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Raybestos Rookie News and Notes: Camping World RV Sales 200

Tuesday June 24, 2008

 

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

· Cale Gale was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the June 21 Camping World RV Rental 250 at The Milwaukee (Wis.) Mile. Gale scored a 12th-place finish and took top rookie honors for the fourth time this season.

· Landon Cassill claimed the third starting position in time trials at Milwaukee, his best start in 14 NASCAR Nationwide Series races. Cassill has qualified in the top-10 in each of his last four races.

· Bryan Clauson holds an 18-point lead (118-100) over Dario Franchitti in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the June 28 Camping World RV Sales 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

David Ragan was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2007 Camping World RV Sales 200, claiming an 18th-place finish.

DID YOU KNOW? Only four Raybestos® Rookies have scored top five finishes at New Hampshire since the Nationwide Series began competing at the 1.058-mile speedway in 1990:
1997: Steve Park, second
2002: Shane Hmiel, fourth
2005: Carl Edwards, second
2005: Denny Hamlin, third

DID YOU KNOW? Shane Hmiel is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole position at New Hampshire, taking the top spot for the 2002 event.

Only once in 18 previous July races at New Hampshire have two Raybestos® Rookies finished inside the top-five: Carl Edwards (second) and Denny Hamlin (third) in 2005.

DID YOU KNOW? TWO or more Raybestos® Rookies have finished in the top-10 twice at New Hampshire:
2002: Shane Hmiel (fourth) and Scott Riggs (ninth)
2005: Carl Edwards (second) and Denny Hamlin (third).

The most recent Raybestos® Rookies to lead a lap in a Nationwide Series race at New Hampshire are Shane Hmiel (once for 11 laps) and Scott Riggs (once for four laps) in 2002. No Raybestos® Rookie has led a lap in each of the last five Nationwide Series races at New Hampshire.

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS

DRIVER POINTS
Bryan Clauson 118
Dario Franchitti 100
Cale Gale 83
Landon Cassill 79
Chase Miller 68
Brian Keselowski 63
Patrick Carpentier 31

HIGHEST-FINISHING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE BY RACE

EVENT HIGHEST-FINISHING ROOKIE
Camping World 300 Clauson, sixth
Stater Bros. 300 Franchitti, 24th
Sam’s Town 300 Franchitti, sixth
Nicorette 300 Gale, 20th
Sharp Mini 300 Franchitti, 22nd
Pepsi 300 Gale, eighth
O’Reilly 300 Franchitti, 11th
Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 Franchitti, 11th
Corona Mexico 200 Carpentier, fifth
Aaron’s 312 Carpentier, eighth
Lipton Tea 250 Clauson, 21st
Diamond Hill Plywood 200 Miller, eighth
CARQUEST Auto Parts 300 Gale, 30th
Heluva Good! 200 Franchitti, 15th
Federated Auto Parts 300 Cassill, ninth
Meijer 300 Clauson, fifth

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE HISTORY

· DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a Nationwide Series race is Juan Pablo Montoya. Montoya captured the 2007 Corona Mexico 200 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez (Mexico City, Mexico), crossing the finish line .750 seconds ahead of Denny Hamlin (49 races).

· DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole position in the Nationwide Series is David Ragan. Ragan captured the top starting spot for the 2007 Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway (17 races).

· David Ragan captured 2007 Raybestos® Rookie of the Year in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Ragan edged Marcos Ambrose by 27 points (272-245) for the honor. Ragan finished the season with two poles, four top-five and nine top-10 finishes. His best finish of the season was a third-place effort in the Sam’s Town 250 at Memphis (Millington, Tenn.) Motorsports Park (race no. 32). Ragan was fifth in the Nationwide Series championship standings, best of any Raybestos® Rookie.

· The most recent streak for at least two Raybestos® Rookies to rank inside the top-10 in the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship standings is 21 consecutive races (2007 race at Kentucky Speedway, race No. 16, through 2008 Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, race No. 1).

· Roush Fenway Racing has won THREE consecutive Raybestos® Rookie of the Year titles in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and FOUR since 2001.
2007: David Ragan
2006: Danny O’Quinn Jr.
2005: Carl Edwards
2001: Greg Biffle

Danny O’Quinn Jr. narrowly edged John Andretti to win the 2006 Raybestos® Rookie of the Year title in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. O’Quinn Jr. finished one point higher than Andretti in the final standings, the closet margin in NASCAR national series history. He also became the second driver in series history to win the award without completing the full schedule.

Kyle Busch posted a record-setting year on his way to the 2004 Raybestos® Rookie of the Year title. In 34 starts, Busch won five times, captured five poles and scored 16 top-five and 22 top-10 finishes. His second-place finish in the Nationwide Series championship standings is a record for a Raybestos® Rookie. Other Raybestos® Rookie records Busch owns or shares: most starts (34), most wins (tied with Greg Biffle), most top fives (tied with Greg Biffle), most top 10s, most money won ($2,027,050), most championship points (4,943), most laps led (1,108) and most races led (21).

David Stremme holds the record for fewest starts by a driver to win Raybestos® Rookie of the Year. In 2003, he started just 18 of the 34 races and was the top rookie finisher in 16 of those starts. Stremme scored three top-three finishes and had more top-10 finishes (seven) than any other first-year driver. He led six races for a total of 86 laps.

David Green was the first Raybestos® Rookie to win a Nationwide Series race, at Lanier, Ga., in 1991. Green captured the Nestle 200 by 1.58-seconds over Jeff Gordon, a fellow Raybestos® Rookie. A third Raybestos® Rookie, Todd Bodine, placed eighth in the race.

Dennis Setzer was the first Raybestos® Rookie to win TWO or more races in a season. In 1994, he won the Ford Credit 300 at South Boston (Va.) Speedway and The Pantry 300 at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway.

Steve Park was the first Raybestos® Rookie to win THREE or more races in a season. In 1997, he won the BellSouth Mobility/Opryland 300 at Nashville (Tenn.) Speedway, the Detroit Gasket 200 at Michigan International Speedway and the Autolite Platinum 250 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway.

Kenny Wallace was the first Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole in the Nationwide Series. Wallace grabbed the top starting spot for the 1989 Goody’s 300 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, the first race in the history of the Raybestos® Rookie of the Year program.

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So go to the Frontstretch Forums, post early, post often, and post well! We’ll announce the winner following the final race of the season at Homestead.

This report was provided by an outside PR source and posted by Kim DeHaven.

 

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