Race 2 Win: NEXTEL Cup Series Race Notes

Nextel Cup Series

UAW-Ford 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 September 30 LifeLock 400 at Kansas Speedway. Ragan scored a 16th-place finish and took Raybestos® Rookie of the Race honors for the 13th time this season, including four of the last five races.

Juan Pablo Montoya leads Ragan by 14 points (223-209) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the October 7 UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

Montoya is 20th in the NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings, 46 points ahead of 21st-place Ragan.

Ragan was the top Raybestos® Rookie in the April race at Talladega, scoring a 17th-place finish.

Martin Truex Jr. was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2006 UAW-Ford 500, grabbing a fifth-place finish.

DID YOU KNOW? The only Raybestos® Rookie to win the fall race at Talladega is Ron Bouchard. Bouchard won the 1981 Talladega 500 by inches over Darrell Waltrip and Terry Labonte in a photo finish.

TWO Raybestos® Rookies have won the pole for the UAW Ford 500 twice since 1975: Geoffrey Bodine (1982) and Jimmie Johnson (2003).

TWO or more Raybestos® Rookies have finished in the top-10 in the fall race at Talladega THREE times since 1975:
1980: Lake Speed, eighth
1980: Kyle Petty, ninth
1981: Ron Bouchard, FIRST
1981: Stan Barrett, ninth
2000: Mike Bliss, ninth
2000: Matt Kenseth, 10th

DID YOU KNOW? The late Davey Allison holds the record for most laps led by a Raybestos® Rookie in the fall race at Talladega. Allison led seven times for 77 laps on his way to a second place finish in 1987.

Since 1975, only SIX Raybestos® Rookies have scored a top-five finish in the UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega: 1977: Ricky Rudd, fourth
1981: Ron Bouchard, FIRST
1987: Davey Allison, second
1999: Tony Stewart, fifth
2004: Brendan Gaughan, fourth
2006: Martin Truex Jr., fifth

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega (since 1975):
1976: Skip Manning, ninth
1977: Ricky Rudd, fourth
1979: Harry Gant, seventh
1980: Lake Speed, eighth
1980: Kyle Petty, ninth
1981: Ron Bouchard, FIRST
1981: Stan Barrett, ninth
1984: Tommy Ellis, ninth
1987: Davey Allison, second
1999: Tony Stewart, fifth
2000: Mike Bliss, ninth
2000: Matt Kenseth, 10th
2002: Ryan Newman, seventh
2004: Brendan Gaughan, fourth

DID YOU KNOW? The most Raybestos® Rookies to lead a lap in the UAW-Ford 500 is FOUR (2000 and 2006).

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 223
David Ragan 209
Paul Menard 181
David Reutimann 161
AJ Allmendinger 123

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
Sylvania 300 Ragan, 19th 
Dodge Dealers 400 Montoya, 10th 
LifeLock 400 Ragan, 16th