Southern 500 - Raybestos® Rookie Notes

· A NEW LEADER! Jamie McMurray used his third place finish in the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway to take the lead in the Raybestos® Rookie point standings. He owns a three-point lead (232-229) over Greg Biffle entering the Mountain Dew Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. McMurray leads the standings for the first time since the Dodge/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway.

· McMurray scored his fourth top-five and sixth top-10 of the 2003 season at Bristol. McMurray has more top-five and top-10 finishes than any other Raybestos® Rookie this season and took top Raybestos® Rookie honors for the 10th time this season.

· LEADING THE WAY: Four Raybestos® Rookie Contenders finished on the lead lap at Bristol, the most to complete the full distance in a Winston Cup race this season. McMurray, Tony Raines (20th), Casey Mears (21st), and Biffle (22nd) each logged all 500 laps. Five Raybestos® Rookies finished on the lead lap in the Daytona 500 but the race was rain shortened to 109 of the scheduled 200 laps.

· McMurray has led more miles than any other Raybestos® Rookie entering the Mountain Dew Southern 500: 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).

· Biffle was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race at Darlington in March, scoring a 12th place finish.

· 2002 Raybestos® Rookie of the Year Ryan Newman placed second in last year's Mountain Dew Southern 500, 1.734 seconds behind race winner Jeff Gordon. Newman also led the race once for one lap. Fellow rookie Jimmie Johnson placed ninth at Darlington, giving the rookie class two drivers who placed inside the top-10. Johnson led the race once for 17 laps.

· Kurt Busch is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win the pole for the Mountain Dew Southern 500 at Darlington. Busch captured the top starting spot in the 2001 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
Jamie McMurray          232
Greg Biffle             229
Casey Mears             178
Tony Raines             177 
Jack Sprague            158
Larry Foyt              126
  
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
Sharpie 500                  Jamie McMurray, third

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