Race 2 Win: NEXTEL Cup Series Race Notes

Nextel Cup Series

Subway Fresh Fit 500 - 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 April 15 Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Montoya finished eighth, his second top-10 finish in eight NEXTEL Cup Series starts. He took Raybestos® Rookie of the Race honors for the third time in 2007.

Montoya leads David Ragan by four points (81-77) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the April 21 Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway.

Montoya is 13th in the NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings, best of any Raybestos® Rookie. He is 12 points behind 12th-place David Stremme and 27 behind 11th-place Mark Martin. Montoya leads 14th-place Kevin Harvick by four points and 15th-place Kurt Busch by eight.

STAT OF THE WEEK: At least one Raybestos® Rookie has finished inside the top-10 in each of the past FIVE consecutive NEXTEL Cup races at Phoenix:
2004: Kasey Kahne, fifth (fall race)
2005: Kyle Busch, eighth (spring race)
2005: Kyle Busch, FIRST (fall race)
2006: Clint Bowyer, fifth (spring race)
2007: Denny Hamlin, third (fall race)

Clint Bowyer was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2006 Subway Fresh Fit 500, grabbing a fifth-place finish. Bowyer led the race three times for 21 laps.

Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart are the only Raybestos® Rookies to win in 21 NEXTEL Cup races at Phoenix. Stewart won the 1999 fall race from the pole, beating Mark Martin to the checkered flag by 2.081 seconds. Busch captured the 2005 fall race by .609 seconds over Greg Biffle.

DID YOU KNOW? Stewart is the only Raybestos® Rookie to lead the most laps at Phoenix, leading three times for 150 laps in 1999.

DID YOU KNOW? THREE Raybestos® Rookies have won pole positions at Phoenix, all coming in the fall race: Stewart, Casey Atwood (2001) and Ryan Newman (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).

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 81
David Ragan 77
Paul Menard 43 
David Reutimann 37
AJ Allmendinger 22 
Brandon Whitt 2

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