Message #2101

[Darnell99Fan]

Dickies 500 - Raybestos Rookie Notes

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


AJ Allmendinger was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the October 28 Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway. Allmendinger finished 16th and took top rookie honors for the second time in the last three races. He also led the race once for one lap, the first time he has led in 16 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series starts.

Juan Pablo Montoya leads David Ragan by 19 points (232-213) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the November 4 Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Montoya is 20th in the NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings, 34 points behind 19th-place Jamie McMurray.
Montoya was the top Raybestos® Rookie in the April 15 Samsung 500 at Texas, scoring an eighth-place finish.

Clint Bowyer was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2006 Dickies 500. Bowyer scored a fifth-place finish and is the only Raybestos® Rookie to score a top-five in two fall races at Texas.

DID YOU KNOW? Only once in 13 previous races at Texas has a Raybestos® Rookie won the race. Dale Earnhardt Jr. scored his first career NEXTEL Cup Series win by 5.920 seconds over Jeff Burton in the 2000 spring race. Earnhardt Jr. also led the most laps in the race (six times for 106 laps).

DID YOU KNOW? Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne are the only Raybestos® Rookies to lead the most laps in 13 NEXTEL Cup race at Texas.
The best start by a Raybestos® Rookie in 13 previous races at Texas is third by Kasey Kahne in the 2004 spring race.
The best start by a Raybestos® Rookie in two previous fall races at Texas is sixth by Denny Hamlin in 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 232
David Ragan 213
Paul Menard 187
David Reutimann 170
AJ Allmendinger 153

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
UAW-Ford 500 Montoya, 15th
Bank of America 500 Allmendinger, 15th
Subway 500 Montoya, eighth
Pep Boys 500 Auto 500 Allmendinger, 16th