Race 2 Win: Pepsi 300 - Raybestos Rookie Notes

NASCAR Busch Series

Pepsi 300 - Raybestos Rookie Notes

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

John Andretti was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the April 8 O’Reilly 300 at Texas Motor Speedway. Andretti finished 19th and took Raybestos® Rookie of the Race honors for the second consecutive race.

Burney Lamar leads Todd Kluever by seven points (74-67) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the April 15 Pepsi 300 at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway.

DID YOU KNOW? Raybestos® Rookie Reed Sorenson scored his first career Busch Series win in the Pepsi 300 March 26 at Nashville. Sorenson won in impressive style, leading the most laps (three times for 197 laps) and winning by 14.417 seconds over Kenny Wallace. Sorenson became the first driver in eight races at Nashville to win from the pole position.

DID YOU KNOW? THREE Raybestos® Rookies have won Busch Series races at Nashville, all three in the Pepsi 300: Greg Biffle (2001), Scott Riggs (2002) and Sorenson.

DID YOU KNOW? Sorenson’s margin of victory in the 2005 Pepsi 300 is the largest ever on a superspeedway by a Raybestos® Rookie since the program was created in 1989.

DID YOU KNOW? A Raybestos® Rookie has led the most laps in the last two consecutive Pepsi 300 races at Nashville: Sorenson and Clint Bowyer (four times for 104 laps in 2004).

DID YOU KNOW? Sorenson and Shane Hmiel are the only Raybestos® Rookies to win a pole in nine Busch Series races at Nashville. Hmiel took the top starting spot for the 2002 Pepsi 300.

DID YOU KNOW? Sorenson holds the record for laps led by a Raybestos® Rookie in a Busch race at Nashville. He led three times for 197 laps, breaking Greg Biffle’s mark of five times for 133 laps in 2001.

The 2005 Pepsi 300 at Nashville was only the second time eight races at Nashville where TWO Raybestos® Rookies finished in the top-five. In 2001, Greg Biffle won the race while Scott Wimmer placed third.

One or more Raybestos® Rookies have finished in the top-five in seven of the nine 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)
2005 Pepsi 300: Reed Sorenson (first) and Carl Edwards (fourth)
2005 Federated 300: Reed Sorenson (third)

DID YOU KNOW? One or more Raybestos® Rookies have finished in the top-10 in all nine 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)
2005 Pepsi 300: Reed Sorenson (first), Carl Edwards (fourth) and Denny Hamlin (ninth).
2005 Federated 300: Reed Sorenson (third), Denny Hamlin (7th) and Paul Wolfe (10th)

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE HISTORY

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.

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
Burney Lamar 74
Todd Kluever 67
John Andretti 61
Mark McFarland 59 
Danny O’Quinn 55
A.J. Foyt IV 38 
Tracy Hines 38 
Joel Kauffman 30
Chris Wimmer 10
David Gilliland 8
Kevin Conway 6
Jorge Goeters 6 

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