Race 2 Win: Aaron's 312 - Raybestos Rookie Notes

NASCAR Busch Series

Aaron's 312 - 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 April 21 Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 at Phoenix International Raceway. O’Quinn Jr. finished 14th and took top Raybestos® Rookie honors for the first time this season.

Burney Lamar leads Todd Kluever by 20 points (98-78) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the April 29 Aaron’s 312 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

Lamar is ninth in the NASCAR Busch Series championship standings, 25 points behind eighth-place Kyle Busch and eight ahead of 10th-place Greg Biffle.

Mark McFarland scored his best qualifying effort of the season at Phoenix, grabbing the 13th-place starting position. His best previous effort in 19 Busch Series races was 15th in September 200 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway.

Jon Wood was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2005 Aaron’s 312 at Talladega. Wood finished second, .128 seconds behind race winner Martin Truex Jr. He equaled the best finish by a Raybestos® Rookie at Talladega, joining Steve Park who scored a second-place finish in 1997.

DID YOU KNOW? A Raybestos® Rookie has scored a top-10 finish in each of the past SIX consecutive Aaron’s 312 races at Talladega: Mike Borkowski (10th in 2000), Greg Biffle (sixth in 2001), Casey Mears (fifth in 2002), Coy Gibbs (10th in 2003) and Kyle Busch (fourth in 2004) and Wood.

Three Raybestos® Rookies finished inside the top-10 in the 2005 Aaron’s 312. Joining Wood inside the top-10 were Brent Sherman (ninth) and Kertus Davis (10th).

DID YOU KNOW? Wood, Park and Busch are the only Raybestos® Rookies to score top-five finishes in 14 Busch races at Talladega.

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at Talladega:
1993: Hermie Sadler, ninth
1997: Steve Park, second
1997: Tim Steele, sixth
1997: Matt Kenseth, seventh
1998: Matt Hutter, ninth
2000: Mike Borkowski, 10th
2001: Greg Biffle, sixth
2002: Casey Mears, fifth
2003: Coy Gibbs, 10th
2004: Kyle Busch, fourth

Johnny Sauter (2002) and Clint Bowyer (2004) are the only Raybestos® Rookies to win poles in 14 Busch Series races at Talladega. Both Sauter and Bowyer won the first poles of their Busch Series career and both were driving cars prepared by Richard Childress Racing.

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 98
Todd Kluever 78
Danny O’Quinn Jr. 76
John Andretti 74 
Mark McFarland 74
Joel Kauffman 47 
Tracy Hines 42 
A.J. Foyt IV 38
Jorge Goeters 15
David Gilliland 15
Chris Wimmer 14
Kevin Conway 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 
Pepsi 300 Lamar, seventh
Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 O’Quinn Jr., 14th