#77-Sam Hornish Jr. was the Raybestos Rookie of the Race at Phoenix. Hornish Jr. scored a 20th-place finish and took top rookie honors for the third time this season. Hornish Jr. leads #01-Regan Smith by three points (78-75) in the Raybestos Rookie standings entering the April 27 Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway. Hornish Jr., Smith and #00-Michael McDowell are the only members of the Raybestos Rookie class with a guaranteed starting spot at Talladega. Two Raybestos Rookies entered in this weekend’s race at Talladega do not have a guaranteed starting positions: #40-Dario Franchitti and #10-Patrick Carpentier. The late Davey Allison is the only Raybestos Rookie to win the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega. Allison remains the only Raybestos Rookie to lead the most laps in the Aaron’s 499 and holds the record for most laps led by a rookie in the spring race at Talladega. Since Allison’s win in 1987, a Raybestos Rookie has finished in the top-five in the Aaron’s 499 just twice: Tony Stewart (fifth in 1999) and Kurt Busch (third in 2001). Only one Raybestos Rookie has won the pole position in 38 previous spring races at Talladega: Jimmie Johnson (2002). Johnson won the second pole of his career and posted a seventh place finish in the race. The most recent Raybestos Rookie to win a Sprint Cup Series race is Juan Pablo Montoya. Montoya captured the 2007 Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon (Sonoma, Calif.) Raceway, crossing the finish line 4.097 seconds ahead of second-place Kevin Harvick (28 races).(Camp & Assoc/Raybestos), for more notes, standings and history, see my 2008 Rookies page.(4-24-2008)
