Race 2 Win: Nationwide Series Race Notes

Nationwide Series

O’Reilly 300 - Raybestos Rookies Notes

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

Cale Gale was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the March 22 Pepsi 300 at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway. Gale scored an eighth-place finish, his best in 14 career Nationwide Series starts and first top-10. He claimed Raybestos® Rookie of the Race honors for the second time in three starts this season.

Dario Franchitti holds a six-point lead (58-52) over Bryan Clauson in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the April 5 O’Reilly 300 at Texas Motor Speedway.

David Ragan was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2007 O’Reilly 300, scoring a fifth-place finish. Ragan led the race once for two laps and was the only first-year driver to lead a lap.

Ragan won the pole for the O’Reilly 300, his first career pole in the Nationwide Series. He is the third Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole at Texas, joining Jason Leffler (2000) and Kyle Busch (2004).

DID YOU KNOW? A Raybestos® Rookie has finished in the top-10 in TWO consecutive Nationwide Series races at Texas: Ragan and Brad Keselowski (sixth in the 2007 fall race).

DID YOU KNOW? Only once in 14 previous Nationwide Series races at Texas have THREE Raybestos® Rookies finished inside the top-10. Sorenson, Carl Edwards (fourth) and Jon Wood (eighth) accomplished the feat in the 2005 O’Reilly 300.

DID YOU KNOW? The best finish by a Raybestos® Rookie in 14 previous Nationwide Series races at Texas is second by Kyle Busch in 2004. Busch finished second behind Matt Kenseth in a race that ended under caution.

Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in O’Reilly 300:
2002: Scott Riggs, fourth
2003: Chad Blount, fifth
2004: Kyle Busch, second
2005: Reed Sorenson, third
2005: Carl Edwards, fourth

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the O’Reilly 300:
2000: Kevin Harvick, ninth
2001: Greg Biffle, seventh
2002: Scott Riggs, fourth
2003: Chad Blount, fifth
2004: Kyle Busch, second
2005: Reed Sorenson, third
2005: Carl Edwards, fourth

DID YOU KNOW? Only two Raybestos® Rookies have led the most laps in a Nationwide Series race at Texas: Busch (2004) and Kevin Harvick (2000). Busch led four times for 147 laps, the most laps led by a rookie in 10 races at Texas Motor Speedway. Harvick led twice for 67 laps in 2000.

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS
DRIVER POINTS
Dario Franchitti 58
Bryan Clauson 52
Brian Keselowski 38
Cale Gale 34
Chase Miller 10
Landon Cassill 8

HIGHEST-FINISHING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE BY RACE
EVENT HIGHEST-FINISHING ROOKIE
Camping World 300 Clauson, sixth
Stater Bros. 300 Franchitti, 24th
Sam’s Town 300 Franchitti, sixth
Nicorette 300 Gale, 20th
Sharp Mini 300 Franchitti, 22nd
Pepsi 300 Gale, eighth

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE HISTORY

DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a Nationwide Series race is Juan Pablo Montoya. Montoya captured the 2007 Telcel MOTOROLA Mexico 200 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez (Mexico City, Mexico), crossing the finish line .750 seconds ahead of Denny Hamlin (38 races).

DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole position in the Nationwide Series is David Ragan. Ragan captured the top starting spot for the 2007 Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway (six races).

David Ragan captured 2007 Raybestos® Rookie of the Year in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Ragan edged Marcos Ambrose by 27 points (272-245) for the honor. Ragan finished the season with two poles, four top-five and nine top-10 finishes. His best finish of the season was a third-place effort in the Sam’s Town 250 at Memphis (Millington, Tenn.) Motorsports Park (race no. 32). Ragan was fifth in the Nationwide Series championship standings, best of any Raybestos® Rookie.

The most recent streak for at least two Raybestos® Rookies to rank inside the top-10 in the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship standings is 21 consecutive races (2007 race at Kentucky Speedway, race No. 16, through 2008 Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, race No. 1).

Roush Fenway Racing has won THREE consecutive Raybestos® Rookie of the Year titles in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and FOUR since 2001. The others:
2006: Danny O’Quinn Jr.
2005: Carl Edwards
2001: Greg Biffle

Danny O’Quinn Jr. narrowly edged John Andretti to win the 2006 Raybestos® Rookie of the Year title in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. O’Quinn Jr. finished one point higher than Andretti in the final standings, the closet margin in NASCAR national series history. He also became the second driver in series history to win the award without completing the full schedule.

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 Nationwide 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 Nationwide 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.