Race 2 Win: Carquest Auto Parts 300 - Raybestos® Rookie Notes

Busch Series

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Carquest Auto Parts 300 - Raybestos® Rookie Notes

NEWS AND NOTES FROM THE RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDERS – NASCAR BUSCH SERIES

Raybestos® Rookie Contender Carl Edwards scored his second career Busch Series victory in the May 13 Funai 250 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway, taking the checkered flag by .144 seconds over Elliott Sadler. The win was Edwards’ fifth top-five and 10th top-10 finish of the season and he took Raybestos® Rookie of the Race honors for the fourth time this season.

DID YOU KNOW? Two or more Raybestos® Rookies have ranked in the top 10 in Busch Series championship standings after each of the 12 races this year.

STREAK STAYS ALIVE: A Raybestos® Rookie has finished in the top 10 in every Busch Series race this season.

DID YOU KNOW? Edwards’ win at Richmond gives the Raybestos® Rookie class three victories this season in the Busch Series. The most victories by a Raybestos® Rookie class is FIVE (2001 and 2004).

Edwards’ victory marked the second consecutive time a Raybestos® Rookie has won the spring race at the .75-mile speedway.

Edwards leads the Raybestos® Rookie of the Year standings by 36 points (188-152) over Reed Sorenson and the Busch Series championship standings by 180 over Clint Bowyer entering the May 28 CARQUEST Auto Parts 300 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.

Entering the CARQUEST 300, THREE Raybestos® Rookies rank inside the top 10 in Busch Series points: Edwards, Sorenson (third) and Denny Hamlin (seventh).

Edwards, Sorenson, and Jon Wood are the only Raybestos® Rookies to score a top-five finish this season.

Sorenson has led more miles than any other Raybestos® Rookie in 2005. He has led five times in two races for 304.60 miles (225 laps) entering the race at Charlotte.

Edwards (five) has the most top-five finishes by a Raybestos® Rookie this season. He also has more top 10s (10) than any other Busch Series driver.

Sorenson has racked up more earnings ($455,457) than any other Busch Series driver this season.

Five Raybestos® Rookies have started all 12 Busch Series races this season: Edwards, Sorenson, Hamlin, Wood, and Michel Jourdain Jr.

Raybestos Rookies at Charlotte:

Kyle Busch won the 2004 CARQUEST 300, becoming the first Raybestos® Rookie driver to win the spring Busch Series race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway since the rookie program was created in 1989. The previous best finish by a Raybestos® Rookie was third by Scott Riggs in May 2001. Busch led the most laps (three times for 93) and becomes only the second Raybestos® Rookie to lead the most laps in the spring race at Charlotte, joining Greg Biffle who accomplished the feat in 2001.

Biffle holds the record for most laps led in the spring Busch Series race at Charlotte. He led the 2001 event three times for 154 of the 200 laps on his way to a sixth-place finish.

Season Tidbits

This is the first time since 2002 that two or more Raybestos® Rookies have won in the same season.

Sorenson’s margin of victory at Nashville is the largest ever by a Raybestos® Rookie driver in the Busch Series. The previous record: Biffle’s 13.302-second margin of victory in the 2001 GNC Live Well 250 at The Milwaukee Mile.

The Aaron’s 312 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway was the FOURTH race this season where THREE Raybestos® Rookies finished in the top 10: Wood (second), Brent Sherman (ninth), and Kertus Davis (10th). The Pepsi 300 at Nashville, Sharpie Professional 250 at Bristol (Tenn.), and the Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 at Phoenix (Ariz.) were the others.

Raybestos® Rookie Records

Busch was the 2004 Raybestos® Rookie of the Year. In 34 starts, he won five races, five poles and scored 16 top-five and 22 top-10 finishes. His second-place finish in the Busch Series championship standings is a record for a Raybestos® Rookie. Other Raybestos® Rookie records Busch owns or shares: most starts (34), most wins (tied with Biffle), most top fives (tied with Biffle), most top 10s, most money won ($2,027,050), most championship points (4,943), most laps led (1,108) and most races led (21).

David Stremme holds the record for fewest starts by a driver to win Raybestos® Rookie of the Year. In 2003, Stremme started just 18 of the 34 races and was the top rookie finisher in 16 of those starts. He was the only Raybestos® Rookie to score three top-three finishes and had more top-10 finishes (seven) than any other first-year driver. He led six races for a total of 86 laps.

Hermie Sadler was the first Raybestos® Rookie to win a race, at Rougemont N.C., in 1993.

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS
DRIVER POINTS
Carl Edwards 188
Reed Sorenson 152
Denny Hamlin 122 
Jon Wood 108 
Michel Jourdain Jr. 82
Brent Sherman 64
Kertus Davis 54 
Ryan Hemphill 40 
Tyler Walker 29
Paul Wolfe 27 
Blake Feese 19
Boston Reid 15
A.J. Fike 14
Brandon Miller 13
Kevin Conway 11 
Kim Crosby 9 
Donnie Neuenberger 4 

HIGHEST FINISHING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE BY RACE
EVENT HIGHEST FINISHING ROOKIE
Hershey’s TAKE 5 300 Reed Sorenson, ninth
Stater Bros. 300 Reed Sorenson, fifth
Telcel/Motorola Mexico 200 Carl Edwards, third
Sam’s Town 300 Reed Sorenson, sixth 
Aaron’s 312 Carl Edwards, first
Pepsi 300 Reed Sorenson, first
Sharpie Professional 250 Reed Sorenson, third
O’Reilly 300 Reed Sorenson, third
Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 Carl Edwards, eighth
Aaron’s 312 Jon Wood, second
Diamond Hill Plywood 200 Denny Hamlin, seventh
Funai 250 Carl Edwards, first

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