Race 2 Win: Sprint Cup Series Race Notes

Sprint Cup Series

Food City 500 - Raybestos Rookie Notes

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

Sam Hornish, Jr. was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the March 9 Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway. Hornish Jr. scored a 25th-place finish and claimed Raybestos® Rookie of the Race honors for the second time this season. No other driver has captured the honor more than once in 2008.

Dario Franchitti leads the Raybestos® Rookie standings by two points (41-39) over Hornish Jr. entering the March 16 Food City 500 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

David Ragan was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2007 Food City 500, posting a 26th-place finish.

DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to lead a lap at Bristol is Kevin Harvick. Harvick led three times for 137 laps, more than any other driver, in the 2001 Food City 500.

The best finish by a Raybestos® Rookie in the Food City 500 came in 1979 when Dale Earnhardt scored his first career win. Since Earnhardt’s victory, only three drivers have finished in the top-five in the spring race: Morgan Shepherd (fourth in 1981), Dick Trickle (fifth in 1989), and Greg Biffle (fifth in 2003).

DID YOU KNOW? Tony Stewart is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole at Bristol in his rookie season. Stewart took the top spot in the 1999 Sharpie 500 (August race). He is also the only Raybestos® Rookie to lead the most laps in a race at Bristol, leading that same race once for 225 laps.

DID YOU KNOW? Only once since 1975 have THREE Raybestos® Rookies finished in the top-10 in a race in Bristol. In 1979, Dale Earnhardt scored his first career win in the Food City 500 and was joined in the top-10 by Terry Labonte (seventh) and Joe Millikan (eighth).

DID YOU KNOW? Only once since 1981 have TWO or more Raybestos® Rookies finished in the top-10 in the Food City 500. In 1981, Morgan Shepherd placed fourth and Tim Richmond finished 10th.

Two or more Raybestos® Rookies have finished in the top-10 in BOTH races at Bristol just once since 1975. In 1981, Morgan Shepherd (fourth) and Tim Richmond (10th) logged top-10 finished in the Food City 500 while Ron Bouchard (fifth) and Richmond (eighth) finished in the top-10 in the Sharpie 500.

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the Food City 500 at Bristol:
1979: Dale Earnhardt, FIRST
1979: Terry Labonte, seventh
1979: Joe Millikan, eighth
1981: Morgan Shepherd, fourth
1981: Tim Richmond, 10th
1989: Dick Trickle, fifth
1995: Robert Pressley, 10th
2002: Jimmie Johnson, seventh
2003: Greg Biffle, fifth
2005: Travis Kvapil, seventh

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS
DRIVER POINTS
Dario Franchitti 41
Sam Hornish, Jr. 39
Regan Smith 38 
Patrick Carpentier 20
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 
Kobalt Tools 500 Hornish Jr., 25th

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE HISTORY

DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a Sprint Cup Series race is Juan Pablo Montoya. Montoya captured the 2007 Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon (Sonoma, Calif.) Raceway, crossing the finish line 4.097 seconds ahead of second-place Kevin Harvick (24 races).

DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole position in the Sprint Cup Series is Denny Hamlin. Hamlin captured the top starting spot for the 2006 Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway (50 races).

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).