Race 2 Win: Sony HD 500 - Raybestos® Rookie Notes

Nextel Cup Series

Sony HD 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 August 26 Sharpie 500 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. Hamlin took the honor for the 13th time this season and was the only first-year driver to finish inside the top-10.

Hamlin scored his SIXTH consecutive top-10 finish and 12th of the 2006 season. In 31 career NEXTEL Cup Series starts, Hamlin has logged 15 top-10 finishes. He leads Clint Bowyer by 53 points (244-191) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the September 3 Sony HD 500 at California Speedway.

Hamlin is sixth in the NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings. He trails fifth-place Jeff Gordon by 21 points and leads seventh-place Jeff Burton by six.

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 24 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

J.J. Yeley was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in February’s Auto Club 500 at California Speedway, claiming an eighth-place finish.

Kyle Busch became the first Raybestos® Rookie to win at California Speedway when he captured the 2005 Sony HD 500. Busch scored his first NEXTEL Cup victory by .554 seconds over Greg Biffle and is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win in 12 NEXTEL Cup Series races at the 2.0-mile speedway.

DID YOU KNOW? A Raybestos® Rookie has won the pole position in THREE OF THE LAST FIVE races at California Speedway:
2004: Kasey Kahne, Auto Club 500
2004: Brian Vickers, Pop Secret 500
2005: Kyle Busch, Auto Club 500

DID YOU KNOW? A Raybestos® Rookie has led the most laps in a NEXTEL Cup Series race at California Speedway just twice: Kyle Busch (95 laps in 2005 fall race) and Matt Kenseth (120 laps in 2000 spring race).

Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the Sony HD 500:
2004: Kahne, second
2005: Busch, FIRST

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the Sony HD 500:
2004: Kahne, second
2004: Scott Riggs, seventh
2005: Busch, FIRST

Raybestos® Rookies that have led a lap in the Sony HD 500:
2004: Vickers (four times for 44 laps)
2004: Kahne (four times for 39 laps)
2005: Busch (five times for 95 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 244
Clint Bowyer 191
Reed Sorenson 182
Martin Truex Jr. 164
J.J. Yeley 161 
David Stremme 139
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
Sharpie 500 Hamlin, sixth