Race 2 Win: Sharpie 500 - Raybestos® Rookie Notes

Nextel Cup Series

Sharpie 500 - Raybestos® Rookie Notes

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

Reed Sorenson was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the August 20 GFS Marketplace 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Sorenson finished eighth and took top rookie honors for the fifth time this season. He scored his fifth top-10 finish of the season at Michigan and first since he placed seventh at Chicagoland (race No. 18).

Denny Hamlin placed ninth at Michigan, his 11th top-10 finish of the 2006 season. Hamlin leads Clint Bowyer by 47 points (237-190) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the August 26 Sharpie 500 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

Hamlin is eighth in the NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings, two points behind seventh-place Kyle Busch. He is four points ahead of ninth-place Jeff Burton and 39 in front of 10th-place Dale Earnhardt Jr.

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

THE STREAK STAYS ALIVE: A Raybestos® Rookie has finished in the top 15 in all 23 races this season.

DID YOU KNOW? Hamlin is the first Raybestos® Rookie since Jimmie Johnson in 2002 to post a multiple-win season in the NEXTEL Cup Series. A Raybestos® Rookie has now posted multiple victories SEVEN times in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series history. The others: 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), Jimmie Johnson (three wins in 2002), and Kyle Busch (two wins in 2005).

DID YOU KNOW? The most Raybestos® Rookies to finish in the top-10 this season is THREE in the July 9 USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland (Joliet, Ill.) Speedway: Reed Sorenson (seventh), Bowyer (ninth) and J.J. Yeley (10th).

Hamlin is the only Raybestos® Rookie to lead the most laps in a race this season, capturing the WIX Filters Lap Leader of the Race award in both events at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway.

Hamlin has led 24 times in eight races for a total of 337 laps, 726.608 miles, best among the Raybestos® Rookie class.

DID YOU KNOW? FOUR Raybestos® Rookies led a lap in the July 1 Pepsi 400 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (race No. 17), the most to lead a race this season:
---Martin Truex Jr., once for three laps
---David Stremme, twice for two laps
---Sorenson, once for one lap
---Yeley, once for one lap

Hamlin was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the March 26 Food City 500 at Bristol, grabbing a 14th-place finish.

Travis Kvapil was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2005 Sharpie 500 at Bristol, logging a 19th-place finish.

DID YOU KNOW? The best finish by a Raybestos® Rookie in the Sharpie 500 at Bristol is second by Kevin Harvick in 2001.

DID YOU KNOW? Since 1975, only one Raybestos® Rookie has won the pole position for the August race at Bristol: Tony Stewart. Stewart grabbed the top starting spot for the 1999 Sharpie 500.

Stewart is also the only Raybestos® Rookie to lead the most laps in the August race at Bristol. Stewart led once for 225 laps in the 1999 race on his way to a fifth-place finish. Since 1975, no Raybestos® Rookie has led more laps than Stewart in the night race at Bristol.

DID YOU KNOW? Stewart is the most recent Raybestos® Rookie to lead a lap in the Sharpie 500. No first-year driver has led a lap in any of the past six night races at Bristol.

Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the Sharpie 500 at Bristol (since 1975):
1981: Ron Bouchard, fifth
2001: Kevin Harvick, second
2003: Jamie McMurray, third

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the Sharpie 500 at Bristol (since 1975):
1975: Bruce Hill, 10th
1977: Janet Guthrie, sixth
1978: Roger Hamby, 10th
1979: Joe Millikan, sixth
1979: Terry Labonte, eighth
1981: Ron Bouchard, fifth
1981: Tim Richmond, eighth
1982: Geoffrey Bodine, 10th
1984: Greg Sacks, ninth
1986: Alan Kulwicki, 10th
1989: Jimmy Spencer, eighth
1992: Jimmy Hensley, seventh
1993: Kenny Wallace, ninth
1998: Kevin Lepage, 10th
1999: Tony Stewart, fifth
2001: Kevin Harvick, second

Raybestos® Rookies that have led a lap in the Sharpie 500 at Bristol (since 1975):
1979: Harry Gant (once for 16 laps)
1981: Morgan Shepherd (once for 104 laps)
1986: Alan Kulwicki (twice for two laps)
1994: Joe Nemechek (once for 14 laps)
1995: Ricky Craven (once for one lap)
1999: Tony Stewart (once for 225 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, 2005) and 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 Stewart (1999) and Johnson (2002).

Johnson also holds the best ever points finish by a Raybestos® Rookie, placing fifth in the championship standings in 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 237
Clint Bowyer 190
Reed Sorenson 181
Martin Truex Jr. 161
J.J. Yeley 157 
David Stremme 136
Brent Sherman 41 

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