Race 2 Win: Domino's Pizza 250 - Raybestos® Rookie Notes

Busch Series

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Domino's Pizza 250 - Raybestos® Rookie Notes

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

Carl Edwards was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the August 13 Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. Edwards finished 11th and took top rookie honors for the eighth time this season.

At least one Raybestos® Rookie has finished in the top 10 in 22 of the 24 Busch Series races this season.

Reed Sorenson leads Edwards by four points (291-287) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the August 20 Domino’s Pizza 250 at Michigan International Speedway.

Sorenson is third in the Busch Series championship standings, 97 points behind second-place Clint Bowyer and 219 behind leader Martin Truex Jr. Edwards is fourth, 137 behind Sorenson and 356 behind Truex.

TWO or more Raybestos® Rookies have ranked in the top 10 in Busch Series championship standings after each of the 24 races this year.

Raybestos® Rookies at Michigan:

Raybestos® Rookie Kyle Busch won the 2004 Cabela’s 250 at Michigan, officially scoring the win by 3.861 seconds over Mark Martin. Busch joined Steve Park as the only Raybestos® Rookies to win a Busch Series race at Michigan (Park won the 1997 event by .682 seconds over Jimmy Spencer). Busch and Park are the only Raybestos® Rookies to log top-five finishes in 13 races at Michigan.

DID YOU KNOW? Shawna Robinson is the only female driver to take Raybestos® Rookie of the Race honors in Busch Series competition at Michigan. Robinson placed 11th in the 1992 race, the first-ever Busch Series race at Michigan.

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at Michigan:
1997: Park, first
1997: Matt Kenseth, eighth
2000: Jimmie Johnson, sixth
2000: Kevin Harvick, ninth
2002: Scott Riggs, sixth
2002: Kasey Kahne, 10th
2004: Busch, first

DID YOU KNOW? The most recent race where two or more Raybestos® Rookies led at Michigan was 2000. Harvick led once for 12 laps while Ron Hornaday led once for one lap.

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

The 2005 Raybestos® Rookie class has racked up a total of five wins, equaling the most by a rookie class since inception of the program in 1989. The class of 2001 and 2004 also posted five victories.

A Raybestos® Rookie has led the most laps in FOUR races this season. Sorenson led the most laps at Gateway (Madison, Ill.) International Raceway in July and at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway in March, while Edwards was dominant at Las Vegas and Kentucky.

Two or more Raybestos® Rookies have finished in the top five on FIVE occasions:
Wallace 250: Sorenson (first) and Edwards (third)
New England 200: Edwards (second) and Denny Hamlin (third)
Pepsi 300: Sorenson (first) and Edwards (fourth)
O’Reilly 300: Sorenson (third) and Edwards (fourth)
Meijer 300: Edwards (first) and Sorenson (fourth)

THREE Raybestos® Rookies rank in the top 10 in Busch Series points: Sorenson, Edwards and Hamlin, who is sixth in the standings.

THREE or more Raybestos® Rookies have finished in the top 10 in SIX races 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 23 races this year.

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

Four Raybestos® Rookies have started all 24 Busch Series races in 2005: Edwards, Sorenson, Hamlin and Wood.

Season Tidbits:

Sorenson’s 14.417-second margin of victory at Nashville earlier this year 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.

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.

David Green was the first Raybestos® Rookie to win a race, at Lanier, Ga., in 1991. Green captured the Nestle 200 by 1.58-seconds over Jeff Gordon, a fellow Raybestos® Rookie. A third Raybestos® Rookie, Todd Bodine, placed eighth in the race.

Dennis Setzer was the first Raybestos® Rookie to win TWO or more races in a season. In 1994, Setzer won the Ford Credit 300 at South Boston (Va.) Speedway and The Pantry 300 at Hickory Motor Speedway.

Park was the first Raybestos® Rookie to win THREE or more races in a season. In 1997, he won the BellSouth Mobility/Opryland 300 at Nashville Speedway, Detroit Gasket 200 at Michigan Speedway and the Autolite Platinum 250 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway.

Kenny Wallace was the first Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole in the Busch Series. Wallace grabbed the top starting spot in the 1989 Goody’s 300 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, the first race in the history of the Raybestos® Rookie of the Year program.

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS
DRIVER POINTS
Reed Sorenson 291
Carl Edwards 287 
Denny Hamlin 211 
Jon Wood 163 
Brent Sherman 117
Michel Jourdain Jr. 115
Kertus Davis 105 
Tyler Walker 98
Ryan Hemphill 62 

HIGHEST-FINISHING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE BY RACE
EVENT HIGHEST FINISHING ROOKIE
Hershey’s TAKE 5 300 Sorenson, ninth
Stater Bros. 300 Sorenson, fifth
Telcel/Motorola Mexico 200 Edwards, third
Sam’s Town 300 Sorenson, sixth 
Aaron’s 312 Edwards, first
Pepsi 300 Sorenson, first
Sharpie Professional 250 Sorenson, third
O’Reilly 300 Sorenson, third
Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 Edwards, eighth
Aaron’s 312 Wood, second
Diamond Hill Plywood 200 Hamlin, seventh
Funai 250 Edwards, first
CARQUEST 300 Sorenson, fifth
MBNA RacePoints 200 Sorenson, second
Federated Auto Parts 300 Sorenson, third
Meijer 300 Edwards, first
SBC 250 Hamlin, sixth
Winn-Dixie 250 Hamlin, 14th 
USG Durock 300 Edwards, fourth
New England 200 Edwards, second
ITT/Salute to the Troops 250 Sorenson, seventh
Wallace Family Tribute 250 Sorenson, first
Kroger 200 Sorenson, third
Zippo 200 Edwards, 11th

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