, Labonte is 205 points away from the 10th-place cutoff. Only those drivers who are in the top 10 or within 400 points of first place following the Sept. 11 Chevrolet 400 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway will be eligible to win the 2004 NEXTEL Cup Series championship.

'5' STILL ALIVE IN 'CHASE': With 14 races completed this season, Labonte and Kellogg's Racing are only slightly off the pace they set a year ago en route to a 10th-place finish in the standings. After 14 races in 2003, Labonte was 17th (587 behind leader Matt Kenseth).

LABONTE AT MICHIGAN: In 50 career starts at Michigan International Speedway, Labonte has 13 top-10s with more than $1.3 million in career winnings. He qualified fifth for both races last year, finishing 10th in June and 13th in August. Labonte is one of only four drivers in the track's 35-year history to sweep both pole positions in a single season, doing so in 1983. The others are Bobby Labonte, Bill Elliott and David Pearson.

'5' CHASSIS INFO: Kellogg's Racing has entered the same car Labonte drove to a seventh-place finish earlier this year at California Speedway, which is a sister track to Michigan -- both being two-mile high-speed ovals. Chassis No. 286 also has been run at North Carolina Speedway, Darlington (S.C.) Raceway and Lowe's Motor Speedway.

LONG BACK AT MICHIGAN: Jim Long, crew chief of the No. 5 Kellogg's Chevrolets, is expected back in the garage this weekend after sitting out the race at Pocono. He remained home in Denver, N.C., last week for tests and treatment of migraine headaches while chief engineer Alan Gustafson served as interim crew chief.

TERRY LABONTE, DRIVER OF THE NO. 5 KELLOGG'S CHEVROLETS: (ON RALLYING IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS.) "We're finally heading in the right direction. Now, we need to maintain this and avoid slipping any further behind the top 10. The good news is that we've got three good tracks coming up for us. We had two strong finishes at Michigan last year, we just recently tested in Sonoma (Calif.) and then go on to Daytona (Fla.), where we finished fourth last summer."