#77-Sam Hornish, Jr. was the Raybestos Rookie of the Race in the March 9 Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Hornish Jr. scored a 25th-place finish and claimed Raybestos Rookie of the Race honors for the second time this season. No other driver has captured the honor more than once in 2008. #40-Dario Franchitti leads the Raybestos Rookie standings by two points (41-39) over Hornish Jr. entering the March 16 Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. The most recent Raybestos Rookie to lead a lap at Bristol is Kevin Harvick. Harvick led three times for 137 laps, more than any other driver, in the 2001 Food City 500. The best finish by a Raybestos Rookie in the Food City 500 came in 1979 when Dale Earnhardt scored his first career win. Since Earnhardt’s victory, only three drivers have finished in the top-five in the spring race: Morgan Shepherd (fourth in 1981), Dick Trickle (fifth in 1989), and Greg Biffle (fifth in 2003). Tony Stewart is the only Raybestos Rookie to win a pole at Bristol in his rookie season. Stewart took the top spot in the 1999 Sharpie 500 (August race). He is also the only Raybestos Rookie to lead the most laps in a race at Bristol, leading that same race once for 225 laps. Only once since 1975 have three Raybestos Rookies finished in the top-10 in a race in Bristol. In 1979, Dale Earnhardt scored his first career win in the Food City 500 and was joined in the top-10 by Terry Labonte (seventh) and Joe Millikan (eighth).(Camp and Assoc/Rabestos PR), see my 2008 Rookies page for more notes, history, standings.(3-13-2008)
