Monday

Raybestos Rookie News and Notes: Sam’s Town 300

2010 Raybestos Rookie Contender Logo

– NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES

Brian Scott was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the Feb. 20 Stater Bros. 300 at Auto Club (Fontana, Calif.) Speedway. Scott posted a 10th-place finish, his best in nine NASCAR Nationwide Series races and his first top-10. His best previous effort was 14th in 2009 at Kansas Speedway. Scott claimed top rookie honors for the first time this season.

James Buescher leads Scott by two points (24-22) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the February 27 Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway.

Michael McDowell was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2009 Sam’s Town 300, scoring a sixth-place finish.

DID YOU KNOW? At least one Raybestos® Rookie has scored a top-10 finish in the last THREE consecutive Nationwide Series races at Las Vegas.

Carl Edwards is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole position in 13 races at Las Vegas. Edwards grabbed the top starting spot for the 2005 Sam’s Town 300.

DID YOU KNOW? Edwards is the only Raybestos® Rookie to lead the most laps at Las Vegas, holding the top spot six times for 124 laps.

DID YOU KNOW? The best finish by a Raybestos® Rookie at Las Vegas is second by Greg Biffle in 2001. Biffle finished 1.085 seconds behind race winner Todd Bodine. The only other Raybestos® Rookie to score a top-five at Las Vegas is Scott Riggs, who finished fourth in the 2002 race.

The most Raybestos® Rookies to finish inside the top-10 in a race at Las Vegas are FOUR in 2009.

Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at Las Vegas (13 races):

2001: Greg Biffle, second

2002: Scott Riggs, fourth

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the Las Vegas (13 races):

1997: Steve Park, eighth

2000: Ron Hornaday, eighth

2001: Greg Biffle, second

2002: Scott Riggs, fourth

2005: Reed Sorenson, sixth

2005: Carl Edwards, seventh

2007: Marcos Ambrose, 10th

2008: Dario Franchitti, sixth

2009: Michael McDowell, sixth

2009: Brendan Gaughan, seventh

2009: Justin Allgaier, eighth

2009: Scott Lagasse Jr., ninth

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS

DRIVER POINTS

James Buescher 24

Brian Scott 22

Colin Braun 18

Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. 15

Parker Kligerman 8

HIGHEST-FINISHING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE BY RACE

EVENT HIGHEST-FINISHING ROOKIE

DRIVE4COPD 300 James Buescher, eighth

Stater Bros. 300 Brian Scott, 10th

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE HISTORY

Justin Allgaier captured 2009 Raybestos® Rookie of the Year in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Allgaier claimed Raybestos® Rookie of the Race honors 11 times during the 2009 season and his final margin of victory over Brendan Gaughan was 18 points (269-251). He finished the year with three top-five and 12 top-10 finishes and placed sixth in the series championship standings. His best finish was a fifth-place effort at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (race No. 4). Allgaier won his first career pole this past s eason at Memphis (Millington, Tenn.) Motorsports Park (race No. 32) and in his 36th career start.

· 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 (104 races).

· DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole position in the Nationwide Series is Allgaier (six races).

· 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).

· DID YOU KNOW? Since 2001, Roush Fenway Racing has won FOUR Raybestos® Rookie of the Year titles in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

2007: David Ragan

2006: Danny O’Quinn Jr.

2005: Carl Edwards

2001: Greg Biffle

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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- Camp & Associates, Inc. Press Release