Race 2 Win: NEXTEL Cup Series Race Notes

Nextel Cup Series

Dodge Dealers 400 - Raybestos Rookie Notes

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

David Ragan was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the September 16 Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Raceway. Ragan finished 19th and took top rookie honors for the 12th time this season.

Juan Pablo Montoya leads Ragan by 13 points (219-206) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the September 23 Dodge Dealer 400 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.

Montoya is 20th in the NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings, best of any Raybestos® Rookie. He is 36 points ahead of 21st-place Ragan.

Ragan was the top Raybestos® Rookie in the June race at Dover, posting a 14th-place finish.

Martin Truex Jr. was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2006 Dodge Dealers 400 at Dover, grabbing a sixth-place finish.

The 2006 fall race at Dover marked the first time THREE Raybestos® Rookies finished in the top-10: Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer (eighth) and Denny Hamlin (ninth).

Two Raybestos® Rookies led a lap in the 2006 Dodge Dealers 400: Reed Sorenson (once for 39 laps) and David Stremme (once for three laps).

DID YOU KNOW? Jimmie Johnson is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win both NEXTEL Cup races at Dover. Johnson swept both events in 2002, and led the most laps in each race. Johnson is the only first-year driver to lead the most laps in the fall race at Dover (four times for 170 laps).

DID YOU KNOW? The best qualifying effort by a Raybestos® Rookie for the fall race at Dover is third by Tony Stewart (1999), Brian Vickers (2004) and Kyle Busch (2005).

Raybestos® Rookies that have led a lap in the fall race at Dover (since 1975):
1979: Dale Earnhardt (twice for 46 laps)
1982: Geoffrey Bodine (twice for 4 laps)
1984: Rusty Wallace (once for two laps)
1988: Ken Bouchard (three times for four laps)
1989: Dick Trickle (once for 15 laps)
1993: Jeff Gordon (three times for 80 laps)
1994: John Andretti (once for one lap)
1994: Jeff Burton (once for eight laps)
1994: Steve Grissom (once for one lap)
1995: Robert Pressley (once for 11 laps)
1999: Tony Stewart (six times for 97 laps)
2000: Dave Blaney (once for four laps in 2000)
2002: Johnson (four times for 170 laps)
2006: Reed Sorenson (once for 39 laps)
2006: David Stremme (once for three laps)

DID YOU KNOW? The most Raybestos® Rookies to lead the fall race at Dover is FOUR in 1994: Steve Grissom, Jeff Burton, Joe Nemechek, and John Andretti.

Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the fall race at Dover (since 1975):
1975: Bruce Hill, fifth
1979: Joe Millikan, fifth
1981: Ron Bouchard, fourth
1982: Geoffrey Bodine, fourth
1999: Tony Stewart, second
2002: Jimmie Johnson, FIRST
2005: Kyle Busch, second

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the fall race at Dover (since 1975):
1975: Bruce Hill, fifth
1977: Sam Sommers, 10th
1979: Joe Millikan, fifth
1979: Dale Earnhardt, ninth
1980: Jody Ridley, ninth
1981: Ron Bouchard, fourth
1981: Tim Richmond, ninth
1982: Geoffrey Bodine, fourth
1986: Alan Kulwicki, seventh
1989: Jimmy Spencer, 10th
1991: Bobby Hamilton, eighth
1993: Bobby Labonte, seventh
1994: Steve Grissom, eighth
1999: Tony Stewart, second
2001: Kevin Harvick, sixth
2001: Casey Atwood, ninth
2002: Jimmie Johnson, FIRST
2002: Ryan Newman, eighth
2003: Jamie McMurray, sixth
2003: Greg Biffle, seventh
2006: Martin Truex Jr., sixth
2006: Clint Bowyer, eighth
2006: Denny Hamlin, ninth

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 219
David Ragan 206
Paul Menard 178
David Reutimann 157
AJ Allmendinger 115

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 
Sharp AQUOS 500 Ragan, 12th 
Chevy Rock & Roll 400 Ragan, third
Sylvania 300 Ragan, 19th