Race 2 Win: NEXTEL Cup Series Race Notes

Nextel Cup Series

Food City 500 - 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 March 18 Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway. Montoya scored a fifth-place finish, his best finish in five career NEXTEL Cup Series races. His previous best effort was 19th in the February 18 Daytona 500 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (race No. 1).

Montoya took Raybestos® Rookie of the Race honors for the second consecutive race and for the second time this season. He holds a one-point edge over David Ragan (47-46) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the March 25 Food City 500 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

FACT OF THE WEEK: Montoya is the only driver to simultaneously lead the Raybestos® Rookie standings in both the NEXTEL Cup Series and the Busch Series since the rookie program was created in Busch in 1989.

STAT OF THE WEEK: The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to lead a lap at Bristol is Kevin Harvick in the 2001 Food City 500. Harvick led three times for 137 laps, more than any other driver.

Montoya is 15th in the NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings, best of any Raybestos® Rookie. He is trails 14th-place Kyle Busch by just six points and is only 28 behind 10th-place Carl Edwards. Montoya leads 16th-place Robby Gordon by 10 points and 17th-place Bobby Labonte by 15.

Denny Hamlin was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2006 Food City 500, scoring a 14th-place finish.

DID YOU KNOW? A Raybestos® Rookie has finished in the top-10 in three of the last five Food City 500 races at Bristol:
2002: Jimmie Johnson, seventh
2003: Greg Biffle, fifth
2005: Travis Kvapil, seventh

Tony Stewart is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win the pole at Bristol in his rookie season. Stewart took the top spot in the 1999 Sharpie 500 (August race). He is also the only Raybestos® Rookie to lead the most laps in a race at Bristol, leading once for 225 laps.

The best finish by a Raybestos® Rookie in the Food City 500 came in 1979 when Dale Earnhardt scored his first career win. Since Earnhardt’s victory, only three drivers have finished in the top-five in the spring race:
1981: Morgan Shepherd, fourth
1989: Dick Trickle, fifth
2003: Greg Biffle, fifth

DID YOU KNOW? Only once since 1975 have THREE Raybestos® Rookies finished in the top-10 at a race in Bristol: 1979. Dale Earnhardt scored his first career win in the Food City 500 and was joined in the top-10 by Terry Labonte (seventh) and Joe Millikan (eighth).

DID YOU KNOW? Only once since 1981 have TWO or more Raybestos® Rookies finished in the top-five in the Food City 500. In 1981, Morgan Shepherd placed fourth and Tim Richmond finished 10th.

A Raybestos® Rookie has finished in the top-10 just three times in the Food City 500 (spring race) at Bristol: Robert Pressley (10th in 1995), Jimmie Johnson (seventh in 2002), and Greg Biffle (fifth in 2003).

Since 1975, Tim Richmond is the only Raybestos® Rookie to score top-10 finishes in both Bristol races. In 1981, Richmond finished 10th in the Food City 500 and 10th in the Sharpie 500.

Two or more Raybestos® Rookies have finished in the top-10 in both races at Bristol just once since 1975. In 1981, Morgan Shepherd (fourth) and Tim Richmond (10th) logged top-10 finished in the Food City 500 while Ron Bouchard (fifth) and Richmond (eighth) finished in the top-10 in the Sharpie 500.

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 47
David Ragan 46
Paul Menard 31
David Reutimann 26 
AJ Allmendinger 4 
Brandon Whitt 3

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