Rean Smith in the #01 The Principal Finacial Chevy clinched the Raybestos Rookie or the Year in the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The year-end payout for 2008 Raybestos Rookie of the Year in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is $75,000, the same amount Darrell Waltrip earned from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company for his 1982 Cup series championship. Smith will earn a grand total of $91,500 from Raybestos brand Brakes for his efforts in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series this season. Smith became the first Raybestos Rookie of the Year in the 52-year history of the program without a DNF (did not finish). He was running at the finish in all 34 starts he made this season. ÷ This is the first Raybestos Rookie of the Year title for Dale Earnhardt Inc. ÷ Smith led or shared the lead in Raybestos Rookie standings in the 26 of the 36 Sprint Cup Series races this season. ÷ Smith scored a 34th-place finish in the Ford 400 and captured Raybestos Rookie of the Race honors for the 11th time in 2008. SMITH: YOU WERE THE UNDERDOG FOR RAYBESTOS ROOKIE OF THE YEAR BUT HAD A SOLID SEASON ALL YEAR LONG? DO YOU TAKE A LOT OF PRIDE IN BEATING SOME BIG NAMES FOR THIS AWARD? “I do. You know, there were a lot of big names that I was racing against and you look at the stuff at the beginning of the year, not very many people had me chartered as one of “em that was going to contend for Raybestos Rookie of the Year championship. So definitely had a little bit of a chip on the shoulder about that and wanted to go out there and prove that there is still a good ol’ stock car path and NASCAR path to get to this series. I feel like we did that to a certain extent. Obviously there were weeks I wanted to run better and there was weeks where we ran good and didn’t get what we deserved or ran good and got what we deserved. All in all, I’m very proud to win the Raybestos Rookie of the Year. You look at the names that are on there and some good names to be included with. At the end of the day you can’t change that. It’s going to be there forever.” HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO HAVE THIS ACCOMPLISHMENT BUT HAVE YOUR FUTURE BE SO UNCERTAIN? “This time of year if you don’t figure out what you’re doing it’s always difficult but it’s something at the end of the day you can put that on the shelf at the house and have that accomplishment. I’m very confident in my abilities as a race car driver. This year’s been a tough year and was a tough year for all the rookies. No excuses for that. It was a difficult year with the new car and that’s all their way to it. I’m pretty confident I’ll be driving a Cup car for somebody next year. I just don’t know which one and if not then I’ll look to the other two series and work hard to get back to this level.”(Camp and Assoc/Raybestos PR), see Rookie history, standings and more on my 2008 Rookies page.(11-17-2008)
