Sharpie 500 - Raybestos Rookie Notes

· Greg Biffle was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the GFS Marketplace 400. Biffle claimed a fourth place finish, his third top-five and fourth top-10 finish of the 2003 season. Biffle took top Raybestos® Rookie honors for the ninth time this season. He leads Jamie McMurray by eight points (228-220) in Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

· Biffle and McMurray are tied for most top-five finishes by a Raybestos® Rookie this season (four). McMurray has more top-10 finishes than any other Raybestos® Rookie (five) entering Saturday night's race at Bristol.

· Biffle was the only Raybestos® Rookie to lead a lap at Michigan. He held the top spot once for 19 laps.

· McMurray has led more miles than any other Raybestos® Rookie entering the race at Bristol: 11 times in five races for 154.70 miles (75 laps). The other rookies to lead this season: Biffle (four times in four races for 148.85 miles, 64 laps) and Casey Mears (twice in two races for 22.50 miles, nine laps).

· Jimmie Johnson was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2002 Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Johnson was credited with a 34th place finish. Fellow rookie Ryan Newman didn't fare much better. Newman started 14th but finished 36th in the final finishing order. Both drivers were running at the finish of the race.

· DID YOU KNOW? Kevin Harvick owns the best finish by a Raybestos® Rookie at Bristol Motor Speedway since Dale Earnhardt won the 1979 Southeastern 500. Harvick finished second in the 2000 Sharpie 500, 15.515 seconds behind Tony Stewart.

· Stewart is the most recent Raybestos® Rookie to lead a lap in the night race at Bristol. He led once for 225 laps in the 1999 Sharpie 500, more than any other driver.

· Biffle was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race at Bristol in March. He finished fifth, the only first-year driver to complete all 500 laps of the race.

· With Biffle's win in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway, a Raybestos® Rookie has now won at least one race in each of the last five seasons dating back to Tony Stewart's win at Richmond International Raceway in September, 1999. Other freshman drivers to win: Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Richmond, 2000), Matt Kenseth (Charlotte, 2000), Kevin Harvick (Atlanta, 2001), Ryan Newman (New Hampshire 2002), and Jimmie Johnson (California and both 2002 Dover races). The record for most wins by a Raybestos® Rookie is three, shared by Johnson (2002) and Stewart (1999).

· A Raybestos® Rookie has posted multiple victories five times in NASCAR Winston Cup history: Davey Allison (two wins in 1987), Tony Stewart (three wins in 1999), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (two wins in 2000), Kevin Harvick (two wins in 2001), and Jimmie Johnson (two wins in 2002).

· A Raybestos® Rookie has won at least one pole position in each of the past seven consecutive seasons, dating back to 1996. The record for most poles in a rookie season is held by Ryan Newman, who won six in 2002.

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS

DRIVER               POINTS
Greg Biffle             228
Jamie McMurray          220
Casey Mears             176
Tony Raines             173 
Jack Sprague            158
Larry Foyt              119
  
HIGHEST FINISHING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIES BY RACE

EVENT                        HIGHEST FINISHING ROOKIE
Daytona 500                  Jack Sprague, 14th 
Subway 400                   Jamie McMurray, fifth
UAW-Daimler Chrysler 400     Casey Mears, 15th 
Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500      Greg Biffle, 13th 
Carolina Dodge Dealers 400   Greg Biffle, 12th 
Food City 500                Greg Biffle, fifth
Samsung/RadioShack 500       Jamie McMurray, 10th 
Aaron's 499                  Tony Raines, 16th 
Virginia 500                 Greg Biffle, 18th 
Auto Club 500                Jamie McMurray, fifth
Pontiac Excitement 400       Tony Raines, 14th 
Coca-Cola 600                Greg Biffle, 16th 
MBNA Armed Forces Family 400 Jamie McMurray, 13th 
Pocono 500                   Greg Biffle, 20th 
Sirius 400                   Jamie McMurray, 14th 
Dodge/Save Mart 350          Jamie McMurray, 20th            
Pepsi 400                    Greg Biffle, first
Tropicana 400                Jamie McMurray, eighth
New England 300              Greg Biffle, 20th 
Pennsylvania 500             Tony Raines, 16th 
Brickyard 400                Jamie McMurray, third
Sirius @ The Glen            Jamie McMurray, 22nd 
GFS Marketplace 400          Greg Biffle, fourth

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