Checker Auto Parts 500 - Raybestos® Rookie Notes

NEWS AND NOTES FROM THE RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDERS - NASCAR WINSTON CUP SERIES

· Jamie McMurray was the top Raybestos® Rookie in the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. McMurray finished 15th and took top Raybestos® Rookie honors for the 19th time this season and for the tenth consecutive race. McMurray has been the top rookie in 12 of the past 13 Winston Cup races entering the Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

· McMurray holds a 33-point advantage (276-243) over Greg Biffle in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the race at Phoenix.

· FIRST TIME EVER: Tony Raines led once for one lap at Atlanta, the first time in his 39-race Winston Cup career he had led a lap. Raines finished 19th in the race.

· FIRST TO WIN AT PHOENIX: Tony Stewart, 1999 Raybestos® Rookie of the Year, is the only first-year driver to win a race at Phoenix. Stewart claimed the 1999 event by 2.081 seconds over Mark Martin.

· FIRST TO LEAD AT PHOENIX: The first Raybestos® Rookies to lead a lap at Phoenix were Stanley Smith and Bobby Hamilton Jr. in the 1991 event. Smith led once for 12 laps while Hamilton held the top spot once for one lap.

· The most Raybestos® Rookies to finish in the top-10 at Phoenix is three in 2001: Casey Atwood (third), Kevin Harvick (seventh) and Jason Leffler (10th). All three finished on the lead lap as did Kurt Busch (23rd), the fourth Raybestos® Rookie entered in the race.

· The first time more than one Raybestos® Rookie finished in the top-10 at Phoenix was 1989 when Dick Trickle (seventh) and Jimmy Spencer (10th) both logged top-10 finishes.

· A STREAK IN DANGER: A Raybestos® Rookie has won at least one pole position in each of the past seven consecutive seasons, dating back to 1996. Ryan Newman won the pole for the 2002 Checker 500 at Phoenix and holds the record for most poles in a rookie season. No Raybestos® Rookie has won a pole position this season.

· TWO Raybestos® Rookies have finished in the top 10 in two races this season: the Mountain Dew Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway (McMurray finished fourth and Biffle placed tenth) and the MBNA America 400 at Dover International Speedway (McMurray finished sixth and Biffle placed seventh).

· 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), 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).

· The way to the Winston Cup championship is to win Raybestos® Rookie of the Year. Since 1979, five Raybestos® Rookie of the Year drivers have won the title: Dale Earnhardt (1979), Rusty Wallace (1984), Alan Kulwicki (1986), Jeff Gordon (1993), and Stewart (1999).

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

   
RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS

DRIVER               POINTS
Jamie McMurray          276
Greg Biffle             243
Casey Mears             195
Tony Raines             190 
Jack Sprague            158
Larry Foyt              134

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
Mountain Dew Southern 500    Jamie McMurray, fourth
Chevy Rock and Roll 400      Jamie McMurray, 19th 
Sylvania 300                 Jamie McMurray, 10th 
MBNA America 400             Jamie McMurray, sixth
EA Sports 500                Jamie McMurray, 16th 
Banquet 400                  Jamie McMurray, eighth
UAW-GM Quality 500           Jamie McMurray, seventh
Subway 500                   Jamie McMurray, eighth
Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500      Jamie McMurray, 15th  

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