Race 2 Win: 3M Performance 400 - Raybestos® Rookie Notes

Nextel Cup Series

3M Performance 400 - Raybestos® Rookie Notes

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

Raybestos® Rookie Denny Hamlin scored his first NEXTEL Cup Series victory June 11 in the Pocono 500 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. The win came in his 21st career start. Hamlin’s previous best finish was second at Richmond (race number 10). He took Raybestos® Rookie of the race honors for the fifth consecutive race and for the eighth time in 14 races this season.

Hamlin holds a 26-point edge (164-138) over Clint Bowyer in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the June 18 3M Performance 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

Hamlin became the first Raybestos® Rookie to win in 57 races at Pocono Raceway.

DID YOU KNOW? At least one Raybestos® Rookie has scored a top-15 finish in all 14 races this season.

Clint Bowyer led the Pocono 500 once for eight laps. The Pocono event was the first race Bowyer has led since Phoenix in April (race number eight).

Hamlin is ninth in the NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings, 33 points behind eighth-place Kevin Harvick. He holds a 13-point advantage over 10th-place Kyle Busch.

DID YOU KNOW? Hamlin is the first Raybestos® Rookie to win from the pole since Jimmie Johnson in the September 2002 at Dover International Speedway.

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

Kyle Busch was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2005 3M Performance 400 at Michigan, claiming a ninth-place finish.

DID YOU KNOW? Since 1975, only FOUR Raybestos® Rookies have scored a top-five finish in the June race at Michigan:
1979: Joe Millikan, fourth
1993: Jeff Gordon, second
2002: Ryan Newman, third
2004: Kasey Kahne, second

DID YOU KNOW? Only twice since 1975 have TWO or more Raybestos® Rookies have led the spring race at Michigan. In 2004, Brendan Gaughan (once for 13 laps) and Scott Riggs (once for one lap) led the race. In 1986, Alan Kulwicki (once for one lap) and Michael Waltrip (once for two laps) also led a lap in the June race.

The most laps led by a Raybestos® Rookie in the 3M Performance 400 is 25 by Jimmie Johnson in 2002. Other Raybestos® Rookies to lead at least one lap in the spring race (since 1975):
1975: Ritchie Panch (once for four laps)
1979: Dale Earnhardt (once for one lap)
1982: Mark Martin (once for one lap)
1986: Alan Kulwicki (once for one lap)
1986: Michael Waltrip (once for two laps)
1993: Jeff Gordon (once for one lap)
2003: Greg Biffle (once for one lap)
2004: Brendan Gaughan (once for 13 laps)
2004: Scott Riggs (once for one lap)

DID YOU KNOW? The only Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole in 37 previous 3M Performance 400 races at Michigan is Loy Allen. Allen grabbed the top starting position for 1994 race.

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the June race at Michigan (since 1975):
1975: Ritchie Panch, sixth
1977: Sam Sommers, eighth
1979: Joe Millikan, fourth
1979: Dale Earnhardt, sixth
1980: Jody Ridley, sixth
1980: Kyle Petty, seventh
1981: Ron Bouchard, 10th
1982: Geoffrey Bodine, ninth
1993: Jeff Gordon, second
1994: Joe Nemechek, seventh
1999: Tony Stewart, ninth
2000: Kevin Harvick, 10th
2002: Ryan Newman, third
2004: Kasey Kahne, second
2004: Brian Vickers, ninth
2005: Kyle Busch, ninth

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 164
Clint Bowyer 138
J.J. Yeley 120
Martin Truex Jr. 119
Reed Sorenson 119 
David Stremme 97
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