Race 2 Win: Busch Series Race Notes

NASCAR Busch Series

Sam’s Town 300 - Raybestos Rookie Notes

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

Juan Pablo Montoya won the March 4 Telcel-Motorola 200 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, Mexico. Montoya scored his first victory in seven Busch Series starts. His previous best finish was 11th at Memphis (Tenn.) Motorsports Park in October 2006.

DID YOU KNOW? A Raybestos® Rookie has won at least one race in each of the past FOUR consecutive seasons (2004-2007).

Montoya led 43 laps to earn WIX Filters Lap Leader of the Race honors for the first time in his Busch Series career.

Marcos Ambrose scored an eighth-place finish, his first top-10 effort in three Busch Series starts. Ambrose’s best previous finish was 16th in the Feb. 17 ORBITZ 300 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.

Ambrose and Montoya are tied for the lead (33-33) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the March 10 Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway.

Ambrose is sixth in the Busch Series championship standings, best of any Raybestos® Rookie. He and Kevin Harvick each have 345 points but Harvick is listed in fifth-place because of his victory. Ambrose is 52 points behind fourth-place Greg Biffle and 18 ahead of seventh-place Matt Kenseth.

Todd Kluever was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2006 Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas, posting a 21st-place finish.

Carl Edwards is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole position at Las Vegas. Edwards grabbed the top starting spot for the 2005 Sam’s Town 300.

DID YOU KNOW? Edwards is also the only Raybestos® Rookie to lead the most laps in a Busch Series race at Las Vegas, holding the top spot six times for 124 laps.

DID YOU KNOW? The best finish by a Raybestos® Rookie in 10 previous Busch Series races at Las Vegas is second by Greg Biffle in 2001. Biffle finished 1.085 seconds behind race winner Todd Bodine.

The only other Raybestos® Rookie to score a top-five finish at Las Vegas is Scott Riggs, who finished fourth in the 2002 race.

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at Las Vegas: 1997: Steve Park, eighth 2000: Ron Hornaday, eighth 2001: Greg Biffle, second 2002: Scott Riggs, fourth 2005: Reed Sorenson, sixth 2005: Carl Edwards, seventh

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.

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
Marcos Ambrose 33
Juan Pablo Montoya 33
Kyle Krisiloff 25
David Ragan 25
Sam Hornish Jr. 14
Brad Keselowski 11
Timothy Peters 11
Robert Richardson Jr. 9
Alex Garcia 7
Brad Coleman 6
Justin Diercks 1

HIGHEST-FINISHING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE BY RACE
EVENT HIGHEST-FINISHING ROOKIE
ORBITZ 300 Ambrose, 16th 
Stater Bros. 300 Peters, 17th 
Telcel-Motorola 200 Montoya, FIRST