#01-Regan Smith was the Raybestos Rookie of the Race in the November 9 Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix, scoring a 23rd-place finish. Smith grabbed top rookie honors for the 10th time in 2008. Sam Hornish Jr. leads Regan Smith by three points (199-196) in the Raybestos Rookie standings entering the November 16 Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami. Tony Stewart is the only Raybestos Rookie to win a Sprint Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Stewart captured the inaugural Ford 400 in 1999. The most laps led by a Raybestos Rookie in eight previous races at Homestead is 52 by Casey Atwood in 2001. The only Raybestos Rookie to win a pole in nine Sprint Cup races at Homestead is Jamie McMurray. McMurray won his first-career pole at the 2003 Ford 400. 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 (55 races). The most recent Raybestos Rookie to win a pole position in the Sprint Cup Series is Patrick Carpentier. Carpentier captured the top starting spot for the 2008 LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (19 races). The 2008 season marked the first time in NASCAR’s modern-era (since 1972) that THREE drivers shared the lead in the Raybestos Rookie standings. After the second race of the season, Sam Hornish, Jr., Dario Franchitti and Regan Smith were all tied at the top of the standings. Ryan Newman holds the all-time Raybestos Rookie record for most poles (6), most top-fives (14) and most top-10s (22). Denny Hamlin is the only Raybestos Rookie to qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup since the program was created in 2004. Hamlin holds the record for most earnings by a Raybestos Rookie ($6.6 million in 2006). The record for most wins by a Raybestos Rookie is three, shared by Tony Stewart (1999) and Jimmie Johnson (2002).(Camp & Assoc/Raybestos), see rookie standings, history and more on my 2008 Rookies page.(11-14-2008)
