Race 2 Win: Sprint Cup Series Race Notes

Sprint Cup Series

UAW-Dodge 400 - Raybestos Rookie Notes

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

AN HISTORICAL FIRST: For the first time in NASCAR’s modern-era (since 1972), THREE drivers share the lead in the Raybestos® Rookie standings: Sam Hornish, Jr., Dario Franchitti and Regan Smith. Each driver has 20 points entering the March 2 UAW-Dodge 400 at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway.

FIRST TO LEAD IN ’08: By leading the Auto Club 500 once for one lap, Franchitti became the first Raybestos® Rookie to lead a lap in the Sprint Cup Series this season. He was one of 15 different drivers to lead the race.

Smith was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the February 24 Auto Club 500 at Auto Club Speedway (Fontana, Calif.), scoring a 31st-place finish.

Juan Pablo Montoya was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2007 UAW-Dodge 400 at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway, posting a 22nd-place finish. Montoya was also the top rookie qualifier, earning the fourth-place starting position.

DID YOU KNOW? Kyle Busch and Kasey Kahne share the best finish by a Raybestos® Rookie in 10 previous NEXTEL Cup Series races at Las Vegas. Busch placed second in 2005, 1.661 seconds behind race winner Jimmie Johnson while Kahne finished second in 2004, 3.426 seconds behind winner Matt Kenseth.

DID YOU KNOW? Ryan Newman was the first Raybestos® Rookie to score a top-five at Las Vegas, claiming a fourth-place finish in 2002.

Only three Raybestos® Rookies have scored top-five finishes at Las Vegas: Busch, Kahne and Newman.

DID YOU KNOW? In 2000, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the first Raybestos® Rookie to score a top-10 finish at Las Vegas. He was also the first Raybestos Rookie driver to lead a lap (four times for 42 laps).

Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at Las Vegas:
2002: Ryan Newman, fourth
2004: Kasey Kahne, second
2005: Kyle Busch, second

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at Las Vegas:
2000: Dale Earnhardt Jr., 10th
2001: Kevin Harvick, eighth
2001: Ron Hornaday, ninth
2002: Ryan Newman, fourth
2002: Jimmie Johnson, sixth
2004: Kasey Kahne, second
2005: Kyle Busch, second
2006: Denny Hamlin, 10th

DID YOU KNOW? TWO or more Raybestos® Rookies have finished in the top-10 TWICE in 10 previous races at Las Vegas.

DID YOU KNOW? The most laps led by a Raybestos® Rookie at Las Vegas is 49 by Newman in 2002.

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS
DRIVER POINTS
Sam Hornish, Jr. 20 
Dario Franchitti 20 
Regan Smith 20 
Patrick Carpentier 1
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

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 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 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 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 NEXTEL 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 NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings during the sport’s modern-era is 60 races (2001 MBNA Platinum 400 through 2002 Ford 400).