Race 2 Win: NEXTEL Cup Series Race Notes

Nextel Cup Series

NEXTEL All-Star Challenge - Raybestos Rookie Notes

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

Juan Pablo Montoya was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the May 13 Dodge Avenger 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. Montoya placed 23rd and took top rookie honors for the fourth time this season.

Montoya leads David Ragan by four points (120-116) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the May 27 Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s (Concord, N.C.) Motor Speedway.

No Raybestos® Rookie points will be awarded in either the NEXTEL Open or NEXTEL All-Star Challenge races.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2000) and Ryan Newman (2002) are the only Raybestos® Rookies to win the NASCAR NEXTEL All-Star Challenge.

Tony Stewart was the first Raybestos® Rookie to score a top-five finish in the NEXTEL All-Star Challenge. He placed second behind race winner Terry Labonte in 1999.

Jeff Burton was the first Raybestos® Rookie to score a top-10 finish in the NASCAR NEXTEL All-Star Challenge. Burton finish sixth in 1994 driving the Raybestos®-sponsored Ford for Stavola Brothers Racing.

THREE Raybestos® Rookies have won the pole for the NEXTEL Open: Brett Bodine (1987), Jeff Gordon (1993), and Joe Nemechek (1994).

DID YOU KNOW? A Raybestos® Rookie has qualified for seven of the last nine NASCAR NEXTEL All-Star Challenge races.

No Raybestos® Rookie is currently eligible for the 2007 NEXTEL All-Star Challenge.

DID YOU KNOW? TWO or more Raybestos® Rookies have competed in the NEXTEL All-Star Challenge just twice: Kasey Kahne and Brian Vickers in 2004 and Ryan Newman and Jimmie Johnson in 2002.

DID YOU KNOW? Only once in the history of the NASCAR NEXTEL All-Star Challenge have TWO Raybestos® Rookies finished in the top five. In 2002, Ryan Newman won the race while Jimmie Johnson finished fifth.

DID YOU KNOW? The first Raybestos® Rookie to compete in the NASCAR NEXTEL All-Star Challenge was Davey Allison in 1987. Allison started third and finished 12th, completing 134 of the 135 laps.

The best start by a Raybestos® Rookie in the NASCAR NEXTEL All-Star Challenge is second, by Denny Hamlin in 2006.

At least one Raybestos® Rookie has qualified for nine of the 22 NEXTEL All-Star races.

Raybestos® Rookies in the NEXTEL All-Star Challenge 1987: Davey Allison, 12th 1994: Jeff Burton, sixth 1998: Kenny Irwin, Jr., 13th 1999: Tony Stewart, second 2000: Dale Earnhardt Jr., first 2001: Kevin Harvick, 21st 2002: Ryan Newman, first 2002: Jimmie Johnson, fifth 2003: Jamie McMurray, 22nd 2004: Kasey Kahne, seventh 2004: Brian Vickers, 12th

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE HISTORY

Ryan Newman holds the all-time Raybestos® Rookie record for most poles (6), most top-fives (14) and most top-10s (22).

Denny Hamlin is the only Raybestos® Rookie to qualify for the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup since the program was created in 2004. Hamlin holds the record for most earnings by a Raybestos® Rookie ($6.6 million in 2006).

The record for most wins by a Raybestos® Rookie is three, shared by Tony Stewart (1999) and Jimmie Johnson (2002).

A Raybestos® Rookie has posted multiple victories SEVEN times in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup: 1987: Davey Allison, two 1999: Tony Stewart, three 2000: Dale Earnhardt Jr., two 2001: Kevin Harvick, two 2002: Jimmie Johnson, three 2005: Kyle Busch, two 2006: Denny Hamlin, two

More than one Raybestos® Rookie has posted victories in their rookie season only three times: Morgan Shepherd and Ron Bouchard (one each in 1981), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (two) and Matt Kenseth (2000), Jimmie Johnson (three) and Ryan Newman (2002).

The way to the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup 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 Matt Kenseth (2000).

At least one Raybestos® Rookie has won a Bud Pole in each of the last 11 years (1996-2006).

The longest streak for a Raybestos® Rookie to be in the top-10 in the NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings during the sport’s modern-era is 60 races (2001 MBNA Platinum 400 through 2002 Ford 400).

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS
DRIVER POINTS
Juan Pablo Montoya 120
David Ragan 116
Paul Menard 82 
David Reutimann 72
AJ Allmendinger 38 
Brandon Whitt 2

HIGHEST-FINISHING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE BY RACE
EVENT HIGHEST-FINISHING ROOKIE
Daytona 500 Ragan, fifth
Auto Club 500 Ragan, 16th 
UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 Montoya, 22nd 
Kobalt Tools 500 Montoya, fifth
Food City 500 Ragan, 26th 
Goody’s Cool Orange 500 Ragan, 15th 
Samsung 500 Montoya, eighth 
Subway Fresh Fit 500 Menard, 25th 
Aaron’s 499 Ragan, 17th 
Crown Royal 400 Menard, 16th 
Dodge Avenger 500 Montoya, 23rd