Race 2 Win: Sam's Town 250 - Raybestos® Rookie Notes

Busch Series

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Sam's Town 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 October 14 Dollar General 300 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Edwards finished fourth, his 12th top-five and 18th top-10 finish in 2005. He took Raybestos® Rookie of the Race honors for the 11th time in 2005.

Jon Wood finished seventh, his fourth top-10 finish of the season. Wood scored back-to-back top-10 finishes for the first time in his 33-race Busch Series career (he finished fifth in the United 300 Oct. 8 at Kansas Speedway).

Edwards used his strong run to retake the lead in the chase for Raybestos® Rookie of the Year. He leads Reed Sorenson by five points (320-315) entering the Oct. 22 Sam’s Town 250 at Memphis (Tenn.) Motorsports Park.

Sorenson is third in the Busch Series championship standings, 323 behind leader Martin Truex Jr. and 203 behind second place Clint Bowyer. He holds a 33-point advantage over fourth-place Edwards and 322 over fifth-place Denny Hamlin.

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

Entering Saturday’s race, Edwards has more top fives (12) and more top 10s (18) than any other Raybestos Rookie.

Sorenson is the one of just three drivers and the only Raybestos® Rookie to earn more than $1 million this season. Edwards is 67,872 short of the mark while Denny Hamlin is $53,799 shy of the milestone. Only three other Raybestos Rookies have surpassed $1 million in earnings since the program was created in 1989: Kyle Busch ($2,027,050), Greg Biffle ($1,623,546), and Scott Riggs ($1,170,846).

For the fifth time this season, THREE Raybestos® Rookie rank among the top five in the NASCAR Busch Series championship standings: Sorenson (third), Edwards (fourth) and Hamlin (fifth).

DID YOU KNOW? The closest point finish in the history of the Busch Series Raybestos® Rookie of the Year program came in 2000 when Kevin Harvick edged Ron Hornaday by just 20 points (334-314) to win the award.

DID YOU KNOW? Only once in the history of the Raybestos® Rookie program have two Raybestos® Rookies finished in the top five in the final Busch Series championship standings. In 2000, Harvick placed third ahead of Hornaday, who finished fifth.

DID YOU KNOW? The 2005 Raybestos® Rookie class has racked up a total of six wins, the most since inception of the program in 1989.

TWO or more Raybestos® Rookies have ranked in the top 10 in the Busch Series championship standings after each of the 31 races this year.

Edwards is the most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a Busch Series race. He won the 2005 Ameriquest 300 at California Speedway (race No. 27). Edwards finished 1.71 seconds ahead of Biffle.

Sorenson is the most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole position for a Busch Series race, starting first for the Aug. 6 Kroger 200 at Indianapolis Raceway Park (race No. 23). Sorenson logged a lap of 110.943 mph to win the top starting spot.

Season Tidbits:

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

A Raybestos® Rookie has led the most laps in FOUR races this season. Sorenson led the most laps at Gateway 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 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 or more Raybestos® Rookies have finished in the top 10 in SEVEN races this season.

Four Raybestos® Rookies have started all 31 Busch Series races in 2005: Edwards, Sorenson, Hamlin and Wood.

Sorenson’s 14.417-second margin of victory at Nashville earlier this year is the largest ever by a Raybestos® Rookie 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® Rookies at Memphis:

Clint Bowyer was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2004 Sam’s Town 250 at Memphis. He finished fourth, the only first-year driver to finish inside the top 10.

DID YOU KNOW? A Raybestos® Rookie has finished in the top five in four of the six races at Memphis and at least one rookie has finished in the top 10 in all six races.

DID YOU KNOW? The only Raybestos® Rookie to win the Sam’s Town 250 is Harvick, who captured the 2000 race by .475 seconds over Elton Sawyer.

The most Raybestos® Rookies to finish in the top 10 in the five previous races at Memphis Motorsports Park is THREE in 2000: Harvick, Jimmie Johnson (seventh) and Jay Sauter (ninth).

The best qualifying effort by a Raybestos® Rookie in six previous races at Memphis is second by Harvick in 2000 and Johnny Sauter in 2002.

Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at Memphis:
1999: Adam Petty, fifth
2000: Harvick, first
2002: Kerry Earnhardt, fifth
2004: Bowyer, fourth

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at Memphis:
1999: Petty, fifth
2000: Harvick, first
2000: Johnson, eighth
2000: Jay Sauter, ninth
2001: Scott Wimmer, eighth
2002: Earnhardt, fifth
2003: David Stremme, ninth
2004: Bowyer, fourth

No Raybestos® Rookie has led the most laps at Memphis. In fact, only two first-year drivers have led a lap in six races at the .75-mile speedway: 2000: Harvick (led once for 71 laps) 2004: Kyle Busch (led twice for 59 laps)

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).

Stremme holds the record for fewest starts by a driver to win Raybestos® Rookie of the Year. In 2003, he 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, he won the Ford Credit 300 at South Boston (Va.) Speedway and The Pantry 300 at Hickory (N.C.) 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, the 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 for 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
Carl Edwards 320 
Reed Sorenson 315 
Denny Hamlin 229 
Jon Wood 198
Brent Sherman 140 
Kertus Davis 135 
Michel Jourdain Jr. 123 
Tyler Walker 98
Ryan Hemphill 60 

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 
Domino’s Pizza 250 Edwards, third
Food City 250 Sorenson, 11th 
Ameriquest 300 Edwards, first
Emerson Radio 250 Sorenson, seventh
Dover 200 Sorenson, fourth
United Way 300 Wood, fifth
Dollar General 300 Edwards, fourth

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