Race 2 Win: NEXTEL Cup Series Race Notes

Nextel Cup Series

Sharp Aquos 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 August 25 Sharpie 500 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. Montoya scored a 17th-place finish and took top rookie honors for the 11th time this season.

MONTOYA EARNS $25,000 IN BONUS MONEY FROM RAYBESTOS: The Sharpie 500 was race No. 7 in the Raybestos® Rookie Magnificent Seven program. The Raybestos® Rookie of the Race normally pays $1,500 but that increased to $5,000 at seven designated races throughout the 2007 season. Montoya claimed the bonus money FIVE TIMES (Las Vegas, Darlington, Infineon, Chicagoland and Bristol) and earned $25,000 for his efforts.

Montoya leads David Ragan by 25 points (216-191) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the September 2 Sharp AQUOS 500 at California Speedway.

Montoya is 18th in the NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings, best of any Raybestos® Rookie.

A Raybestos® Rookie has won at least one race in each of the past three consecutive seasons.

Clint Bowyer was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2006 Sony AQUOS 500, grabbing a third-place finish.

DID YOU KNOW? A Raybestos® Rookie has finished in the top-five in all three September races at California Speedway.

DID YOU KNOW? One Raybestos® Rookie has won the pole position for the September race at California Speedway: Brian Vickers (2004).

A REMARKABLE STREAK: A Raybestos® Rookie won THREE consecutive pole positions at California Speedway:
2004 Auto Club 500: Kasey Kahne
2004 Sony HD 500: Brian Vickers
2005 Auto Club 500: Kyle Busch

Kyle Busch became the first Raybestos® Rookie to win at California Speedway when he captured the 2005 Sony HD 500. Busch scored his first NEXTEL Cup victory by .554 seconds over Greg Biffle and is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win in 14 NEXTEL Cup Series races at the 2.0-mile speedway.

DID YOU KNOW? A Raybestos® Rookie has led the most laps in a NEXTEL Cup Series race at California Speedway just twice. Kyle Busch (95 laps in 2005 fall race) and Matt Kenseth (120 laps in 2000 spring race).

Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the Sony HD 500:
2004: Kasey Kahne, second
2005: Kyle Busch, FIRST
2006: Clint Bowyer, third

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the Sony HD 500:
2004: Kasey Kahne, second
2004: Scott Riggs, seventh
2005: Kyle Busch, FIRST
2006: Clint Bowyer, third
2006: Denny Hamlin, sixth

Raybestos® Rookies that have led a lap in the Sony HD 500:
2004: Brian Vickers (four times for 44 laps)
2004: Kasey Kahne (four times for 39 laps)
2005: Kyle Busch (five times for 95 laps)
2006: Denny Hamlin (twice for 29 laps)
2006: Reed Sorenson (once for eight laps)

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 216
David Ragan 191
Paul Menard 173
David Reutimann 145
AJ Allmendinger 89

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 
Coca-Cola 600 Montoya, 28th 
Autism Speaks 400 Ragan, 14th 
Pocono 500 Montoya, 20th 
Citizens Bank 400 Menard, 12th 
Toyota/Save Mart 350 Montoya, FIRST!
LENOX Industrial Tools 300 Ragan, 15th 
Pepsi 400 Ragan, 12th 
USG SHEETROCK 400 Montoya, 15th 
Allstate 400 at The Brickyard Montoya, second
Pennsylvania 500 Montoya, 16th 
Centurion Boats at The Glen Menard, 19th 
3M Performance 400 Ragan, 18th 
Sharpie 500 Montoya, 17th