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USG Sheetrock 400 - Raybestos® Rookie Notes

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

  • Clint Bowyer was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the July 1 Pepsi 400 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. Bowyer finished 10th and took Raybestos® Rookie of the Race honors for the third time this season. He scored his fourth top-10 finish of the 2006 season. Bowyer became the first Raybestos® Rookie to score a top-10 in the Pepsi 400 since Brian Vickers finished ninth in 2004.

  • THE STREAK STAYS ALIVE: A Raybestos® Rookie has finished in the top-15 in all 17 races this season.

  • Denny Hamlin leads the Raybestos® Rookie standings by 28 points (194-166) over Bowyer entering the July 9 USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland (Joliet, Ill.) Speedway.

  • FOUR Raybestos® Rookies (Martin Truex Jr., Reed Sorenson, David Stremme, and J.J. Yeley) led a lap in the Pepsi 400, the most rookies to lead a lap in a race this season.

  • Hamlin is 10th in the NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings, 40 points behind ninth-place Kyle Busch. He holds a six-point advantage over 11th-place Greg Biffle.

  • DID YOU KNOW? Hamlin has led 18 times in six races for 185 laps, 348.050 miles, best of any Raybestos® Rookie. He is the only first-year driver to lead the most laps in a race this season, holding the top spot six times for 83 laps in the June 11 Pocono 500 at Long Pond, Pa. (race number 14).

  • TWO Raybestos® Rookies rank among the top-20 in the NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings: Hamlin and Bowyer (18th).

  • Kyle Busch was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2005 USG Sheetrock 400, grabbing a 14th-place finish.

  • The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to lead a lap at Chicagoland is Kasey Kahne, who led the 2004 race twice for 10 laps.

  • DID YOU KNOW? Kevin Harvick is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win in five NEXTEL Cup races at Chicagoland Speedway. He won the 2001 Tropicana 400 by .649 seconds over Robert Pressley. Harvick is also the only Raybestos® Rookie to lead the most laps in the four races at Chicagoland, holding the top spot five times for 113 laps.

  • DID YOU KNOW? Ryan Newman is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole position in five races at Chicagoland Speedway, taking the top starting spot in the 2002 USG Sheetrock 400.

  • TWO more Raybestos® Rookies have finished inside the top-five just once in four NEXTEL Cup races at Chicagoland: In 2002, Jimmie Johnson placed fourth while Ryan Newman finished fifth.

  • Two or more Raybestos® Rookies have finished in the top-10 in two of the four races at Chicagoland. In addition to Johnson and Newman in 2002, Harvick and Kurt Busch (eighth) both finished inside the top-10 in 2001.

  • A Raybestos® Rookie has led at least one lap in four of the five races at Chicagoland:
    2001: Harvick (five times for 113 laps)
    2002: Ryan Newman (twice for 86 laps)
    2002: Jimmie Johnson (once for two laps)
    2003: Jamie McMurray (once for one lap)
    2004: Kasey Kahne (twice for 10 laps)

  • Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at Chicagoland:
    2001: Harvick, first
    2002: Jimmie Johnson, fourth
    2002: Ryan Newman, fifth

  • Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at Chicagoland.
    2001: Harvick, first
    2001: Kurt Busch, eighth
    2002: Jimmie Johnson, fourth
    2002: Ryan Newman, fifth
    2003: Jamie McMurray, eighth

    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).

  • Ryan 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 Jimmie Johnson (2002).

  • Johnson also holds the best ever points finish by a Raybestos® Rookie, placing fifth in the championship standings in 2002.

  • A Raybestos® Rookie has posted multiple victories SIX times in NASCAR Winston Cup history: Davey Allison (two wins in 1987), Stewart (three wins in 1999), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (two wins in 2000), Kevin Harvick (two wins in 2001), Johnson (three wins in 2002), and Kyle Busch (two wins in 2005).

  • 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 194
Clint Bowyer 166
Reed Sorenson 151
Martin Truex Jr. 146
J.J. Yeley 139 
David Stremme 115
Brent Sherman 40 

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



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