Race 2 Win: NEXTEL Cup Series Race Notes

Nextel Cup Series

LifeLock 400 - 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 September 23 Dodge Dealers 400 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. Montoya scored a 10th-place finish, his fourth top-10 effort of the 2007 season, and claimed top rookie honors for the 12th time in 28 races. The Dover race was Montoya’s best finish since he placed second at Allstate 400 at The Brickyard at Indianapolis (Ind.) Motor Speedway (race No. 20).

Montoya stretched his lead over David Ragan in the Raybestos® Rookie standings to 15 points (222-207) entering the September 30 LifeLock 400 at Kansas Speedway.

Montoya is 19th in the NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings, best of any Raybestos® Rookie. He is three points ahead of 20th-place J.J. Yeley.

Clint Bowyer was the Raybestos® Rookie of the race in the 2006 LifeLock 400, scoring a ninth-place finish.

DID YOU KNOW? The best finish by a Raybestos® Rookie in six previous NEXTEL Cup races at Kansas is second by Ryan Newman in 2002 (.618 seconds behind race winner Jeff Gordon). Newman is the only Raybestos® Rookie to finish inside the top-five at Kansas.

DID YOU KNOW? Jason Leffler is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole in six races at Kansas Speedway. Leffler took the top starting spot in the race in the inaugural race in 2001.

DID YOU KNOW? At least one Raybestos® Rookie has finished in the top 10 in five of the six races at Kansas, but only once have TWO or more freshman drivers finished inside the top-10: Newman and Jimmie Johnson (10th) in 2002.

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the LifeLock 400 at Kansas:
2001: Kurt Busch, ninth
2002: Ryan Newman, second
2002: Jimmie Johnson, 10th
2003: Jamie McMurray, eighth
2004: Brendan Gaughan, 10th
2006: Clint Bowyer, ninth

DID YOU KNOW? A Raybestos® Rookie has led at least one lap in five of the six previous NEXTEL Cup races at Kansas:
2001: Jason Leffler, once for eight laps
2002: Ryan Newman, twice for 81 laps
2004: Kasey Kahne, four times for 39 laps
2005: Travis Kvapil, once for one lap.
2006: Clint Bowyer, twice for 17 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 222
David Ragan 207
Paul Menard 179
David Reutimann 160
AJ Allmendinger 122

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 
Dodge Dealers 400 Montoya, 10th