Race 2 Win: Bass Pro Shops 500 - Raybestos® Rookie Notes

Nextel Cup Series

Bass Pro Shops 500 - Raybestos® Rookie Notes

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

Denny Hamlin was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the Oct. 22 Subway 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Hamlin finished second, .544 seconds behind race winner Jimmie Johnson. He claimed his sixth top-five and 16th top-10 finish and took Raybestos® Rookie of the Race honors for the 15th time this season.

Hamlin is fourth in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings, 47 points behind leader Matt Kenseth. He leads fifth-place Jeff Burton by one point and sixth-place Dale Earnhardt Jr. by 47.

Hamlin leads Clint Bowyer by 54 points (277-223) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the October 29 Bass Pro Shops 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

THE STREAK STAYS ALIVE: A Raybestos® Rookie has finished in the top 15 in all 32 races this season.

WIX Filters is an associate sponsor for Joe Gibbs Racing. WIX Filters and Raybestos® brand brakes are members of the Affinia family of brands.

DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to lead the NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings is Jimmie Johnson in 2002. He led after the Kansas event (race No. 28).

DID YOU KNOW? Tony Stewart owns the best points finish by a Raybestos® Rookie in the sport’s modern era (post 1971), placing fourth in the championship standings in 1999. James Hylton holds the best points finish by a Raybestos® Rookie in the sport’s history, a second-place effort in 1966.

DID YOU KNOW? The most recent race where multiple Raybestos® Rookies finished in the top five occurred at Chicagoland Speedway on July 14, 2002. Jimmie Johnson finished fourth, just ahead of fifth-place Ryan Newman.

Reed Sorenson was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the March race at Atlanta (race No. 4) earlier this season, scoring a 10th-place finish.

Kyle Busch was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2005 Bass Pro Shops 500, posting a 12th-place finish. Busch also led the race once for four laps.

DID YOU KNOW? Since 1975, Kenny Irwin is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole at the fall race in Atlanta. Irwin grabbed the top spot for the 1998 Bass Pro Shops 500.

DID YOU KNOW? Since 1975, FIVE Raybestos® Rookies have posted a top-five finish in the fall race at Atlanta:
1979: Dale Earnhardt, second
1987: Davey Allison, fifth
1994: Mike Wallace, fifth
1997: Jeff Green, fourth
2001: Kevin Harvick, third

DID YOU KNOW? The best finish by a Raybestos® Rookie in the fall race at Atlanta (since 1975) is second by Earnhardt in 1979. Earnhardt finished one-half car length behind winner Neil Bonnett.

Earnhardt also holds the record for most laps led by a Raybestos® Rookie in the fall race at Atlanta, holding the top spot six times for 69 laps in 1979.

DID YOU KNOW? Since 1975, SIX Raybestos® Rookie have posted a top-five finish in the fall race at Atlanta:
1979: Dale Earnhardt, second
1987: Davey Allison, fifth
1994: Mike Wallace, fifth
1997: Jeff Green, fourth
2001: Kevin Harvick, third
2004: Kasey Kahne, fifth

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the Bass Pro Shops 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway (since 1975):
1976: Sam Sommers, ninth
1977: Ricky Rudd, eighth
1979: Dale Earnhardt, second
1979: Terry Labonte, seventh
1979: Joe Millikan, ninth
1980: Jody Ridley, sixth
1982: Mark Martin, 10th
1987: Davey Allison, fifth
1992: Jimmy Hensely, eighth
1994: Mike Wallace, fifth
1997: Jeff Green, fourth
2000: Matt Kenseth, ninth
2001: Kevin Harvick, third
2002: Ryan Newman, 10th
2004: Kasey Kahne, fifth
2004: Brian Vickers, seventh

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, 2005) and Matt Kenseth (2000).

At least one Raybestos® Rookie has won a Bud Pole in each of the last 11 years (1996-2006).

Newman holds the all-time Raybestos® Rookie record for most poles (6), most top-fives (14) and most top-10s (22).

Kasey Kahne holds the record for most earnings by a Raybestos® Rookie ($5.4 million in 2004).

The record for most wins by a Raybestos® Rookie is three, shared by Tony Stewart (1999) and Jimmie Johnson (2002).

More than one Raybestos® Rookie has posted victories in their rookie season only three times: Morgan Shepherd and Ron Bouchard (one each in 1981), Earnhardt Jr. (two) and Kenseth (2000), Johnson (three) and Newman (2002).

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS
DRIVER POINTS
Denny Hamlin 277
Clint Bowyer 223
Reed Sorenson 194
Martin Truex Jr. 192
J.J. Yeley 181 
David Stremme 157

HIGHEST-FINISHING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE BY RACE
EVENT HIGHEST-FINISHING ROOKIE
Daytona 500 Bowyer, sixth
Auto Club 500 Yeley, eighth
UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 Hamlin, 10th 
Golden Corral 500 Sorenson, 10th 
Food City 500 Hamlin, 14th 
DIRECTV 500 Sorenson, 12th 
Samsung/RadioShack 500 Hamlin, fourth
Subway Fresh 500 Bowyer, fifth
Aaron’s 499 Yeley, 11th 
Crown Royal 400 Hamlin, second
Dodge Charger 500 Hamlin, 10th 
Coca-Cola 600 Hamlin, ninth
Neighborhood Excellence 400 Hamlin, 11th 
Pocono 500 Hamlin, FIRST
3M Performance 400 Sorenson, fifth
Dodge/Save Mart 350 Hamlin, 12th 
Pepsi 400 Bowyer, 10th 
USG Sheetrock 400 Sorenson, seventh
Lenox Industrial Tools 300 Hamlin, sixth
Pennsylvania 500 Hamlin, FIRST
Allstate 400 at the Brickyard Bowyer, fourth
AMD at the Glen Hamlin, 10th 
GFS Marketplace 400 Sorenson, eighth
Sharpie 500 Hamlin, sixth
Sony HD 500 Bowyer, third
Chevy Rock & Roll 400 Bowyer, 12th 
Sylvania 300 Hamlin, fourth
Dover 400 Truex Jr., sixth
Banquet 400 Bowyer, ninth
UAW-Ford 500 Truex Jr., fifth
Bank of America 500 Stremme, 15th 
Subway 500 Hamlin, second