Race 2 Win: Funai 250 - Raybestos® Rookie Notes

Busch Series

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Funai 250 - Raybestos® Rookie Notes

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

Denny Hamlin was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the May 6 Diamond Hill Plywood 200 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. Hamlin finished seventh, his best finish in 12 career NASCAR Busch Series starts. His previous best effort was an eighth place finish in November 2004 also at Darlington. Hamlin scored his fourth career top-10 finish and third of the 2005 season. He took Raybestos® Rookie of the Race honors for the first time this season.

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

Carl Edwards leads the Raybestos® Rookie of the Year standings by 22 points (167-145) over Reed Sorenson and the Busch Series championship standings by 143 over Clint Bowyer entering the May 13 Funai 250 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway.

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 this season. He has led five times in two races for 304.60 miles (225 laps).

Edwards and Sorenson are tied for most top five finishes by a Raybestos® Rookie this season. Each driver has four entering Friday night’s race at Richmond.

Edwards has more top 10 finishes (nine) than any other Busch Series driver. He has also completed 97.3 percent of the laps this season, best of any Raybestos® Rookie.

Sorenson has racked up more earnings ($432,427) than any other Busch Series driver this season.

Raybestos Rookies at Richmond:

Kyle Busch scored his first career Busch Series win in the 2004 Funai 250 at Richmond. The victory came in his 18th career start. Busch became the first Raybestos® Rookie to win from the Bud Pole since the program was established in 1989. He became the first rookie to win the spring Busch Series race at Richmond and is also the youngest driver to win a race at Richmond (19 years old).

Busch led the most laps at Richmond, the second time in 2004 that he has accomplished the feat. A Raybestos® Rookie has led the most laps in three of the 11 races this season. He became the first Raybestos® Rookie to lead a lap in the spring race at Richmond since Scott Wimmer in 2001. Wimmer led once for seven laps and finished seventh.

At least one Raybestos® Rookie has finished on the lead lap in each of the last five spring races at Richmond.

A Raybestos® Rookie has now finished in the top-10 in four of the last five spring races at Richmond: Harvick (2000), Wimmer (2001), and Brian Vickers (seventh in 2002).

A Raybestos® Rookie has finished in the top-10 in four of the last five spring races at Richmond: Harvick (2000), Wimmer (2001), and Brian Vickers (seventh in 2002).

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 was the FOURTH race this season where THREE Raybestos® Rookies finished in the top 10: Wood, Sherman, and Davis. 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 167
Reed Sorenson 145
Denny Hamlin 112 
Jon Wood 102 
Michel Jourdain Jr. 72
Brent Sherman 62
Kertus Davis 52 
Ryan Hemphill 39 
Paul Wolfe 27
Tyler Walker 20 
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

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