Race 2 Win: Coca-Cola 600 - Raybestos® Rookie Notes

Nextel Cup Series

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Coca-Cola 600 - 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 May 13 Dodge Charger 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. Hamlin finished 10th, scoring his fourth top-10 of the 2006 season. He grabbed top rookie honors for the fifth time in 11 races.

DID YOU KNOW? Hamlin has racked up two top-five finishes this season, more than any other freshman driver.

Hamlin holds a nine-point edge over Clint Bowyer (119-110) entering the May 28 Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway (Concord, N.C.).

DID YOU KNOW? At least one of the Raybestos® Rookie of the Year contenders has scored a top-15 finish in all 11 races this season.

Two Raybestos® Rookies rank among the top-20 in the NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings: Hamlin (13th) and Bowyer (16th).

DID YOU KNOW? Martin Truex Jr. is the only member of the 2006 Raybestos® Rookie class to compete in the Coca-Cola 600. Truex Jr. finished seventh after starting 30th in the 2005 event. He also led the race once for four laps.

Kyle Busch was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2005 Coca-Cola 600, logging a 25th-place.

DID YOU KNOW? Matt Kenseth is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win the Coca-Cola 600. Kenseth captured the 2000 600-mile race by .573-seconds over Bobby Labonte.

DID YOU KNOW? TWO or more Raybestos® Rookies have finished in the top-five only once in 46 previous 600-mile races at Charlotte. In 2000, Kenseth won the race while Dale Earnhardt Jr. placed fourth.

TWO or more Raybestos® Rookies have finished in the top-10 in the Coca-Cola 600 three times since 1975:
1981: Morgan Shepherd (sixth) and Elliott Forbes-Robinson (tenth).
1993: Jeff Gordon (second) and Bobby Labonte (eighth).
2000: Matt Kenseth (first) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (fourth).

DID YOU KNOW? Jimmie Johnson is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win the pole in 46 previous Coca-Cola 600 races at Charlotte. Johnson took the top starting spot for the 2002 race.

DID YOU KNOW? Only TWO Raybestos® Rookies have led the most laps in the Coca-Cola 600: Dale Earnhardt Jr. led 175 laps in 2000 while Jimmie Johnson led 263 laps in 2002.

DID YOU KNOW? Only once since 1975 have THREE Raybestos® Rookies led a lap in the Coca-Cola 600. In 1993, Jeff Gordon (once for three laps), Bobby Labonte (twice for four laps) and Rich Bickle (once for one lap) each led the 600.

DID YOU KNOW? At least one Raybestos® Rookie has led at least one lap in each of the last SEVEN CONSECUTIVE 600-mile races at Charlotte:
1999: Tony Stewart (three times for 13 laps)
2000: Matt Kenseth (twice for 31 laps)
2000: Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (five times for 124 laps)
2001: Kevin Harvick (once for one lap)
2002: Jimmie Johnson (five times for 250 laps)
2003: Greg Biffle (once for one lap)
2004: Kasey Kahne (once for five laps)
2005: Kyle Busch (twice for 55 laps)
2005: Travis Kvapil (twice for 23 laps)

Raybestos® Rookies who have scored top-10 finishes in the Coca-Cola 600 (since 1975):
1977: Sam Sommers, ninth
1980: Kyle Petty, seventh
1981: Morgan Shepherd, sixth; Elliott Forbes-Robinson, 10th
1993: Jeff Gordon, second and Bobby Labonte, eighth
1995: Ricky Craven, tenth
1999: Tony Stewart, fourth
2000: Matt Kenseth, first; Dale Earnhardt Jr., fourth
2001: Kevin Harvick, second
2002: Jimmie Johnson, seventh

Raybestos® Rookies who have scored top-five finishes in the Coca-Cola 600 (since 1975):
1993: Jeff Gordon, second
1999: Tony Stewart, fourth
2000: Matt Kenseth, first; Dale Earnhardt Jr., fourth
2001: Kevin Harvick, second

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 119
Clint Bowyer 110
J.J. Yeley 96
Martin Truex Jr. 96
Reed Sorenson 93 
David Stremme 77
Brent Sherman 39 

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

News and Results | Point Standings | 2006 Schedule | 2006 Teams | 2005 Schedule and Results