Race 2 Win: Virginia 500 - Raybestos® Rookie Notes

Winston Cup Series

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Virginia 500 - Raybestos® Rookie Notes

Tony Raines was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race at Talladega. He finished 16th, his best career Winston Cup finish in 14 career starts. He took top finishing Raybestos® Rookie honors for the first time this season. Raines was the only first year driver to finish on the lead lap after starting 43rd in the race.

Entering Sunday's Virginia 500 at Martinsville Speedway, Jamie McMurray leads the Raybestos® Rookie standings by four points (82-78) over Greg Biffle. McMurray ranks 22nd in Winston Cup points, best of all Raybestos® Rookie Contenders.

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE SUCCESS AT MARTINSVILLE: Morgan Shepherd is the most recent rookie to win at Martinsville Speedway. Shepherd won the 1981 Virginia 500 in Cliff Stewart's Pontiac over the late Neil Bonnett. Shepherd and Bonnett were the only two cars to finish on the lead lap.

Casey Mears took top qualifying rookie honors at Talladega, the first time this season he has taken home the honor. Mears started 10th in the race, his best career start.

McMurray is the only Raybestos® Rookie to start all eight 2003 Winston Cup races without using a provisional. Mears, Jack Sprague, and Tony Raines are the other first-year drivers that have qualified for all eight races entering the Virginia 500.

The Subway 400 at North Carolina Speedway is the only race this season where all six Raybestos® Rookies qualified for the race AND all six were running at the finish of the race.

Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman both had frustrating afternoons in the 2002 Virginia 500 at Martinsville. Neither Johnson nor Newman led a lap in the Virginia 500 and both drivers parked their cars due to mechanical problems. Johnson was credited with a 35th place finish but dropped out after completing 446 of the 500 laps. Newman's car suffered overheating problems and he left the event after completing 257 laps.

Neither Johnson nor Newman led a lap in the race. In fact, Newman was the only Raybestos® Rookie to lead a lap at Martinsville in 2002. He led once for 33 laps in the October race.

Ryan Newman was the highest qualifying Raybestos® Rookie, taking the 10th starting position in time trials. Johnson wasn't far behind, claiming the 14th position in qualifying.

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 Contender has won at least one race in each of the last four seasons dating back to Tony Stewart's win at Richmond in September, 1999. Other freshman drivers to win: Earnhardt Jr. (Richmond, 2000), Matt Kenseth (Charlotte, 2000), Harvick (Atlanta, 2001), Newman (New Hampshire 2002), and Johnson (Charlotte and both 2002 Dover races). The record for most wins by a Raybestos® Rookie is held by Stewart, who won three races in 1999.

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          82
Greg Biffle             78
Casey Mears             72
Jack Sprague            68 
Tony Raines             62
Larry Foyt              38
Hideo Fukuyama           7

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

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