Race 2 Win: NEXTEL Cup Series Race Notes

Nextel Cup Series

3M Performance 400 - Raybestos Rookie Notes

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

Paul Menard was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the August 12 Centurion Boats at The Glen, scoring a 19th-place finish. Menard took top rookie honors for the fourth time this season.

Juan Pablo Montoya leads David Ragan by 25 points (212-187) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the August 19 3M Performance 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

Montoya is 19th 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.

Reed Sorenson was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2006 GFS Marketplace 400, posting an eighth-place finish.

DID YOU KNOW? The best finish by a Raybestos® Rookie in the August race at Michigan (since 1975) is a third place effort by Tony Stewart in 1999.

DIDYOU KNOW? Since 1975, Davey Allison is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win the pole position for the August race at Michigan. Allison captured the top starting spot for the 1987 race.

The most Raybestos® Rookies to lead an August race at Michigan is FOUR in 2004.

DID YOU KNOW? A Raybestos® Rookie has led at least one lap in each of the past EIGHT CONSECUTIVE August races at Michigan:
1999: Tony Stewart (twice for four laps)
2000: Dale Earnhardt Jr. (once for 13 laps)
2001: Ron Hornaday (once for three laps)
2002: Ryan Newman (once for one lap)
2003: Greg Biffle (once for 19 laps)
2004: Kasey Kahne (twice for six laps)
2004: Scott Riggs (twice for 12 laps)
2004: Scott Wimmer (once for three laps)
2004: Brendan Gaughan (once for two laps)
2005: Kyle Busch (once for 28 laps)
2006: Clint Bowyer (twice for six laps)

DID YOU KNOW? A Raybestos® Rookie has finished in the top-10 in seven of the past eight August races at Michigan:
1999: Tony Stewart, third
2000: Matt Kenseth, eighth
2001: Casey Atwood, 10th
2002: Jimmie Johnson, seventh
2003: Greg Biffle, fourth
2004: Kasey Kahne, fifth
2006: Reed Sorenson, eighth
2006: Denny Hamlin, ninth

DID YOU KNOW? The most Raybestos® Rookies to finish in the top-10 in the same August race at Michigan is FOUR in 1977:
---Sam Sommers, fourth
---Ricky Rudd, seventh
---Terry Ryan, ninth
---Janet Guthrie, 10th

Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the August race at Michigan:
1977: Sam Sommers, fourth
1982: Geoffrey Bodine, fourth
1987: Davey Allison, fifth
1989: Hut Stricklin, fourth
1993: Jeff Gordon, third
1999: Tony Stewart, third
2003: Greg Biffle, fourth
2004: Kasey Kahne, fifth

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the August race at Michigan:
1975: Bruce Hill, eighth
1977: Sam Sommers, fourth
1977: Ricky Rudd, seventh
1977: Terry Ryan, ninth
1977: Janet Guthrie, 10th
1979: Joe Millikan, sixth
1981: Mike Alexander, 10th
1982: Geoffrey Bodine, fourth
1987: Davey Allison, fifth
1989: Hut Stricklin, fourth
1993: Jeff Gordon, third
1993: Bobby Labonte, eighth
1995: Ricky Craven, seventh
1996: Johnny Benson, seventh
1999: Tony Stewart, third
2000: Matt Kenseth, eighth
2001: Casey Atwood, 10th
2002: Jimmie Johnson, seventh
2003: Greg Biffle, fourth
2004: Kasey Kahne, fifth
2006: Reed Sorenson, 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 212
David Ragan 187
Paul Menard 162
David Reutimann 134
AJ Allmendinger 79

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