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Raybestos Rookie News and Notes: Pepsi 500

Wednesday August 27, 2008

 

·        Regan Smith was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the August 23 Sharpie 500 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.  Smith scored a 14th-place finish equaling his best effort in 29 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts.  He also finished 14th this season at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway (race No. 6).  Smith claimed Raybestos® Rookie of the Race honors for the SEVENTH time in 2008.

 

·        CLOSE POINTS BATTLE: Regan Smith leads Sam Hornish Jr. by two points (181-179) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the August 31 Pepsi 500 at Auto Club (Fontana, Calif.) Speedway.

 

·        DID YOU KNOW?  Smith has led the Raybestos® Rookie standings since the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (race No. 18), a span of SEVEN CONSECUTIVE races.

 

·        DID YOU KNOW?  Smith has captured Raybestos® Rookie of the Race honors in ALL FOUR NASCAR Sprint Cup Series short track races this season.

 

  • David Ragan was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2007 Pepsi 500, claiming a 12th-place finish.

 

  • DID YOU KNOW?  A Raybestos® Rookie has finished in the top-five in three of the four previous August races at Auto Club Speedway.

 

  • DID YOU KNOW?  Brian Vickers (2004) is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole in four previous August races at Auto Club Speedway.

 

  • DID YOU KNOW?  At least one Raybestos® Rookie has led a lap in ALL FOUR August races at Auto Club Speedway.

 

  • Kyle Busch became the first Raybestos® Rookie to win at Auto Club Speedway when he captured the 2005 Pepsi 500.  Busch scored his first Sprint Cup victory by .554 seconds over Greg Biffle and is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win in 16 Sprint Cup Series races at the 2.0-mile speedway.

 

·        DID YOU KNOW?  A Raybestos® Rookie has led the most laps in a Sprint Cup Series race TWICE at Auto Club Speedway:  Kyle Busch (95 laps in 2005 fall race) and Matt Kenseth (120 laps in 2000 spring race).

 

  • Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the Pepsi 500:

2004:   Kasey Kahne, second  

                        2005:   Kyle Busch, FIRST

                        2006:   Clint Bowyer, third

 

  • Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the Pepsi 500:

2004:   Kasey Kahne, second   

2004:   Scott Riggs, seventh

                        2005:   Kyle Busch, FIRST

                        2006:   Clint Bowyer, third

                        2006:   Denny Hamlin, sixth

 

  • Raybestos® Rookies that have led a lap in the Pepsi 500:

2004:   Brian Vickers (four times for 44 laps)    

2004:   Kasey Kahne (four times for 39 laps)

                        2005:   Kyle Busch (five times for 95 laps)

                        2006:   Denny Hamlin (twice for 29 laps)

                        2006:   Reed Sorenson (once for eight laps)

                        2007:   David Reutimann (once for one lap)

 

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS

 

DRIVER                                            POINTS

Regan Smith                                         181

Sam Hornish Jr.                                    179

Patrick Carpentier                                170

Michael McDowell                               156

Dario Franchitti                           97

 

HIGHEST-FINISHING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE BY RACE

 

EVENT                                               HIGHEST-FINISHING ROOKIE

Daytona 500                                        Hornish Jr., 15th

Auto Club 500                                     Smith, 31st

UAW-Dodge 400                                Franchitti, 31st

Kobalt Tools 500                                 Hornish Jr., 25th

Food City 500                                      Smith, 26th

Goody’s Cool Orange 500                   Smith, 14th

Samsung 500                                        Carpentier, 28th

Subway Fresh Fit 500              Hornish Jr., 20th

Aaron’s 499                                         Smith, 21st

Crown Royal 400                                 Smith, 21st

Dodge Challenger 500              McDowell, 28th

Coca-Cola 600                                    Hornish Jr., 13th

Best Buy 400                                       Hornish Jr., 18th

Pocono 500                                         McDowell, 27th

LifeLock 400                                       Hornish Jr., 22nd

Toyota/Save Mart 350                         McDowell, 21st

LENOX Industrial Tools 301                Smith, 27th

Coke Zero 400                                                Carpentier, 14th

LifeLock.com 400                                Carpentier, 30th

Allstate 400 at The Brickyard               Carpentier, 18th

Pennsylvania 500                                  McDowell, 24th

Centurion Boats at The Glen                 Carpentier, 20th

3M Performance 400                           Hornish Jr., 22nd

Sharpie 500                                          Smith, 14th

           

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE HISTORY

 

·        DID YOU KNOW?  The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a Sprint Cup Series race is Juan Pablo Montoya.  Montoya captured the 2007 Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon (Sonoma, Calif.) Raceway, crossing the finish line 4.097 seconds ahead of second-place Kevin Harvick (44 races).

 

·        DID YOU KNOW?  The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole position in the Sprint Cup Series is Patrick Carpentier.  Carpentier captured the top starting spot for the 2008 LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (eight races).     

 

·        AN HISTORICAL FIRST:  The 2008 season marked the first time in NASCAR’s modern-era (since 1972) that THREE drivers shared the lead in the Raybestos® Rookie standings.  After the second race of the season, Sam Hornish, Jr., Dario Franchitti and Regan Smith were all tied at the top of the standings.

 

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

 

®Raybestos® brand brakes are produced by the Affinia Under Vehicle Group, the leading manufacturer of braking systems and components for the automotive industry.     The line includes everything from brake drums to rotors, pads, shoes and hydraulic parts. Affinia Under Vehicle Group is at the forefront of research and development in brake technology and operates manufacturing and distribution facilities throughout North America.

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This report was provided by an outside PR source and posted by Ren Jonsin.

 

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