Labonte

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- One teammate won the Winston Cup championship last season. Another finished strong in 2001 and secured a top-20 finish. And yet another -- his newest teammate, a rookie -- has been scorching the field at Daytona, leading test sessions last month and practice this week before winning the Daytona 500 pole Saturday.

So how does a two-time Winston Cup champion become lost in that mess? It happens when the driver slips in the standings for each of the last five years since taking his second title in 1996, culminating with a 23rd-place finish in points last season.

But if Saturday is any indication at all, Terry Labonte's fortunes might finally be looking up. The veteran driver of the No. 5 Kellogg's Chevrolet notched the seventh-fastest time during qualifying Saturday. And while it possibly could only be a sign of the much-speculated Chevy setup advantage on the superspeedways, it might also be a result of Rick Hendrick's drivers working more closely together.

Rookie Jimmie Johnson, driving for the Hendrick-Jeff Gordon team, won the pole, becoming just the third rookie ever to claim the top qualifying spot at the 500. Gordon was third-fastest, while Hendrick driver Jerry Nadeau was 14th.

But while Gordon has been winning titles, Labonte hasn't shared in his teammate's riches -- a fact that makes Labonte's showings this weekend all the more impressive and encouraging.

"It was a good run. It was our goal to come down here and qualify in the top-10, so we've accomplished that," Labonte said. "We'll go on and work on our qualifying race Thursday and hope we have a good run there and try to improve our starting spot for the 500."

Performing well at Daytona can work as a boon in two ways. First, it's the biggest race of the year. Second, as the season-opener, it can act as a sign of things to come. Labonte, who is entering his 25th season competing in NASCAR, is making his 24th start in the Daytona 500, a race he has finished second in three times but has never won.

"This is the one everybody wants to win," Labonte said. "If I could pick any race to win, this would be the one. We put a lot of effort into it. We're going to work hard all week and hopefully have a good run."

Even before his success during qualifying, Labonte was confident heading into 2002 despite his struggles last year.

"If we get this team back to the way it needs to be," he said, "there's no doubt in my mind that we can win another championship and win races ... I know we can do it because we've all been there before. We've got the people and we have all the pieces. Now, we just have to put them together.

"I want to be back in the points race so bad and the key to that is consistency. First, you have to start running in the top-10. Then, you work on top-5s and if you can do that, the wins will come."

Johnson has already reaped benefits of working within the Hendrick organization, and he credits all of his teammates with helping his No. 48 up to speed.

"The No. 24 and the No. 48 have been working closely together because we're in the same building," Johnson said. "The No. 25 and the No. 5 have also been working closely together. All four teams have been working together and all four cars were in the top-10 in (Friday's) afternoon practice session. It's something that we're working hard on so that all of Hendrick Motorsports can utilize the advantages of a multi-car team.

"The way the team is set up, I'll be able to work side-by-side with Jeff all year at every track. Any questions that I have about the car or about the track, I'll get honest answers from Jeff and Terry Labonte and Jerry Nadeau. The resources speak for themselves.

"I've got a great mentor in Jeff ... and Jerry and Terry, for that matter."

Labonte also places some credit with new crew-chief Jim Long, who enters his seventh season as a NASCAR crew chief while beginning his second stint with Hendrick after serving as a chief mechanic in the 1980s.

"(Working with Jim Long) has been great," Labonte said. "Jim's only been on the job six or seven weeks and he's really done a good job. We had a lot of work to do in a short period of time -- those guys have really hustled.

"We share a lot of the same ideas about what it takes to build these race cars and prepare a team for the strain of a 36-race schedule. On a personal note, our temperaments are about the same, too, so I'm excited by the opportunity to team up with Jim."

And Long's thoughts about joining Hendrick and working with Labonte?

"Hendrick Motorsports represents the best there is in NASCAR and Terry Labonte represents the best there is in a driver. We can't wait to take Kellogg's back to Victory Lane."