- Joey Logano was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the July 26 Allstate 400 at The Brickyard at Indianapolis (Ind.) Motor Speedway. Logano posted a 12th-place finish and took top rookie honors for the 16th time this season.
- Logano leads Scott Speed by 23 points (205-182) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the August 2 Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway
- Michael McDowell was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2008 Pennsylvania 500, scoring a 24th-place finish.
- The 1994 Pennsylvania 500 had THREE Raybestos® Rookies place inside the top-five, the best performance by a rookie class in 63 previous NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Pocono. Three rookies finished in the top-five: Ward Burton (second), Joe Nemechek (third) and Jeff Burton (fourth).
- Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at Pennsylvania 500:
1987: Davey Allison, fifth
1994: Ward Burton, second
1994: Joe Nemechek, third
1994: Jeff Burton, fourth
1996: Johnny Benson, fifth
1999: Tony Stewart, fourth
2000: Matt Kenseth, fifth
2002: Ryan Newman, fifth
2006: Denny Hamlin, FIRST
- Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at Pennsylvania 500:
1982: Mark Martin, 10th
1984: Rusty Wallace, sixth
1987: Davey Allison, fifth
1994: Ward Burton, second
1994: Joe Nemechek, third
1994: Jeff Burton, fourth
1996: Johnny Benson, fifth
1997: Mike Skinner, sixth
1999: Tony Stewart, fourth
2000: Matt Kenseth, fifth
2002: Ryan Newman, fifth
2006: Denny Hamlin, FIRST
- Raybestos® Rookies who have led a lap in the July race at Pocono:
1982: Mark Martin (once for one lap)
1984: Rusty Wallace (once for one lap)
1986: Michael Waltrip (once for one lap)
1989: Dick Trickle (once for seven laps)
1993: Bobby Labonte (once for one lap)
1994: Ward Burton (twice for six laps)
1994: Jeff Burton (once for 16 laps)
1994: John Andretti (once for one lap).
1995: Ricky Craven (once for two laps)
1996: Johnny Benson (twice for five laps)
2002: Jimmie Johnson (once for two laps)
2003: Casey Mears (once for eight laps)
2006: Denny Hamlin (five times for 151 laps)
- Denny Hamlin won both races at Pocono Raceway in 2006 and is the only Raybestos® Rookie to sweep both races at the 2.5-mile track since the facility began hosting two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races in 1982. Hamlin also won both poles at Pocono in 2006. He is the only Raybestos Rookie to win in 35 previous August races at Pocono.
RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS
DRIVER POINTS
Joey Logano 205
Scott Speed 182
Max Papis 70
HIGHEST-FINISHING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE BY RACE
EVENT HIGHEST-FINISHING ROOKIE
Daytona 500 - Scott Speed, 35th
Auto Club 500 - Joey Logano, 26th
Shelby 427 - Joey Logano, 13th
Kobalt Tools 500 - Joey Logano, 30th
Food City 500 - Scott Speed, 28th
Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 - Joey Logano, 32nd
Samsung 500 - Joey Logano, 30th
Subway Fresh Fit 500 - Joey Logano, 21st
Aaron’s 499 - Scott Speed, fifth
Crown Royal 400 - Joey Logano, 19th
Southern 500 - Joey Logano, ninth
Coca-Cola 600 - Joey Logano, ninth
Autism Speaks 400 - Joey Logano, 15th
Pocono 500 - Joey Logano, 23rd
LifeLock 400 - Joey Logano, 25th
Toyota/Save Mart 350 - Max Papis, 12th
LENOX Industrial Tools 301 - Joey Logano, FIRST!
Coke Zero 400 - Joey Logano, 19th
LifeLock.com 400 - Joey Logano, 18th
Allstate 400 at The Brickyard - Joey Logano, 12th
RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE HISTORY
- Regan Smith won 2008 Raybestos® Rookie of the Year honors in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, edging Sam Hornish Jr. by seven points (236-229). Smith became the first Raybestos® Rookie of the Year in the 52-year history of the program without a DNF (did not finish). He was running at the finish in all 34 starts he made during the season.
- DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a Sprint Cup Series race is Joey Logano. Montoya captured the 2009 LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway ahead of second-place Jeff Gordon (four 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 (40 races).
- DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to score a top-five finish is Joey Logano, who won the 2009 LENOX Industrial Tools 301 (four races).
- 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 brake and chassis parts are produced by affiliated companies in Affinia’s Global Brake and Chassis Group, the leading manufacturer of braking systems and chassis parts in the transportation industry. The brake line includes everything from brake drums to rotors, pads, shoes and hydraulic parts, while the chassis line features tie rods, ball points, idler arms and sway bar links. Raybestos brand braking and chassis systems are also the only systems used by NASCAR’s Joe Gibbs Racing in competition. For more information about Raybestos brakes, visit Raybestos.com. For more information on Raybestos Chassis visit RaybestosChassis.com
Affinia Group Inc. is an innovative global leader in the design, manufacture, distribution and marketing of industrial grade products and services, including extensive offerings of aftermarket parts for automotive and heavy-duty vehicles. With more than $2 billion in annual revenue, Affinia has operations in North and South America, Europe, Asia and India. For more information, visit www.affiniagroup.com.
*Affinia Group Inc.’s affiliated companies include Brake Parts Inc. WIX Filtration Corp LLC, Affinia Products Corp LLC and other high quality manufacturers of the Affinia family of brands.
- Camp & Associates, Inc., for Raybestos, Press Release