Race 2 Win: Raybestos Rookie Notes

Nextel Cup Series

UAW-DaimlerChrysler 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 February 25 Auto Club 500 at California Speedway. Ragan scored a 16th-place finish and took top rookie honors for the second consecutive race.

Ragan holds a nine-point lead (28-19) over Juan Pablo Montoya in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the March 11 UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Ragan is fifth in the NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings, 65 points behind leader Mark Martin and 37 behind fourth-place Kevin Harvick. He leads sixth-place Clint Bowyer by six points and seventh-place Joe Nemechek by 11.

DID YOU KNOW? A Raybestos® Rookie has been in the top-10 in the NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings for 19 consecutive races, dating back to the 2006 Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway.

THE STREAK: A Raybestos® Rookie has finished in the top 15 in 38 consecutive NEXTEL Cup races.

Denny Hamlin was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2006 UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway, scoring a 10th-place finish.

Kyle Busch and Kasey Kahne share the best finish by a Raybestos® Rookie in nine previous NEXTEL Cup Series races at Las Vegas. Busch placed second in 2005, 1.661 seconds behind race winner Jimmie Johnson while Kahne finished second in 2004, 3.426 seconds behind winner Matt Kenseth.

DID YOU KNOW? The first Raybestos® Rookie to score a top-five finish at Las Vegas was Ryan Newman in 2002.

Busch, Kahne, and Ryan Newman are the only Raybestos® Rookies to score a top-five finish at Las Vegas. Newman placed fourth in 2002.

DID YOU KNOW? In 2000, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the first Raybestos® Rookie to score a top-10 finish at Las Vegas. He was also the first Raybestos Rookie driver to lead a lap (four times for 42 laps).

Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at Las Vegas:
2002: Ryan Newman, fourth
2004: Kasey Kahne, second
2005: Kyle Busch, second

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at Las Vegas:
2000: Dale Earnhardt Jr. (10th)
2001: Kevin Harvick (eighth)
2001: Ron Hornaday (ninth)
2002: Ryan Newman (fourth)
2002: Jimmie Johnson (sixth)
2004: Kasey Kahne, second
2005: Kyle Busch, second
2006: Denny Hamlin, 10th

DID YOU KNOW? At least one Raybestos® Rookie finished in the top-10 in the last three consecutive races at Las Vegas and in four of the last five.

DID YOU KNOW? TWO or more Raybestos® Rookies have finished in the top-10 twice in nine previous races at Las Vegas.

DID YOU KNOW? The most laps led by a Raybestos® Rookie at Las Vegas is 49 by Newman in 2002.

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).

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS
DRIVER POINTS
David Ragan 28
Juan Paul Montoya 19
David Reutimann 17
Paul Menard 11 
AJ Allmendinger 2 
Brandon Whitt 2

HIGHEST-FINISHING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE BY RACE
EVENT HIGHEST-FINISHING ROOKIE
Daytona 500 Ragan, fifth
Auto Club 500 Ragan, 16th