PREVIEW: KYLE BUSCH (NO. 5 KELLOGG'S/CARQUEST MONTE CARLO SS)
VENUE: LOWE'S MOTOR SPEEDWAY (1.5-MILE QUAD-OVAL)
CIRCUIT: NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES (RACE 31 OF 36)
EVENT: SATURDAY, OCT. 13, 2007 (334 LAPS, 501 MILES)

NOT GIVING UP: Kyle Busch's 32nd-place finish at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway dropped him to eighth in points after four Chase for the NEXTEL Cup races. But Busch and his Kellogg's/CARQUEST team know they're still in title contention after watching teammate Jimmie Johnson rally from the eighth position after Talladega to clinch the 2006 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series championship. Johnson also came back from a 247-point deficit to finish second, just eight points shy of the title, in 2004.

HANDLING ADVERSITY: When Busch and his Kellogg's/CARQUEST crew last posted two consecutive finishes of 30th or worse back in May, they responded with an impressive string of performances. Beginning with the June 4 Dover, Del., event, the No. 5 team rattled off 16 consecutive top-20 finishes. During that span, Busch racked up 10 top-10 results, five top-fives and finished worse than 13th just twice.

HIGHS AND LOWS AT LOWE'S: Historically, Busch has run extremely well at Lowe's Motor Speedway, but doesn't have the finishes to show it. While only scoring one top-10 result in seven starts and clocking an average finish of 29.1, Busch has the fourth-best driver rating (90.6) and has spent 1,185 laps in the top 15 (63.4 percent), which is third-best among current drivers. His misfortune includes five finishes of 30th or worse at the 1.5-mile track in Concord, N.C.

TALLADEGA IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR: Although his Talladega run was cut 44 laps short after being collected in a multi-car accident on lap 144, Busch still showed the strength of his Kellogg's/CARQUEST team. After starting in 36th position, the young driver wasted no time in making his way to the front. Busch was in second by lap 12, and made 220 green-flag passes throughout the race. He also made 156 "quality" passes in which a position was gained on the track.

'307' BACK AGAIN: Crew chief Alan Gustafson has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 307 as the primary Monte Carlo SS for this weekend's NEXTEL Cup race at Lowe's Motor Speedway. The car most recently led 97 laps en route to a third-place finish at California Speedway last month.

* * * * * * * * * *

KYLE BUSCH, DRIVER OF THE NO. 5 KELLOGG'S/CARQUEST MONTE CARLO SS: (ON HAVING LITTLE LUCK AT LOWE'S MOTOR SPEEDWAY IN THE CUP CAR.) "We've always run so fast there. We've led a bunch of laps, and it seems like we flex some muscle and then something happens. I've gotten all kinds of speeding penalties, we've had blown tires or we've been wrecked. We never seem to find the luck there and it's unfortunate because it's my favorite race track. Maybe I need to start disliking it and my luck will turn around there."

BUSCH: (ON THE KEY TO WINNING AT LOWE'S.) "The key to winning at Charlotte is being able to keep the momentum through the corners -- especially through turns three and four because they are tighter than turns one and two. You don't want to be loose through the corners. Also, the team that has their car best at the end will be in victory lane. Jimmie Johnson and those guys have this track down pat. They might not run up front all night long, but they will sure be a force at the end."

BUSCH: (ON THE STRENGTH OF HIS TEAMMATES IN THE CHASE.) "Jeff (Gordon) and Jimmie (Johnson) seem to be the ones to beat right now. They haven't had much go wrong in any of the Chase races and seem to have their cars dialed in when it counts. No one else is close. If we can't win it, I would love to see one of them win it for Hendrick Motorsports."