Race 2 Win: Busch Series Race Notes

NASCAR Busch Series

Camping World 200 - Raybestos Rookie Notes

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

Brad Coleman was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the June 23 AT&T 250 at The Milwaukee (West Allis, Wisc.) Mile. Coleman finished fourth, his second top-five and third top-10 finish in 10 NASCAR Busch Series starts. He took Raybestos® Rookie of the Race honors for the third time in 2007.

David Ragan leads Marcos Ambrose by 12 points (172-160) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the June 30 Camping World 200 at New Hampshire International Speedway.

Ragan is third in the Busch Series championship standings, best of any Raybestos® Rookie. He is 70 points behind second-place David Reutimann and leads fourth-place Dave Blaney by seven.

Three Raybestos® Rookies have captured WIX Filters Lap Leader of the Race honors in the Busch Series this season: Brad Coleman (Talladega, race No. 10 and Kentucky, race No. 16), Marcos Ambrose (Las Vegas, race No. 4) and Juan Pablo Montoya (Mexico City, race No. 3).

DID YOU KNOW? TWO Raybestos® Rookies have won pole positions this season: David Ragan (O’Reilly 300 at Texas Motor Speedway, race No. 8) and Brad Coleman (Aaron’s 312 at Talladega Superspeedway, race No. 10).

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

Mark McFarland was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2006 Camping World 200, posting an 11th-place finish.

DID YOU KNOW? Only once in 17 previous July races at New Hampshire have two Raybestos® Rookies finished inside the top-five: Carl Edwards (second) and Denny Hamlin (third) in 2005.

Only four Raybestos® Rookies have scored top five finishes at New Hampshire since the Busch Series began competing at the 1.058-mile speedway in 1990:
1997: Steve Park, second
2002: Shane Hmiel, fourth
2005: Carl Edwards, second
2005: Denny Hamlin, third

Shane Hmiel is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole position at New Hampshire, taking the top spot for the 2002 event.

DID YOU KNOW? TWO or more Raybestos® Rookies have finished in the top-10 just twice at New Hampshire:
2002: Shane Hmiel (fourth) and Scott Riggs (ninth)
2005: Carl Edwards (second) and Denny Hamlin (third).

The most recent Raybestos® Rookies to lead a lap in a Busch race at New Hampshire are Shane Hmiel (once for 11 laps) and Scott Riggs (once for four laps) in 2002. No Raybestos® Rookie has led a lap in each of the last four Busch Series race at New Hampshire.

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
David Ragan 172
Marcos Ambrose 160
Kyle Krisiloff 141 
Juan Pablo Montoya 137
Brad Coleman 88 
Brad Keselowski 87 
Justin Diercks 51
Robert Richardson Jr. 51
Sam Hornish Jr. 35
Bobby Santos 13 
Alex Garcia 7 

HIGHEST-FINISHING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE BY RACE
EVENT HIGHEST-FINISHING ROOKIE
ORBITZ 300 Ambrose, 16th 
Stater Bros. 300 Peters, 17th 
Telcel-Motorola 200 Montoya, FIRST
Sam’s Town 300 Ambrose, 10th 
Nicorette 300 Montoya, eighth
Sharpie Mini 300 Ragan, 13th 
Pepsi 300 Coleman, 15th 
O’Reilly 300 Ragan, fifth
Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 Montoya, 21st 
Aaron’s 312 Ragan, fourth
Circuit City 250 Montoya, 11th 
Diamond Hill Plywood 200 Ragan, 13th 
CARQUEST Auto Parts 300 Ambrose, 20th 
Dover 200 Ambrose, sixth
Federated Auto Parts 300 Ragan, seventh
Meijer 300 presented by Oreo Coleman, second
AT&T 250 Coleman, fourth