Kevin Love was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway, grabbing an 11th place finish.  Love took top rookie honors for the first time this season and scored the best finish in his five-race NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career.

· GETTING CLOSER: The race for Raybestos® Rookie of the Year is a close one.  Leader David Reutimann has an 11-point lead (106-95) over Shane Sieg and Tracy Hines, who are tied for second place in the standings entering the Built Ford Tough 225 at Kentucky Speedway.

· Entering Saturday's race at Kansas, 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 is 14th in Craftsman Truck Series points, 125 behind 10th place Jack Sprague. 

· 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 KENTUCKY

· Carl Edwards won the 2003 Built Ford Tough 225 at Kentucky Speedway.  Edwards became the first Raybestos® Rookie to win in four Craftsman Truck Series races at the 1.5-mile speedway.  Edwards took the checkered flag 3.568 seconds ahead of Ted Musgrave.  He led the race only once, covering the final 40 laps. 

· The best start by a Raybestos® Rookie at Kentucky is third by Bill Lester in 2002.

· Other Raybestos® Rookies that have led a lap at Kentucky: Kurt Busch (once for 12 laps in 2000), Jon Wood (once for two laps in 2001), and Jody Lavender (once for one lap in 2003).

· The only other Raybestos® Rookie to score a top-five at Kentucky is Travis Kvapil, who finished fourth in 2001.

· The most Raybestos® Rookies to finish in the top-10 at Kentucky is FOUR in 2001: Kvapil, Ricky Hendrick (sixth), Jon Wood (seventh), and Billy Bigley (10th).
 
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 106
Shane Sieg   95
Tracy Hines   95
Brandon Whitt   80
Chase Montgomery   68
Robert Huffman   53
Shelby Howard   44
Ken Weaver     43
Mark McFarland   35
Kevin Love     33
Brad Keselowski   30
Kelly Sutton   24
Chris Wimmer     19
Steadman Marlin   18
Joe Aramendia   11
Charlie Bradberry  11
Joey Clanton       8
 
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
Black Cat Fireworks 200 Shane Sieg, eighth
O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 Kevin Love, 11th    

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