Chase Montgomery was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the Channellock
250 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Montgomery finished 22nd and took top rookie
honors for the first time this season. He joins Chad Blount and Coy Gibbs as
the only drivers to take Raybestos® Rookie of the Race honors this season.
Montgomery was the only Raybestos® Rookie running at the end of the race at
Bristol.
WOULD YOU BELIEVE? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to lead at least one
lap in a Busch Series race at Texas Motor Speedway is Jamie McMurray.
McMurray led once for one lap in the 2001 O'Reilly 300.
Coy Gibbs was sideline by overheating problems at Bristol. He completed
155 of the 250 laps and was credited with a 27th place finish. Gibbs leads
the Raybestos® Rookie standings by four points (52-48) over Chad Blount
entering the O'Reilly 300 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Regan Smith was the top qualifying Raybestos® Rookie at Bristol. He
started 20th took top qualifying Raybestos® Rookie honors for the first time
this season. Smith joins Blount as the only drivers to claim highest
qualifying rookie honors this season entering the O'Reilly 300. Qualifying
for the Sam's Town 300 and darlingtonraceway.com 200 were rained out.
Blount had a frustrating weekend at Bristol. He was involved in an
accident in both practice and qualifying but still ran fast enough to earn
the 26th place starting position. His misfortune continued in the race when
he was sidelined by an accident after completing 115 laps. He was credited
with a 31st place finish.
Raybestos® Rookie Chris Bingham finished 37th after parking his car due
to handling problems. Bingham made his fourth start of the 2003 season at
Bristol.
All five Raybestos® Rookies entered at Bristol qualified for the race.
The best finish by a Raybestos® Rookie is 14th by Coy Gibbs while the
best start is ninth by Chad Blount.
No Raybestos® Rookie has led a lap in any of the five Busch Series races
entering Saturday's event at Texas.
2002 Raybestos® Rookie of the Year Scott Riggs was the top finishing
rookie in last year's O'Reilly 300 at Texas Motor Speedway. Riggs finished
fourth and was the only first year driver to place inside the top-10.
Three other Raybestos® Rookies also completed all 116 laps of the rain
shortened event: Johnny Sauter (15th), Kerry Earnhardt (23rd), and Shane
Hmiel (26th). All six freshman drivers that started the event were running
at the finish of the race: Kasey Kahne (36th) and Casey Mears (38th).
Johnny Sauter was the top qualifying rookie for the Texas race, taking
the third starting position. Sauter was the only first year driver to start
in the top-10.
RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS
DRIVER POINTS
Coy Gibbs 52
Chad Blount 48
Regan Smith 32
Chris Bingham 31
Damon Lusk 20
Chase Montgomery 19
HIGHEST FINISHING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE BY RACE
EVENT HIGHEST FINISHING ROOKIE
Koolerz 300 Chad Blount, 11th
Rockingham 200 Coy Gibbs, 14th
Sam's Town 300 Coy Gibbs, 14th
darlingtonraceway.com 200 Coy Gibbs, 14th
Channellock 250 Chase Montgomery, 22nd
