Race 2 Win: Chevy Rock & Roll 400 - Raybestos® Rookie Notes

Nextel Cup Series

Chevy Rock & Roll 400 - Raybestos® Rookie Notes

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

Clint Bowyer was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the September 3 Sony HD 500 at California Speedway. Bowyer placed third, his best finish in 26 career NEXTEL Cup Series starts and took Raybestos® Rookie of the Race honors for the fifth time this season. He racked up his third top-five and seventh top-10 finish of the season.

Denny Hamlin finished sixth, his seventh consecutive top-10 finish and 13th of the 2006 season. In 31 career NEXTEL Cup Series starts, Hamlin has logged 16 top-10 finishes.

Hamlin leads Bowyer by 47 points (250-203) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the September 9 Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway.

Hamlin is seventh in the NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings. He trails sixth-place Dale Earnhardt Jr. by one point and is 31 ahead of eighth-place Tony Stewart.

DID YOU KNOW? Hamlin will clinch a spot in the 2006 Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup by finishing 16th or better at Richmond, regardless of where 11th-place Kasey Kahne finishes (lap leader points are not included).

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 25 races this season.

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 May’s Crown Royal 400 at Richmond. He finished second, .572-seconds behind race winner Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Kyle Busch was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2005 Chevy Rock & Roll 400, grabbing a fourth-place finish.

DID YOU KNOW? A Raybestos® Rookie has finished in the top-five in each of the past two NEXTEL Cup Series races at Richmond.

DID YOU KNOW? Since 1975, THREE Raybestos® Rookies have won the pole for the September race at Richmond: Dale Earnhardt (1979), Bobby Labonte (1993), and Jimmie Johnson (2002). Johnson nabbed the top starting spot for the 2002 event over fellow Raybestos® Rookie Ryan Newman.

DID YOU KNOW? The first time in NEXTEL Cup’s modern-era that two Raybestos® Rookies claimed front row starting positions occurred at the 2002 Chevy Rock & Roll 400. Jimmie Johnson won the pole while Ryan Newman claimed the second-place starting position. An all-rookie front row has occurred just one other time, at the 2004 Pocono 500 (Kasey Kahne first and Brian Vickers second).

DID YOU KNOW? Since 1975, two or more Raybestos® Rookies have not finished in the top five in the September race at Richmond.

DID YOU KNOW? The most Raybestos® Rookies to finish in the top-10 is THREE in 1979: Earnhardt (fourth), Harry Gant (ninth) and Joe Millikan (10th).

DID YOU KNOW? Since 1975, only TWO Raybestos® Rookies have led the most laps in a fall race at Richmond: Tony Stewart (1999) and Ryan Newman (2002). Stewart led five times for 333 of the 400 laps, the most led by a first-year driver since 1975. Newman led twice for 145 laps.

DID YOU KNOW? The only Raybestos® Rookie to win the September race at Richmond is Tony Stewart, who captured the 1999 Chevy Rock and Roll 400. Stewart scored his first NEXTEL Cup Series win by 1.115 seconds over Bobby Labonte.

Raybestos® Rookies that have led a lap in the Chevy Rock and Roll 400 (since 1975):
1979: Earnhardt (twice for 19 laps)
1993: Bobby Labonte (twice for 12 laps)
1996: Johnny Benson (once for 13 laps)
1998: Kenny Irwin (once for one lap)
1999: Stewart (five times for 333 laps)
2001: Kevin Harvick (once for 12 laps)
2002: Newman (twice for 145 laps)
2003: Biffle (once for two laps)
2005: Busch (three times for 10 laps)
2005: Travis Kvapil (once for one lap)

Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the Chevy Rock and Roll 400 (since 1975):
1977: Sam Sommers, fifth
1979: Dale Earnhardt, fourth
1980: Jody Ridley, fifth
1999: Tony Stewart, first
2001: Kevin Harvick, second
2002: Ryan Newman, second
2005: Kyle Busch, fourth

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the Chevy Rock and Roll 400 (since 1975):
1975: Bruce Hill, eighth
1976: Terry Bivins, ninth
1977: Sam Sommers, fifth
1979: Dale Earnhardt, fourth
1979: Harry Gant, ninth
1979: Joe Millikan, 10th
1980: Jody Ridley, fifth
1983: Trevor Boys, ninth
1989: Dick Trickle, eighth
1989: Hut Stricklin, ninth
1993: Jeff Gordon, 10th
1994: Steve Grissom, seventh
1996: Johnny Benson, 10th
1998: Kenny Irwin, 10th
1999: Tony Stewart, first
2001: Kevin Harvick, second
2002: Ryan Newman, second
2005: Kyle Busch, 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).

Johnson also holds the best ever points finish by a Raybestos® Rookie, placing fifth in the championship standings in 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 250
Clint Bowyer 203
Reed Sorenson 183
Martin Truex Jr. 166
J.J. Yeley 164 
David Stremme 140

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