Race 2 Win: Busch Series Race Notes

NASCAR Busch Series

Circuit City 250 - Raybestos Rookie Notes

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

David Ragan was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the April 28 Aaron’s 312 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. Ragan finished fourth, his second top-five and second top-10 finish of the season. He took Raybestos® Rookie of the Race honors for the third time this season.

TWO Raybestos® Rookies finished inside the top-five at Talladega. Joining Ragan inside the top-five was Kyle Krisiloff, who placed fifth. Krisiloff scored his best finish in 13 Busch Series starts. His previous best effort was 16th earlier this season at Mexico City (race No. 3).

Brad Coleman also had a career-best day at Talladega. Coleman finished ninth, his best finish in seven Busch Series races. His best previous effort was 15th earlier this season at Nashville (race No. 7).

FOUR Raybestos® Rookies finished in the top-10 at Talladega, the most to finish inside the top-10 in the same race this season.

Ragan holds a two-point edge over Juan Pablo Montoya (101-99) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the May 4 Circuit City 250 Presented by FUNAI at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway.

Ragan is seventh in the Busch Series championship standings, best of any Raybestos® Rookie standings. He is 23 points behind sixth-place Matt Kenseth and leads eighth-place Kyle Busch by nine.

Coleman won the pole for the Aaron’s 312, his first pole in his seventh Busch Series start. His previous best start was 14th at Mexico City (race No. 3).

Coleman captured WIX Filters Lap Leader of the Race honors at Talladega, the first time he’s captured the award this season. He joins Ambrose (Las Vegas, race No. 4) and Montoya (Mexico City, race No. 3) as Raybestos® Rookie drivers who have won the award.

DID YOU KNOW? Montoya has led more laps than any other Raybestos® Rookie this season, holding the top spot five times in two races for a total of 51 laps.

DID YOU KNOW? Ragan is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole position this season. Ragan captured the top starting spot for the O’Reilly 300 (race No. 8) at Texas Motor Speedway.

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

John Andretti was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2006 Circuit City 250 at Richmond, scoring a 19th-place finish.

TWO Raybestos Rookies have won pole positions at the spring race in Richmond since the award was created in 1989 (18 races): Wayne Grubb in 1998 and Kyle Busch in 2004.

DID YOU KNOW? Kyle Busch is the only Raybestos Rookie to win from the pole at Richmond (18 races).

Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the spring race at Richmond:
1997: Steve Park, third
1998: Wayne Grubb, fourth
2000: Kevin Harvick, third
2004: Kyle Busch, FIRST!
2005: Carl Edwards, FIRST!

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the spring race at Richmond:
1997: Steve Park, third
1998: Wayne Grubb, fourth
1998: Kevin Grubb, ninth
2000: Kevin Harvick, third
2001: Scott Wimmer, seventh
2002: Brian Vickers, seventh
2004: Kyle Busch, FIRST!
2005: Carl Edwards, FIRST!

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 101
Juan Pablo Montoya 99
Marcos Ambrose 94 
Kyle Krisiloff 89
Brad Keselowski 53
Brad Coleman 42 
Justin Diercks 32
Sam Hornish Jr. 32
Robert Richardson Jr. 23
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