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

NASCAR Busch Series

Sam's Town 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 October 13 Dollar General 300 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway (Concord, N.C.). O’Quinn Jr. finished fifth, his best effort in 29 Busch Series starts. He scored his first top-five and fourth top-10 finish of the season and took Raybestos® Rookie of the Race honors for the seventh time this season.

John Andretti leads O’Quinn Jr. by four points (196-192) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the October 28 Sam’s Town 250 at Memphis (Tenn.) Motorsports Park.

Andretti is 13th in the Busch Series championship standings, best of any Raybestos® Rookie. He is 47 points behind 12th-place Kenny Wallace and 141 ahead of 14th-place Ashton Lewis Jr.

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

Carl Edwards was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2005 Sam’s Town 250, scoring a fifth-place finish.

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

DID YOU KNOW? The only Raybestos® Rookie to win the Sam’s Town 250 is Kevin 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 seven 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: Kevin Harvick, first
2002: Kerry Earnhardt, fifth
2004: Clint Bowyer, fourth
2005: Carl Edwards, fifth

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at Memphis:
1999: Adam Petty, fifth
2000: Kevin Harvick, first
2000: Jimmie Johnson, eighth
2000: Jay Sauter, ninth
2001: Scott Wimmer, eighth
2002: Kerry Earnhardt, fifth
2003: David Stremme, ninth
2004: Clint Bowyer, fourth
2005: Carl Edwards, fifth
2005: Denny Hamlin, seventh

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

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, 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.

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.

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 196
Danny O’Quinn Jr. 192
Burney Lamar 189 
Todd Kluever 182 
Mark McFarland 152
David Gilliland 73
Tracy Hines 71 
Joel Kauffman 68
Stephen Leicht 63 
A.J. Foyt IV 39
Chris Wimmer 21 

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 
Food City 250 Andretti, 14th 
Ameriquest 300 Lamar, 14th 
Emerson Radio 250 O’Quinn Jr., 14th 
Dover 200 Kluever, 13th 
Yellow Transportation 300 Leicht, 12th 
Dollar General 300 O’Quinn Jr., fifth