Pop Secret 500 - Raybestos® Rookie Notes

· Scott Riggs was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Riggs finished 17th and took top rookie honors for the second time this season (he was also the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the MBNA 400 at Dover International Speedway in June).

· Kasey Kahne started second in the Sharpie 500, his second top-10 start in two career races at Bristol. Kahne started fifth in the Food City 500 in March. He had racked up 10 top-10 starts in 2004.

· Kahne is 11th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings, 26 points behind 10th-place Ryan Newman. Kahne is nine points ahead of 12th-place Mark Martin.

· DID YOU KNOW? FOUR Raybestos® Rookies led at least one lap in the GFS Marketplace 400 at Michigan International Speedway, the most Raybestos® Rookies to lead a lap in a race this season: Scott Riggs (twice for 12 laps), Kahne, Scott Wimmer (once for three laps) and Brendan Gaughan (once for two laps).

· Kahne enjoys a comfortable lead in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the Pop Secret 500 at California Speedway. He leads Brian Vickers by 74 points (265-191).

· Entering the race at California, Kahne has four second-place finishes this season. The last time a Raybestos® Rookie scored more than four second-place finishes in his first season was in 2002 when Ryan Newman had five second-place finishes. James Hylton, who captured Raybestos® Rookie of the Year honors in 1966, is the only other first-year driver to score four second-place finishes.

· Two or more Raybestos® Rookies have finished in the top 10 in two races this season.
MBNA 400: Scott Riggs (fifth) and Scott Wimmer (ninth)
DHL 400: Kasey Kahne (second) and Brian Vickers (ninth)

· Kahne has led more miles and laps than any other Raybestos® Rookie. Entering the race at California, Kahne has led 28 times in 11 races for a total of 556.81 miles (361 laps). Other freshman drivers to lead at least one lap this season:
---Brendan Gaughan (four times in four races for 23 laps, 49.15 miles)
---Brian Vickers (five times in five races for 43 laps, 40.82 miles)
---Scott Riggs (four times in three races for 14 laps, 27.50 miles)
---Scott Wimmer (three times in three races for 10 laps, 23.82 miles)
---Johnny Sauter (twice in two races for two laps, 2.03 miles)

· Kahne is the only Raybestos® Rookie to lead the most laps in a NEXTEL Cup Series race this season. He led the Samsung/RadioShack 500 at Texas Motor Speedway six times for 148 laps.

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE HISTORY

· The way to the NASCAR NEXTEL championship is to win Raybestos® Rookie of the Year. Since 1979, SIX Raybestos® Rookie of the Year drivers have gone on to win a NASCAR NEXTEL Cup title: Dale Earnhardt (1979), Rusty Wallace (1984), Alan Kulwicki (1986), Jeff Gordon (1993), Tony Stewart (1999), and Matt Kenseth (2000).

· A Raybestos® Rookie has 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), Jimmie Johnson (California and both 2002 Dover races) and Greg Biffle (Pepsi 400 at Daytona, 2003). The record for most wins by a Raybestos® Rookie is three, shared by Johnson (2002) and Stewart (1999).

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS
DRIVER POINTS
Kasey Kahne 265
Brian Vickers 191
Scott Wimmer 190
Scott Riggs 172
Brendan Gaughan 172
Johnny Sauter 123

HIGHEST FINISHING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIES BY RACE
EVENT HIGHEST FINISHING ROOKIE
Daytona 500 Scott Wimmer, third
Subway 400 Kasey Kahne, second
UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 Kasey Kahne, second
Golden Corral 500 Kasey Kahne, third
Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 Kasey Kahne, 13th
Food City 500 Scott Wimmer, 13th
Samsung/RadioShack 500 Kasey Kahne, second
Advance Auto Parts 500 Brian Vickers, 13th
Aaron's 499 Brendan Gaughan, 13th
Auto Club 500 Brendan Gaughan, sixth
Chevy American Revolution 400 Brian Vickers, eighth
Coca-Cola 600 Kasey Kahne, 12th
MBNA 400 "A Salute to Heroes" Scott Riggs, fifth
Pocono 500 Brian Vickers, 13th
DHL 400 Kasey Kahne, second
Dodge/Save Mart 350 Brian Vickers, 22nd
Pepsi 400 Brian Vickers, ninth
Tropicana 400 Brian Vickers, 14th
Siemens 300 Kasey Kahne, eighth
Pennsylvania 500 Kasey Kahne, third
Brickyard 400 Kasey Kahne, fourth
Sirius at The Glen Kasey Kahne, 14th
GFS Marketplace 400 Kasey Kahne, fifth
Sharpie 500 Scott Riggs, 17th