– NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES
· Brian Scott was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the July 9 Dollar General 300 at Chicagoland (Joliet, Ill.) Speedway. Scott scored a third-place finish, his best in 25 NASCAR Nationwide Series races and his first top-five. He claimed top rookie honors for the eighth time this season.
· Raybestos® Rookie Parker Kligerman scored a 13th-place finish at Chicagoland, equaling his best finish in seven Nationwide Series races. Kligerman owns the best qualifying effort by a Raybestos® Rookie in 2010, a second-place start in the July 2 Subway Jalapeno 250 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.
· Scott leads Ricky Stenhouse Jr. by 20 points (180-160) in the overall Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the July 17 Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 at Gateway (Madison, Ill.) International Raceway.
Michael Annett was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2009 Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250, scoring a seventh-place finish.
Erik Darnell scored a 10th-place finish last year at Gateway, one of five top-10 finishes he racked up during the 2009 season.
DID YOU KNOW? TWO Raybestos® Rookies have won at Gateway since the Nationwide Series began competing at the 1.25-mile speedway in 1997 (13 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 13 races at have TWO Raybestos® Rookies finished inside the top-five at Gateway. In 2005, Reed Sorenson won the race while Carl Edwards posted third-place finish.
At least one Raybestos® Rookie has scored a top-10 finish in each of the last THREE CONSECUTIVE races at Gateway.
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.
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
2008: Cale Gale, sixth
2008: Landon Cassill, seventh
2009: Michael Annett, seventh
2009: Erik Darnell, 10th
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)
DID YOU KNOW? Greg Biffle is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole position in 13 previous races at Gateway, taking the top starting spot for 2001 race.
RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS
DRIVER POINTS
Brian Scott 180
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 160
Colin Braun 128
James Buescher 97
Parker Kligerman 46
HIGHEST-FINISHING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE BY RACE
EVENT HIGHEST-FINISHING ROOKIE
DRIVE4COPD 300 James Buescher, eighth
Stater Bros. 300 Brian Scott, 10th
Sam’s Town 300 Colin Braun, 28th
Scotts Turf Builder 300 Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 25th
Nashville 300 Brian Scott, 15th
Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 Ricky Stenhouse Jr., ninth
O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 Colin Braun, 13th
Aaron’s 312 Brian Scott, 10th
BUBBA Burger 250 James Buescher, 12th
Royal Purple 200 Brian Scott, 25th
Heluva Good! 200 Brian Scott, ninth
TECH-NET Auto Service 300 Brian Scott, 33rd
Federated Auto Parts 300 Brian Scott, 28th
Meijer 300 Colin Braun, 10th
The Bucyrus 200 Colin Braun, 11th
New England 200 Colin Braun, 12th
Subway Jalapeno 250 Ricky Stenhouse Jr., third
Dollar General 300 Brian Scott, third
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 season 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 (120 races).
· DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole position in the Nationwide Series is Justin Allgaier, who captured the top starting position for the 2009 Kroger 250 at Memphis (Millington, Tenn.) Motorsports Park (22 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