Race 2 Win: Zippo 200 - Food City 250 Notes

NASCAR Busch Series

Food City 250 - Raybestos Rookie Notes

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

Danny O’Quinn Jr. was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the August 19 CARFAX 250 at Michigan International Speedway. O’Quinn Jr. finished 20th and took top rookie honors for the fifth time in 2006.

John Andretti leads Burney Lamar by six points (187-181) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the August 25 Food City 250 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

Andretti is 12th in the Busch Series championship standings, best of any Raybestos® Rookie. He is 55 points behind 11th-place Reed Sorenson and 14 ahead of 13th-place Jason Leffler.

Andretti runs with Raybestos® Brakes on his No. 10 Ford.

Andretti was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the March 25 Sharpie Mini 300 at Bristol. Andretti finished ninth, the only first-year driver to place inside the top-10.

Sorenson was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2005 Food City 250, claiming an 11th-place finish.

DID YOU KNOW? Kevin Harvick is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win the Food City 250, capturing the 2000 August event.

Harvick is also the only first-year driver to lead the most laps in an August Bristol race. He led twice for 241 of the 250 laps, the most laps led by a Raybestos® Rookie in a Busch race at Bristol.

DID YOU KNOW? Only once since the program was created in 1989 have TWO or more Raybestos® Rookie finished in the top-10: the 2000 Food City 250, where Kevin Harvick won while Jay Sauter finished sixth.

Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at Food City 250:
1991: Jeff Gordon, third
1997: Steve Park, second
2000: Kevin Harvick, first
2004: Kyle Busch, third

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at Food City 250:
1989: Kenny Wallace, ninth
1991: Jeff Gordon, third
1994: Johnny Benson, eighth
1995: Jeff Fuller, 10th
1997: Steve Park, second
1998: Wayne Grubb, seventh
2000: Kevin Harvick, first
2000: Jay Sauter, sixth
2001: Scott Wimmer, sixth

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE HISTORY

Kyle Busch posted a record-setting year on his way to the 2004 Raybestos® Rookie of the Year title. In 34 starts, Busch won five times, captured 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, 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, 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.

Steve 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 (Tenn.) Speedway, the Detroit Gasket 200 at Michigan International 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
John Andretti 187
Burney Lamar 181
Danny O’Quinn Jr. 176
Todd Kluever 172 
Mark McFarland 152
Tracy Hines 71 
Joel Kauffman 68
David Gilliland 64 
A.J. Foyt IV 39 
Jorge Goeters 16
Chris Wimmer 14 

HIGHEST-FINISHING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE BY RACE
EVENT HIGHEST-FINISHING ROOKIE
Hershey’s Kissables 300 Lamar, second
Stater Bros. 300 Kluever, 12th 
telcel-MOTOROLA 200 McFarland, 15th 
Sam’s Town 300 Kluever, 21st 
Nicorette 300 Lamar, eighth
Sharpie Mini 300 Andretti, ninth
O’Reilly 300 Andretti, 19th 
Pepsi 300 Lamar, seventh
Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 O’Quinn Jr., 14th 
Aaron’s 312 McFarland, seventh
Circuit City 250 Andretti, 19th 
Diamond Hill Plywood 200 Andretti, 15th 
CARQUEST Auto Parts 300 Kluever, ninth
Stonebridgeracing.com 200 Kluever, 18th 
Federated Auto Parts 300 O’Quinn Jr., 10th 
Meijer 300 Gilliland, FIRST
AT&T 250 O’Quinn Jr., seventh
Winn-Dixie 250 Andretti, 10th 
USG Durock 300 Kluever, 18th 
New England 200 McFarland, 11th 
Goody’s 250 Andretti, seventh
Busch Silver Celebration 250 Lamar, 12th 
Kroger 200 O’Quinn Jr., sixth
Zippo 200 Andretti, fifth
CARFAX 250 O’Quinn Jr., 20th