#11-Denny Hamlin was the Rookie of the Race at Watkins Glen, finishing 10th and took top rookie honors for the 12th time this season. He collected his 10th top-10 of the 2006 season and scored the best finish by a first-year driver on a road course this season. Hamlin maintains a comfortable lead in the Raybestos Rookie standings. He holds a 44-point edge (233-189) over #07-Clint Bowyer entering the August 20 GFS Marketplace 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Hamlin is eighth in the Nextel Cup Series championship standings. He is 12 points behind seventh-place Tony Stewart and 26 ahead of ninth-place Jeff Gordon. A Rookie has finished in the top 15 in all 22 races this season. #41-Reed Sorenson was the Rookie of the Race in the 3M Performance 400 this past June at Michigan. Sorenson placed fifth in the rain-shortened event after leading the race once for three laps. He was the only Raybestos Rookie to finish inside the top-10 and the only first-year driver to lead a lap in the event. The best finish by a Raybestos Rookie in the August race at Michigan (since 1975) is a third place effort by Tony Stewart in 1999. Only one Rookie has won the pole position for the August race at Michigan since 1975: Davey Allison, who captured the top starting spot for the 1987 race. A Rookie has finished in the top-10 in six of the past seven August races at Michigan: 1999: Tony Stewart, third 2000: Matt Kenseth, eighth 2001: Casey Atwood, 10th 2002: Jimmie Johnson, seventh 2003: Greg Biffle, fourth 2004: Kasey Kahne, fifth Ryan Newman holds the all-time Raybestos Rookie record for most poles (6), most top-fives (14) and most top-10s (22) in a season. At least one Raybestos Rookie has won a Bud Pole in each of the last 11 years (1996-2006).(Raybestos PR), see the full rookie notes, standings, history and more on my 2006 Rookies Page.(8-16-2006)
