Race 2 Win: NEXTEL Cup Series Race Notes

Nextel Cup Series

Pocono 500 - 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 June 4 Autism Speaks 400 presented by Visa at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. Ragan finished 14th and took top rookie honors for the sixth time in 13 races.

Juan Pablo Montoya leads David Ragan by five points (141-136) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the June 10 Pocono 500 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway.

Denny Hamlin won the 2006 Pocono 500, crossing the finish line 1.328 seconds ahead of second-place Kurt Busch. Hamlin became just the third Raybestos Rookie to score a top-five finish in the June race at Pocono, joining Jimmie Johnson (third in 2002) and Kyle Busch (fifth in 2005).

Hamlin also won the pole for the race. He became just the second Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole at Pocono, joining Kasey Kahne who captured the top spot at the 2004 June race.

Hamlin led the race six times for 83 laps and became the first Raybestos Rookie to lead the most laps in a race at Pocono. He became just the sixth Raybestos Rookie since 1989 to lead a lap in the spring race at Pocono.

Raybestos Rookies Kasey Kahne and Brian Vickers made history at Pocono during time trials for the 2004 Pocono 500. Kahne won the pole while Brian Vickers grabbed the second starting position. The 2004 event was the first time in the track’s history that TWO Raybestos® Rookies started on the front row at Pocono and only the second time in the sport’s modern-era where there was an all rookie front row.

Only once since 1975 have two or more Raybestos® Rookies finished in the top-10 in the June race at Pocono: Tim Richmond finished ninth and Ron Bouchard placed 10th in the 1981 Mountain Dew 500.

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the June race at Pocono (since 1975):
1975: Bruce Hill, eighth
1977: Ricky Rudd, seventh
1979: Joe Millikan, sixth
1980: Kyle Petty, seventh
1981: Tim Richmond, sixth
1981: Ron Bouchard, 10th
1982: Geoffrey Bodine, eighth
1989: Larry Pearson, ninth
1987: Davey Allison, first
1992: Jimmy Hensley, ninth
1999: Tony Stewart, sixth
2002: Jimmie Johnson, third
2005: Kyle Busch, fourth
2006: Denny Hamlin, FIRST

Seven Raybestos® Rookies have led a lap in the Pocono 500 (June race) at Pocono since 1989:
1989: Larry Pearson, once for two laps
1992: Jimmy Hensley, twice for five laps
1999: Tony Stewart, once for one lap
2004: Kasey Kahne, three times for four laps
2004: Brian Vickers, once for one lap
2006: Denny Hamlin, three times for 83 laps
2006: Clint Bowyer, once for eight 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 141
David Ragan 136
Paul Menard 84 
David Reutimann 74
AJ Allmendinger 57 
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 
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