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Raybestos Rookie News and Notes: Camping World RV Sales 200
Tuesday June 23, 2009
NEWS AND NOTES FROM THE RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDERS – NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES
Erik Darnell was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the June 20 Northern Tool.com 250 at The Milwaukee (Wisc.) Mile. Darnell scored a fourth-place finish, equaling his best effort in six NASCAR Nationwide Series races. He claimed his second top-five and third top-10 in 2009 and captured top rookie honors for the second time in 2009. Darnell led twice for 19 laps and was the only Raybestos® Rookie to lead a lap in the race.
Darnell won his first pole position at Milwaukee and joined Brendan Gaughan as the only Raybestos® Rookie drivers to capture a pole this season.
THE STREAK STAYS ALIVE! At least one Raybestos® Rookie has scored top-10 finishes in the last 13 consecutive NASCAR Nationwide Series races.
Gaughan leads Justin Allgaier by five points (159-154) in the overall Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the June 27 Camping World RV Sales 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
TWO Raybestos® Rookies are in the top-10 in the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship standings: Gaughan (seventh) and Allgaier (eighth). The two are separated by just one point
Dario Franchitti was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2008 Camping World RV Sales 200, claiming a 13th-place finish.
Landon Cassill won the pole for the 2008 race at New Hampshire. Cassill joined Shane Hmiel (2002) as the only Raybestos® Rookies to win a pole at the 1.058-mile speedway since the NASCAR Nationwide Series began competing at the track in 1990 (22 races). He joins Shane Hmiel, who captured the top starting spot in 2002.
The best finish by a Raybestos® Rookie at New Hampshire is second by Steve Park in 1997. Park finished .106 seconds behind race winner Mike McLaughlin.
Only once in 19 previous June races at New Hampshire have two Raybestos® Rookies finished inside the top-five at New Hampshire: Carl Edwards (second) and Denny Hamlin (third) in 2005.
Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at New Hampshire:
1997: Steve Park, second
2002: Shane Hmiel, fourth
2005: Carl Edwards, second
2005: Denny Hamlin, third
Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the spring race at New Hampshire:
1990 (fall): Bobby Moon, eighth
1991 (spring): David Green, eighth
1992 (fall): Ricky Craven, ninth
1997: Steve Park, second
2002: Shane Hmiel, fourth
2002: Scott Riggs, ninth
2005: Carl Edwards, second
2005: Denny Hamlin, third
DID YOU KNOW? TWO or more Raybestos® Rookies have finished in the top-10 just 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.
RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS
DRIVER POINTS
Brendan Gaughan 159
Justin Allgaier 154
Michael McDowell 141
Scott Lagasse Jr. 131
Michael Annett 111
John Wes Townley 76
Erik Darnell 66
Ken Butler III 45
Peyton Sellers 37
Marc Davis 24
Terry Cook 16
HIGHEST-FINISHING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE BY RACE
EVENT HIGHEST-FINISHING ROOKIE
Camping World 300 Michael McDowell, 14th
Stater Bros. 300 Brendan Gaughan, ninth
Sam’s Town 300 Michael McDowell, sixth
Food City 500 Justin Allgaier, fifth
O’Reilly 300 Justin Allgaier, 10th
Nashville 300 Scott Lagasse Jr., 10th
Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 Brendan Gaughan, seventh
Aaron’s 312 Scott Lagasse Jr., eighth
Lipton Tea 250 Michael McDowell, eighth
Diamond Hill Plywood Erik Darnell, fourth
CARQUEST Auto Parts 300 Brendan Gaughan, second
Heluva Good! 200 Justin Allgaier, 10th
Federated Auto Parts 300 Michael McDowell, eighth
Meijer 300 Brendan Gaughan, fourth
Northern Tool.com 250 Erik Darnell, fourth
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 (82 races).
· DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole position in the Nationwide Series is Erik Darnell. Darnell captured the top starting spot for the 2009 Northern Tool.com 250 at The Milwaukee (Wisc.) Mile (one race).
· Landon Cassill won the 2008 Raybestos® Rookie of the Year in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Cassill finished the season with one pole and five top-10 finishes in 19 starts. He grabbed the top starting spot for the Camping World RV Sales 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (race No. 18). His best finishes were sixth-place efforts at Gateway (Madison, Ill.) International Raceway and Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway.
· 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 OF THE LAST FOUR 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.
Do you want the chance to win a free Frontstretch T-Shirt, and are you really good at talking about NASCAR? Well, we have the perfect opportunity for you. Our staff will be giving away a free T-Shirt to the reader who makes the best post in our Frontstretch Forum between now and the end of the season. So, what makes a good post? It’s pretty hard to impress us, but here are some things we are looking for:
Does your post spark passionate reactions from other readers? Are you commenting on meaningful NASCAR-related events? Do your posts have substance? In other words, “Dale Jr. is the best driver ever” or “Danica Patrick is hot” will not cut it.
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.
©2000 - 2008 Kim DeHaven and Frontstetch.com. Thanks for visiting the Frontstretch!
