Race 2 Win: Sprint Cup Series Race Notes

Sprint Cup Series

Kobalt Tools 500 - Raybestos Rookie Notes

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

Dario Franchitti was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the March 2 UAW-Dodge 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Franchitti scored a 33rd-place finish and took top rookie honors for the first time this season.

Franchitti also grabbed the lead in the Raybestos® Rookie standings. He holds a one-point edge over Regan Smith (31-30) entering the March 9 Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway.

Franchitti is also the only Raybestos® Rookie to lead a lap in three Sprint Cup races this season. He led the Auto Club 500 (race No. 2) once for one lap.

Juan Pablo Montoya was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2007 Kobalt Tools 500, scoring a fifth-place finish. Montoya scored the first top-five finish by a Raybestos® Rookie in the spring race at Atlanta since Kasey Kahne placed third in 2004.

DID YOU KNOW? A Raybestos® Rookie has scored TWO consecutive top-10 finishes in the spring race at Atlanta: Montoya and Reed Sorenson, who placed 10th in 2006. Both Montoya and Sorenson were driving for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates.

DO YOU REMEMBER? Kevin Harvick scored a memorable win as a Raybestos® Rookie in the 2001 Kobalt Tools 500. He beat Jeff Gordon by just .006 seconds to capture his first Sprint Cup Series victory in just his third career start.

Raybestos® Rookies Robby Gordon (1997) and Johnny Benson (1996) scored their first career Coors Light Poles in back-to-back spring races at Atlanta. Gordon won the pole in his 11th career start. Benson took the top spot in just his fourth career start.

DID YOU KNOW? Robby Gordon is the most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win the pole for the spring race at Atlanta.

Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the Kobalt Tools 500 (since 1975):
1987: Davey Allison, fifth
1989: Dick Trickle, third
1994: Jeff Burton, fourth
1998: Kenny Irwin, fifth
2001: Kevin Harvick, first
2002: Jimmie Johnson, third
2004: Kasey Kahne, third
2007: Juan Pablo Montoya, fifth

DID YOU KNOW? The late Kenny Irwin holds the record for most laps led by a Raybestos® Rookie in the spring race at Atlanta. In 1998, Irwin led five times for 112 laps.

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookie in the Kobalt Tools 500 (since 1975):
1978: Connie Saylor, eighth
1979: Joe Millikan, eighth
1980: Jody Ridley, sixth
1980: Slick Johnson, 10th
1981: Morgan Shepherd, eighth
1982: Jim Sauter, 10th
1987: Davey Allison, fifth
1989: Dick Trickle, third
1989: Hut Stricklin, eighth
1994: Jeff Burton, fourth
1998: Kenny Irwin, fifth
2001: Kevin Harvick, first
2002: Jimmie Johnson, third
2002: Ryan Newman, 10th
2004: Kasey Kahne, third
2006: Reed Sorenson, 10th
2007: Juan Pablo Montoya, fifth

Since 1975, TWO or more Raybestos® Rookies have finished in the top 10 in the spring race at Atlanta Motor Speedway three times.

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS
DRIVER POINTS
Dario Franchitti 31
Regan Smith 30
Sam Hornish, Jr. 28 
Patrick Carpentier 11
Jacques Villeneuve 1
Michael McDowell 0 

HIGHEST-FINISHING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE BY RACE
EVENT HIGHEST-FINISHING ROOKIE
Daytona 500 Hornish Jr., 15th 
Auto Club 500 Smith, 31st 
UAW-Dodge 400 Franchitti, 31st

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE HISTORY

AN HISTORICAL FIRST: For the first time in NASCAR’s modern-era (since 1972), THREE drivers shared the lead in the Raybestos® Rookie standings in 2008. After the second race of the season, Sam Hornish, Jr., Dario Franchitti and Regan Smith were all tied at the top of the standings.

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 Sprint 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 Sprint 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 Sprint 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 Sprint Cup title: Dale Earnhardt (1979), Rusty Wallace (1984), Alan Kulwicki (1986), Jeff Gordon (1993), Tony Stewart (1999, 2005) and Matt Kenseth (2000).

The longest streak for a Raybestos® Rookie to be in the top-10 in the Sprint Cup Series championship standings during the sport’s modern-era is 60 races (2001 MBNA Platinum 400 through 2002 Ford 400).