Race 2 Win: NEXTEL Cup Series Race Notes

Nextel Cup Series

Sylvania 300 - 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 8 Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. Ragan finished third, his second top-five finish of the season and claimed top rookie honors for the 11th time this season.

Juan Pablo Montoya leads Ragan by 14 points (218-204) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the September 16 Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway.

David Reutimann scored a 13th-place finish at Richmond, his best in 19 NEXTEL Cup Series races.

Montoya is 20th in the NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings, best of any Raybestos® Rookie. He is 48 points ahead of 21st-place Ragan.

Ragan was the top Raybestos® Rookie finisher in the July race at New Hampshire, claiming a 15th-place finish.

Denny Hamlin was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2006 Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire, scoring a fourth-place finish. Hamlin also led the race once for four laps.

DID YOU KNOW? The 2006 race marked the first time in 10 fall races at New Hampshire have TWO Raybestos® Rookies finished inside the top-10. Joining Hamlin in the top-10 was J.J. Yeley, who posted an eighth-place finish. Yeley also led the race once for four laps.

DID YOU KNOW? Ryan Newman is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win the September race at New Hampshire. In 2002, Newman held off Kurt Busch in a race that was rain shortened to 207 of the scheduled 300 laps. Newman is also the only freshman driver to win the pole for the fall race and the only Raybestos® Rookie to win from the pole. He is also the only first-year driver to lead the most laps in the fall event, leading three times for 143 laps.

DID YOU KNOW? A Raybestos® Rookie has scored a top-10 finish in FOUR of the last FIVE fall races at New Hampshire.

Raybestos® Rookies that have led a lap in the fall race at New Hampshire:
1999: Tony Stewart (twice for 40 laps)
2001: Kevin Harvick (once for one lap)
2002: Ryan Newman (three times for 143 laps)
2004: Kasey Kahne (twice for 31 laps)
2006: Denny Hamlin (once for four laps)
2006: J.J. Yeley (once for four laps)

Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the Sylvania 300
1999: Tony Stewart, second
2002: Ryan Newman, FIRST
2004: Kasey Kahne, fourth
2006: Denny Hamlin, fourth

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the Sylvania 300
1999: Tony Stewart, second
2002: Ryan Newman, FIRST
2003: Jamie McMurray, 10th
2004: Kasey Kahne, fourth
2006: Denny Hamlin, fourth
2006: J.J. Yeley, eighth

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 218
David Ragan 204
Paul Menard 176
David Reutimann 156
AJ Allmendinger 108

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