Sirius at the Glen - Raybestos Rookie Notes

Kasey Kahne enters Sunday's race at Watkins Glen 11th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings, just 31 points behind 10th place Ryan Newman. Kahne finished fourth in the Brickyard 400, his seventh top-five and eighth top-10 finish of the 2004 season. He took Raybestos Rookie of the Race honors for the 10th time this season. Kahne enjoys a 65-point edge (250-185) over Brian Vickers in the Raybestos Rookie standings entering the Sirius at The Glen. He started 30th and finished 31st in the Dodge/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway earlier this season.

KASEY KAHNE, #9 DODGE DEALERS/UAW DODGE. "I'm looking forward to it. I really enjoyed Sears Point. We didn't run good, had a couple of problems, but I'm look forward to Watkins Glen. It should be fun. I like turning left and right and doing the whole road course thing. You just have to remember the kind of things that you need to do on those types of tracks. It's different than an oval track. You take them with you and work on them every lap. You work on getting better and better, just figuring out the racetrack and the gears and everything that you need to use there."

TOMMY BALDWIN, CREW CHIEF, #9 DODGE DEALERS/UAW DODGE: YOU GAINED POINTS IN THE RACE FOR THE TOP-10. "I think we're pretty close now. We're probably within 10, 20 points so we'll take it." HOW BIG WOULD THAT BIG FOR THIS TEAM TO RACE FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP AT THE END OF THE SEASON? "It would be good. We're still not doing anything different: top-15s in qualifying and top-15s in the race and if we do better, we do better. Everything has been good so far. Watkins Glen is probably our last real true test and then we go to racetracks that we've been to already so I'm looking forward to that." HOW WAS THE TEST AT THE GLEN? "We had a real good test there. We're pretty psyched about there. We've just got to keep Kasey mentally fit and physically fit for that place. There is a lot of braking and that's been our weak point this year but we'll take this and hopefully get a top-15 at Watkins Glen and continue on to the rest of the races."

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

· Kasey Kahne was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Kahne finished fourth, his seventh top-five and eighth top-10 of the 2004 season. He finished fifth in his first NEXTEL Cup Series start at Indianapolis and took Raybestos® Rookie of the Race honors for the 10th time this season.

· Kahne's good run at Indianapolis moves him up to 11th in NEXTEL Cup points, just 31 behind 10th place Ryan Newman. Kahne leads 12th place Jeremy Mayfield by one point and 13th place Dale Jarrett by 24 entering the Sirius at The Glen at Watkins Glen International.

· Kahne enjoys a comfortable lead in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the race at Watkins Glen, leading Brian Vickers by 65-points (250-185).

DID YOU KNOW?

· The best finish by a Raybestos® Rookie at The Glen is second by Ryan Newman in 2002. Only one other Raybestos® Rookie has scored a top-five finish at Watkins Glen: Robby Gordon, who placed fourth in 1997.

· A Raybestos® Rookie has led a lap in each of the past two consecutive races at Watkins Glen. McMurray led once for one lap in 2003 while Ryan Newman led twice for 11 laps in 2002.

· The most Raybestos® Rookies to finish inside the top-10 at The Glen is THREE. In 1993, Bobby Labonte placed seventh, followed by P.J. Jones (eighth) and Kenny Wallace (ninth).

· Entering the race at Watkins Glen, Kahne has racked up 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)

· Two or more Raybestos® Rookies have led a lap in the same race SIX times this season entering the Tropicana 400. The races: Pocono (Kahne and Vickers), Las Vegas (Kahne and Vickers), Texas (Kahne and Sauter), Talladega (Wimmer and Vickers), and California (Kahne, Gaughan, and Vickers), and Dover (Kahne and Vickers).

· Kahne has led more miles and laps than any other Raybestos® Rookie. Entering the race at Watkins Glen, Kahne has led 26 times in 10 races for a total of 544.81 miles (349 laps). Other freshman drivers to lead at least one lap this season: Brian Vickers (five times in five races for 43 laps, 40.82 miles), Brendan Gaughan (twice in two races for 14 laps, 28.00 miles), Scott Wimmer (twice in two races for seven laps, 17.82 miles), Scott Riggs (twice in two races for two laps, 3.50 miles), and 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.

WATKINS GLEN RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE TIDBITS

· Jamie McMurray was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2003 Sirius at The Glen, claiming a 22nd place finish. He led the race once for one lap.

· Greg Biffle started second in last year's race at Watkins Glen, the best qualifying effort by a Raybestos® Rookie in 18 NEXTEL Cup Series races at The Glen. Biffle also led the race once for 23 laps, the most laps led by a Raybestos® Rookie in 18 races at The Glen.

· TWO or more Raybestos® Rookies have led the same race at The Glen only twice: In 1991, Ted Musgrave led once for one lap while Dorsey Schroeder led once for three laps. In 2003, Biffle (once for 23 laps) and McMurray each led a lap.

· Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at Watkins Glen:
1993: Bobby Labonte, seventh
1993: P.J. Jones, eighth
1993: Kenny Wallace, seventh
1994: Joe Nemechek, eighth
1995: Ricky Craven, 10th
1997: Robby Gordon, fourth
1999: Tony Stewart, sixth
2000: Matt Kenseth, 10th
2001: Kevin Harvick, seventh
2002: Ryan Newman, second

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 250
Brian Vickers 185
Scott Wimmer 183
Brendan Gaughan 168
Scott Riggs 161
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