Race 2 Win: Dodge/Save Mart 350 - Raybestos® Rookie Notes

Nextel Cup Series

Dodge/Save Mart 350 - 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 June 18 3M Performance 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Sorenson finished fifth, his best effort in 17 career NEXTEL Cup Series races. He took Raybestos® Rookie of the Race honors for the second time this season.

Sorenson scored his first top-five and third top-10 finish. Prior to the Michigan event, Sorenson’s best finishes were 10th-place efforts at Atlanta (race number four) and Charlotte (race number 12).

Sorenson led the Michigan race once for three laps, the first race he has led in the NEXTEL Cup career. He was the only Raybestos® Rookie to lead a lap in the event.

Denny Hamlin leads the Raybestos® Rookie standings by 29 points (174-145) over Clint Bowyer entering the Dodge/Save Mart 350 at Infineon (Sonoma, Calif.) Raceway.

Hamlin remains ninth in the NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings, 40 points behind eighth-place Kevin Harvick. He holds a two-point advantage over 10th-place Greg Biffle.

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

At least one Raybestos® Rookie has scored a top-15 finish in all 15 races this season.

Travis Kvapil was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2005 Dodge/Save Mart 350, collecting a 21st-place finish on the lead lap.

The best finish by a Raybestos® Rookie at Infineon Raceway is ninth, which is shared by Kenny Irwin (1998) and Ryan Newman (2002).

DID YOU KNOW? Only one Raybestos® Rookie has led a lap in 17 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races at Infineon Raceway. Scott Pruett led twice for 10 laps in the 2000 race.

The best start by a Raybestos® Rookie at Infineon Raceway is second, shared by Jerry Nadeau (1998) and Tony Stewart (1999).

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 10 years (1996-2005). There has been a first-time Bud Pole winner in each of the last 19 years (1987-2005).

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 174
Clint Bowyer 145
Reed Sorenson 136
Martin Truex Jr. 128
J.J. Yeley 126 
David Stremme 105
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