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Raybestos Rookie News and Notes: Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250

Tuesday July 15, 2008

 

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

· Landon Cassill was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the July 11 Dollar General 300 at Chicagoland (Ill.) Speedway. Cassill scored a 10th-place finish, his second top-10 in 16 NASCAR Nationwide Series starts. He grabbed Raybestos® Rookie of the Race honors for the second time in 10 starts this season. Cassill was the first Raybestos® Rookie to score a top-10 at Chicagoland since 2005.

· Bryan Clauson has an 18-point lead (139-121) over Dario Franchitti in the overall Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the July 19 Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 at Gateway (Madison, Ill.) International Raceway.

· DID YOU KNOW? A Raybestos® Rookie has won two pole positions in the NASCAR Nationwide Series this season. Clauson grabbed the top starting spot for the Winn-Dixie 250 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (race No. 18) while Cassill claimed the top starting position at the Camping World RV Sales 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (race No. 17).

David Ragan was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2007 Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 at Gateway, grabbing a fifth-place finish.

Brad Keselowski was the only Raybestos® Rookie to lead a lap in the 2007 event at Gateway, holding the top spot once for five laps.

DID YOU KNOW? TWO Raybestos® Rookies have won at Gateway since the Nationwide Series began competing at the 1.25-mile speedway in 1997 (11 races). Reed Sorenson won the 2005 race by .710 seconds over Mike Wallace while Kevin Harvick captured the 2000 race by 1.338 seconds over Jeff Purvis.

DID YOU KNOW? Only once in 11 races at have TWO Raybestos® Rookies finished inside the top-five at Gateway. In 2005, Reed Sorenson won the race while Carl Edwards posted a third-place finish.

Sorenson and Harvick are the only Raybestos® Rookies to lead the most laps in a race at Gateway. Harvick led five times for 110 laps in 2000 while Sorenson led twice for 60 laps in 2005.

Greg Biffle is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole position in 11 races at Gateway, taking the top starting spot for 2001 race.

Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at Gateway:
1998: Andy Santerre, fourth
2000: Kevin Harvick, FIRST
2001: Greg Biffle, fourth
2004: Kyle Busch, fourth
2005: Reed Sorenson, FIRST
2005: Carl Edwards, third
2007: David Ragan, fifth

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at Gateway:
1998: Andy Santerre, fourth
1998: Dave Blaney, sixth
2000: Kevin Harvick, FIRST
2000: Ron Hornaday, sixth
2001: Greg Biffle, fourth
2001: Scott Wimmer, 10th
2004: Kyle Busch, fourth
2005: Reed Sorenson, FIRST
2005: Carl Edwards, third
2007: David Ragan, fifth

Laps led by Raybestos® Rookies at Gateway:
2000: Kevin Harvick, five times for 110 laps)
2000: Michael Ritch (once for five laps)
2000: Jason Schuler (once for two laps)
2001: Greg Biffle (twice for 55 laps)
2002: Johnny Sauter (twice for five laps)
2002: Casey Mears (once for one lap)
2004: Kyle Busch (once for one lap)
2005: Reed Sorenson (twice for 60 laps) 2007: Brad Keselowski (once for five laps)

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS

DRIVER POINTS
Bryan Clauson 139
Dario Franchitti 121
Landon Cassill 100
Cale Gale 83
Brian Keselowski 63

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
Camping World RV Sales 200 Franchitti, 13th
Winn-Dixie 250 Clauson, 19th

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 (52 races).

· DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole position in the Nationwide Series is Bryan Clauson. Clauson captured the top starting spot for the 2008 Winn-Dixie 250 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (two 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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This report was provided by an outside PR source and posted by Kim DeHaven.

 

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