#6-David Ragan was the Raybestos Rookie of the Race in the April 1 Goody’s Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Motor Speedway. Ragan finished 15th and took top rookie honors for the fourth time in six races. Ragan claimed a $5,000 award at Martinsville as part of the Raybestos Rookie Magnificent Seven program and won an authentic Ridgeway clock. Ragan also captured the bonus in the season opening Daytona 500. The Raybestos Rookie of the Race normally pays $1,500 but that increases to $5,000 at seven designated races throughout the 2007 season. The next race where the bonus is available is Darlington (May 12). Ragan took the lead in the Raybestos Rookie standings by one point (68-67) over Juan Pablo Montoya entering the April 15 Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Montoya is 16th in the Nextel Cup Series championship standings, best of any Raybestos Rookie. He is 62 points behind 10th-place Kevin Harvick and only four behind 15th-place Mark Martin. Montoya leads 17th-place Kurt Busch by one point and 18th-place J.J. Yeley by nine. Denny Hamlin was the Raybestos Rookie of the Race in the 2006 Samsung 500, grabbing a fourth-place finish.(Raybestos PR), see standings, history and more notes on my 2007 Rookies page.(4-12-2007)
