Race 2 Win: Pepsi 300 - Raybestos Rookie Notes

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Pepsi 300 - Raybestos Rookie Notes

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

Raybestos® Rookie Carl Edwards scored his first Busch Series victory in seven career starts in the Aaron’s 312 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He took the checkered flag by 1.192 seconds over Tony Stewart.

Edwards stretched his lead to 23 points over Reed Sorenson (80-57) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings.

Edwards leads the Busch Series championship standings by 105 points over second-place Kevin Harvick and 119 over third-place Clint Bowyer.

Edwards scored the first victory by a Raybestos® Rookie in 14 Busch Series races at Atlanta. He is just the fourth Raybestos® Rookie to score a top-five finish at Atlanta. The others were Greg Biffle (second in 2001), Kyle Busch (second), and Scott Riggs (fourth). Edwards’ previous best finish was third at Mexico City.

Edwards won the Busch Pole at Atlanta, his second pole in seven career starts and his second consecutive. He is the first Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole position in 14 Busch Series races at Atlanta.

Michel Jourdain Jr. finished 10th at Atlanta, scoring his first top-10 in five career Busch Series races. Jourdain’s previous best finish was 25th at California in the second race of the season.

Edwards is the first Raybestos® Rookie to win from the pole since Kyle Busch won the 2004 Funai 250 at Richmond International Raceway (race number 11). Ironically, both drivers scored their first victories after starting from the pole.

This is just the third time in 14 races TWO or more Raybestos® Rookies finished in the top 10 at Atlanta. Michel Jourdain Jr. placed 10th today, his first top 10 effort in the Busch Series. In 2004, Kyle Busch finished second while J.J. Yeley grabbed a 10th-place finish. In 2002, Scott Riggs placed fourth and Johnny Sauter claimed a 10th-place finish.

A Raybestos® Rookie has now led at led a lap in each of the past FIVE consecutive Busch Series races at Atlanta. The others:
2001: Greg Biffle (led once for 38 laps)
2002: Scott Riggs (led twice for 12 laps)
2002: Brian Vickers (led twice for 12 laps)
2003: David Stremme (led once for two laps)
2004: Kyle Busch (led twice for 17 laps)

At least one Raybestos® Rookie has finished in the top 10 in all five Busch Series races this season.

Two or more Raybestos® Rookies have finished inside the top 10 in four of the five Busch Series races this season. The others: Daytona (Reed Sorenson, ninth and Edwards, 10th), California (Sorenson, fifth and Edwards, sixth); and Las Vegas (Sorenson, sixth and Edwards, seventh).

Edwards and Sorenson are the only Raybestos® Rookies to score a top-five finish this season. Edwards won Atlanta, finished third at Mexico City and Sorenson placed fifth at California Speedway.

Edwards has finished in the top-10 in each of the five Busch Series races this season entering the Pepsi 300.

Raybestos Rookies at Nashville

A Raybestos® Rookie has won two of the seven Busch Series races at Nashville Superspeedway. In fact, rookies won the first two races held at the 1.333-mile Tennessee speedway: Greg Biffle won the inaugural Pepsi 300 in 2001 while Scott Riggs won the 2002 race.

Kyle Busch was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2004 Pepsi 300 at Nashville, grabbing a sixth place finish.

Clint Bowyer led the most laps in the 2004 Pepsi 300. Bowyer led four times for 104 of the 225 laps. Ironically, Bowyer did not lead a lap in the June race at Nashville.

DID YOU KNOW? Bowyer is the only Raybestos® Rookie to finish in the top-five in BOTH races at Nashville in the same season. He finished fourth in the Pepsi 300 and third in the Federated Auto Parts 300.

DID YOU KNOW? A Raybestos® Rookie has led the most laps in the last two consecutive races at Nashville: Bowyer and Kyle Busch, who led the Federated Auto Parts 300 (June race) once for 60 laps.

DID YOU KNOW? Shane Hmiel is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole in the seven races that have been run at Nashville. He took the top starting spot in the 2002 Pepsi 300, which was won by Riggs. The 2002 Pepsi 300 is the only Busch Series race at Nashville where a Raybestos® Rookie won both the pole and the race.

Greg Biffle holds the record for most laps led by a Raybestos® Rookie in a Busch race at Nashville. He led five times for 133 of the 225 laps in 2001.

DID YOU KNOW? One or more Raybestos® Rookies have led at least one lap in five of the seven races at Nashville.
2001 Pepsi 300: Greg Biffle (five times for 133 laps)
2001 Pepsi 300 Scott Wimmer (once for two laps)
2002 Pepsi 300: Scott Riggs (once for 47 laps)
2002 Pepsi 300 Shane Hmiel (once for one lap)
2003 Pepsi 300 Chad Blount (once for 28 laps)
2004 Pepsi 300 Clint Bowyer (four times for 104 laps)
2004 Pepsi 300 Kyle Busch (once for six laps)
2004 Federated 300: Kyle Busch (once for 60 laps)

Only once in the five races at Nashville have TWO Raybestos® Rookies finished in the top-five. In 2001, Biffle won the race while Wimmer placed third.

One or more Raybestos® Rookies have finished in the top-five in five of the seven races at Nashville:
2001 Pepsi 300: Greg Biffle (first), Scott Wimmer (third)
2002 Pepsi 300: Scott Riggs (first)
2003 Federated 300: David Stremme (third)
2004 Pepsi 300 Clint Bowyer (fourth)
2004 Federated 300: Clint Bowyer (third)

One or more Raybestos® Rookies have finished in the top-10 in all seven races at Nashville: 2001 Pepsi 300: Greg Biffle (first), Scott Wimmer (third)
2002 Pepsi 300: Scott Riggs (first), Kerry Earnhardt (eighth)
2002 Federated 300: Shane Hmiel (ninth), Casey Mears (10th)
2003 Pepsi 300: David Stremme (seventh), Chad Blount (eighth)
2003 Federated 300: David Stremme (third)
2004 Pepsi 300 Clint Bowyer (fourth), Kyle Busch (sixth)
2004 Federated 300 Clint Bowyer (third), J.J. Yeley (eighth)

DID YOU KNOW? TWO Raybestos® Rookies have finished in the top-10 in each of the past FOUR consecutive Pepsi 300 races.

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS
DRIVER             POINTS
Carl Edwards         80
Reed Sorenson        57
Denny Hamlin         41
Michel Jourdain Jr.  34 
Jon Wood             33 
Ryan Hemphill        27
Paul Wolfe           21 
Brent Sherman        18 
Kertus Davis         14
Boston Reid           8
Blake Feese           8 
Kim Crosby            8 
A.J. Fike             7 
Tyler Walker          7 
Brandon Miller        3

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

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