In case you hadn't notice, it's definitely a different schedule this weekend than what we've been seeing in the Chase thus far. With the Cup race set for Saturday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway, there was a practice session and qualifying on Thursday, two practice sessions Friday and the Busch Series race on Friday, and the Cup race upcoming on Saturday night.

The Bank of America 500 is the only night race in the Chase, and one of the interesting aspects of this weekend's schedule has been the start times of the various sessions. The first two practices started at 3 p.m., qualifying started at 7 p.m., and Happy Hour started at 6 p.m.

The session times are important at a track like Lowe's Motor Speedway, which is quite sensitive to changes in the ambient conditions. It's been bright and sunny during the daytime in Charlotte, but temperatures have cooled considerably in the evening.

The Charlotte track is a 1.5 mile oval with 24 degrees of banking in all four turns. No doubt teams that are good at adjusting to quickly-changing track conditions will be the ones that do well Saturday. Cars will be starting the race very loose and drivers will have to bide their time as they wait for the track to come to them under the lights. Guys who like to wheel a loose race car should do well early, but may struggle later in the evening.

These days when you think of Lowe's Motor Speedway, it's hard not to think about the remarkable record of Jimmie Johnson, currently the only driver with 3:1 nascar odds, at the track that bears his sponsor's name. Johnson hit on something a few hours ago regarding his line around this track and that, combined with crew chief Chad Knaus' ability to adjust the car throughout the race, has resulted in the No. 48 team's 5 wins, 11 top 10s, two poles, and average finish of 6.2 in 12 starts.

If Johnson were to win on Saturday, he would be one of only three drivers with six Charlotte wins - and the other two are among NASCAR's all-time greats. But Johnson would have them beat by a mile when it comes to the number of races each driver has at the track. Darrell Waltrip made 55 starts at Lowe's and Bobby Allison, 43, while this will just be Johnson's 13th race here. As it is, Johnson's five wins already place him in some rather remarkable company: Dale Earnhardt with 48 Lowe's starts and Richard Petty with 54 also have five wins each.

One final note about Johnson: He is coming off what he described as a very disappointing 2nd-place finish at Talladega. Johnson was contending for the win when he made what he later admitted was a mistake, allowing teammate Jeff Gordon to pass him for the checkers. Johnson will either channel his frustration into greater motivation to succeed this weekend at Lowe's, or he'll allow an element of self-doubt to start creeping into his performance for the remainder of the Chase.

It looked like Johnson had a good shot at the pole Thursday, posting a fast lap of 28.573. Both he and Ryan Newman had late draws, but Newman had the advantage of following Johnson and knowing in advance the 48's time. Newman put down a great lap and said he knew by the time he came off Turn 4 that he had Johnson beat. His 28.512 lap was six-tenths faster than Johnson and good enough for P1.

Johnson will line up on the outside of row 1, followed by Bobby Labonte, Jeff Gordon, and Kasey Kahne rounding out the top 5. Interestingly, four of the top-5 starters have more than one race win at Lowe's: Johnson, 5, Gordon, 4, and Labonte and Kahne each with 2 previous Charlotte wins.

It's no secret, however, that current points leader Jeff Gordon has struggled here the past few years. Though he did have success at Lowe's throughout the '90s, Gordon, currently 7:1, has an almost inconceivable five straight DNFs here.

But you certainly can't count out the No. 24 team anywhere this year, considering the kind of season they're having. In fact, if not for the leveling of points that occurred at the start of the Chase, Gordon's fifth championship would already be a done deal.

Two other Chase drivers will start in the top 10, Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch, both 8:1, are going off 7th and 8th respectively. Kenseth led the second practice session and ran 11th in Happy Hour, while Busch ran 12th in both Friday practices.

All three Richard Childress Racing cars will be starting mid-field: Kevin Harvick (30:1) starts 24th, Clint Bowyer (25:1) starts 25th, and Jeff Burton (40:1) starts 27th. Harvick actually ran in the top 10 in the second practice session, but was 24th-fastest in Happy Hour.

There were five drivers with top-10 speeds in both the second and third practice sessions: Martin Truex Jr (15:1), Tony Stewart (8:1), Jamie McMurray (50:1), Carl Edwards (12:1), and Ryan Newman (18:1). Of these, only Tony Stewart has a previous Charlotte win, but Edwards has 4 top-10s in 5 starts and an average finish of 7.8, second only to Johnson among active drivers in that category.

Though he didn't run particularly well in practice, Bobby Labonte will be lining up third, and for a driver at 75:1, Labonte has a respectable record at Lowe's: 2 wins, 17 top 10s, and an average finish of 12.8 in 29 starts. Mark Martin, 35:1, was 16th fastest in Happy Hour and qualified 12th. Martin has 4 wins and 21 top 10s in 45 races.

One last driver to keep an eye on is Greg Biffle at 20:1, starting 10th. Though he hasn't traditionally had good finishes here, Biffle led Happy Hour with a fast lap of 29.403 and scored the pole for the Busch race, and the 16 team is desperately trying to build momentum for the 2008 season. Drivers failing to make the race are Dale Jarrett, Joe Nemechek, Brian Vickers, Sam Hornish Jr., Carl Long, and Kirk Shelmerdine.