Race 2 Win: Pocono 500 - Raybestos® Rookie Notes

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Pocono 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 June 4 Neighborhood Excellence 400 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. Hamlin finished 11th and grabbed top rookie honors for the seventh time in 13 races and for the fourth consecutive race.

Hamlin holds a 14-point edge over Clint Bowyer (143-129) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the June 11 Pocono 500 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway.

STAYING CLOSE TO THE CHASE: Hamlin gained one position in the NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings. He enters the Pocono 500 11th in points, 80 behind 10th-place Kyle Busch.

DID YOU KNOW? At least one of the Raybestos® Rookie of the Year contenders has scored a top-15 finish in all 13 races this season.

TWO Raybestos® Rookies rank among the top-20 in the NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings: Hamlin (11th) and Bowyer (16th).

A FIRST FOR STREMME: David Stremme led once for one lap at Dover, the first time he has led a lap in his 17-race NEXTEL Cup Series career.

Kyle Busch was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2005 Pocono 500, scoring a fifth-place finish.

Since 1975, Busch and Jimmie Johnson are the only Raybestos® Rookies to score a top-five finish in the June race at Pocono. Johnson placed third in 2002, the best finish by a freshman driver in the June event.

Raybestos® Rookies Kasey Kahne and Brian Vickers made history at Pocono during time trials for the 2004 Pocono 500. Kahne won the pole while Brian Vickers grabbed the second starting position. The 2004 event was the first time ever two Raybestos Rookies started on the front row at Pocono and only the second time in the sport’s modern-era where there was an all rookie front row. Kahne is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole in 56 races at Pocono Raceway.

Only once since 1975 have two or more Raybestos® Rookies finished in the top-10 in the June race at Pocono: Tim Richmond finished ninth and Ron Bouchard placed 10th in the 1981 Mountain Dew 500.

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the June race at Pocono (since 1975):
1975: Bruce Hill, eighth
1977: Ricky Rudd, seventh
1979: Joe Millikan, sixth
1980: Kyle Petty, seventh
1981: Tim Richmond, sixth
1981: Ron Bouchard, 10th
1982: Geoffrey Bodine, eighth
1989: Larry Pearson, ninth
1987: Davey Allison, first
1992: Jimmy Hensley, ninth
1999: Tony Stewart, sixth
2002: Jimmie Johnson, third
2005: Kyle Busch, fourth

Only five Raybestos® Rookies have led a lap in the June race at Pocono since 1989:
1989: Larry Pearson, once for two laps
1992: Jimmy Hensley, twice for five laps
1999: Tony Stewart, once for one lap
2005: Kasey Kahne, three times for four laps
2005 Brian Vickers, once for one lap

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 143
Clint Bowyer 129
Reed Sorenson 113
Martin Truex Jr. 111
J.J. Yeley 110 
David Stremme 90
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 
Coca-Cola 600 Hamlin, ninth
Neighborhood Excellence 400 Hamlin, 11th

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