News and Notes from the Raybestos® Rookie Contenders

06-21-2004 | TruckSeries.com Report

  • Tracy Hines was the Raybestos Rookie of the Race in the O'Reilly Auto Parts 200 at Memphis Motorsports Park.  Hines finished 14th and took Raybestos® Rookie of the Race honors for the second time this season.  He moved into second place in the chase for Raybestos® Rookie of the Year, 26 behind leader David Reutimann (102-76) entering the Black Cat Fireworks 200 at The Milwaukee Mile.
  • Reutimann finished 17th at Memphis and fell from seventh to tenth in the Craftsman Truck Series championship standings, 11 behind ninth place Ted Musgrave and 22 behind eighth place Jon Wood.  Reutimann is three points ahead of 11th place Chad Chaffin.
  • Entering Friday night's race at Milwaukee, only two Raybestos® Rookies have scored top-five finishes this season: Reutimann has a pair of third place finishes (Atlanta and Texas) while Hines placed fifth at Mansfield.
  • Reutimann is the only Raybestos® Rookie to lead a lap in 2004.  He has led three times in two races for a total of 15 laps (30.22 miles).
  • Reutimann won his first career Bud Pole position at the Easy Care 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.  The pole came in just his second career start and marks the second consecutive season a Raybestos® Rookie has won a pole.  Reutimann becomes the second driver for Darrell Waltrip Motorsports to win a pole, joining Rich Bickle who took the top starting spot at Martinsville Speedway in 1997.
  • Joining Reutimann on the front row at Atlanta was fellow Raybestos® Rookie Robert Huffman.  The Atlanta race was the first time in the history of the Craftsman Truck Series that two Raybestos® Rookies have started from the front row.
  • This is the second consecutive season a female driver has competed for Raybestos® Rookie of the Year in the Craftsman Truck Series.  A full schedule is planned for Kelly Sutton who will drive the Team Copaxone Chevrolet.  Tina Gordon competed for top rookie honors one year ago.

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIES AT MILWAUKEE

  • Carl Edwards was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2003 Black Cat Fireworks 200 at The Milwaukee Mile.  Edwards was credited with a 15th place finish after starting third.
  • Kurt Busch turned in the most dominating performance by a Raybestos® Rookie in nine Craftsman Truck Series races at Milwaukee.  Busch won the 2000 race from the pole and led the most laps (four times for a whopping 155 of the 200 laps).  He remains the only Raybestos Rookie to achieve any of those accomplishments.
  • DID YOU KNOW?  The record number for Raybestos® Rookies to finish inside the top-10 at Milwaukee is four.  In 2001, Travis Kvapil (third), Billy Bigley (seventh), Matt Crafton (ninth) and Ricky Hendrick (10th) all scored finished inside the top-10.
  • The only other race where TWO or more Raybestos® Rookies finished in the top-10 was 2000 where Scott Riggs (ninth) joined Busch.
  • Only FOUR drivers have scored top-five finishes at Milwaukee in nine Craftsman Truck Series races:
    1998: Greg Biffle, fifth
    2000: Kurt Busch, first
    2001: Travis Kvapil, third
    2002: Brendan Gaughan, fourth

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE HISTORY 

  • DID YOU KNOW? A Raybestos® Rookie has won at least one race in each of the past four seasons, dating back to Kurt Busch in 2000.  In fact, four Raybestos® Rookies have posted multiple win seasons: Kenny Irwin (two, 1997), Busch (four, 2000), Brendan Gaughan (two, 2002), and Carl Edwards (three, 2003).
  • The greatest margin of victory in the final Raybestos® Rookie standings is 138 points set by Carl Edwards in 2003.
  • The record for most Bud Poles set by a rookie is four, shared by Greg Biffle (1998) and Kurt Busch (2000).
  • The record for most top-five finishes is 13, which is shared by Busch and Edwards.  Ricky Hendrick (2001) holds the mark for most top-10 finishes: 19.

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER STANDINGS

DRIVER         POINTS
David Reutimann 102
Tracy Hines   76
Shane Sieg   73
Brandon Whitt   66
Chase Montgomery   55
Robert Huffman   47
Shelby Howard   38
Mark McFarland   35
Ken Weaver   35
Brad Keselowski   19
Steadman Marlin   18
Kelly Sutton   18
Kevin Love   17
Joe Aramendia   11
Charlie Bradberry   11
Joey Clanton     8
Chris Wimmer       5

HIGHEST FINISHING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIES BY RACE

EVENT               HIGHEST FINISHING ROOKIE
Florida Dodge Dealers 250       David Reutimann, ninth
Easy Care Vehicle Service Contracts 200 David Reutimann, third
Kroger 250 David Reutimann, eighth
UAW/GM Ohio 250 Tracy Hines, fifth
Infineon 200 Robert Huffman, 12th
MBNA America 200 Robert Huffman, 11th
O'Reilly 400K David Reutimann, third
O'Reilly Auto Parts 200 Tracy Hines, 14th

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