Race 2 Win: Sylvania 300 - Raybestos® Rookie Notes

Nextel Cup Series

Sylvania 300 - Raybestos® Rookie Notes

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

Denny Hamlin finished 15th in the September 9 Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway to clinch a spot in the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup. Hamlin is the first Raybestos® Rookie to qualify for the Chase. He is fifth in the NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings, 20 points behind leader Matt Kenseth. Hamlin led the Richmond race once for 19 laps, the only Raybestos® Rookie to lead a lap in the event.

Clint Bowyer was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race at Richmond, scoring a 12th-place finish. He took top rookie honors for the sixth time this season.

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 26 races this season.

Jimmie Johnson owns the best points finish by a Raybestos® Rookie, placing fifth in the championship standings in 2002.

Hamlin leads Bowyer by 44 points (251-207) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the September 17 Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway.

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.

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

Hamlin was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the July 16 Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at New Hampshire, scoring a sixth-place finish. He led the race once for one lap.

Sorenson led the July race once for 31 laps, the most laps led by a Raybestos® Rookie in the event. A late pit stop for fuel dropped Sorenson to 28th in the final rundown, the last car to complete all 308 laps.

DID YOU KNOW? Ryan Newman is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win the September race at New Hampshire. Newman held off Kurt Busch to win the race in 2002. The event was shortened to 207 of the scheduled 300 laps because of rain. Newman is also the only freshman driver to win the pole for the fall race and the only Raybestos® Rookie to win from the pole. He is also the only first-year driver to lead the most laps in the fall event, leading three times for 143 laps.

DID YOU KNOW? A Raybestos® Rookie has scored a top-10 finish in three of the last four fall races at New Hampshire.

DID YOU KNOW? Kasey Kahne is the most recent Raybestos® Rookie to lead a lap in the fall race at New Hampshire. Kahne led twice for 31 laps in the 2004 event.

Raybestos® Rookies that have led a lap in the fall race at New Hampshire:
1999: Tony Stewart (twice for 40 laps)
2001: Kevin Harvick (once for one lap)
2002: Newman (three times for 143 laps)

2004: Kahne (twice for 31 laps)

Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the Sylvania 300
1999: Stewart, second
2002: Newman, first
2004: Kahne, fourth

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the Sylvania 300
1999: Stewart, second
2002: Newman, first
2003: Jamie McMurray, 10th
2004: Kahne, fourth

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).

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 251
Clint Bowyer 207
Reed Sorenson 186
J.J. Yeley 168
Martin Truex Jr. 167 
David Stremme 141

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
Sony HD 500 Bowyer, third
Chevy Rock & Roll 400 Bowyer, 12th