#82-Scott Speed was the Raybestos Rookie of the Race in the Daytona 500, scoring a 35th-place finish. Speed took top rookie honors for the first time this season. Speed leads #20-Joey Logano by one point (11-10) in the Raybestos Rookie standings entering the Feb. 22 Auto Club 500 at Auto Club Speedway. As a Raybestos Rookie, Kyle Busch won the pole for the 2005 Auto Club 500 at Auto Club Speedway, becoming the youngest pole winner in NASCAR’s premier series (19 yrs.., 9 mos. and 24 days). is the only Raybestos Rookie to win in 12 previous spring races at California Speedway. Johnson captured the 2002 event by .620 seconds over Kurt Busch. Regan Smith won 2008 Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors in the Sprint Cup Series, edging Sam Hornish Jr. by seven points (236-229). 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. 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 Raceway, crossing the finish line 4.097 seconds ahead of second-place (56 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 (20 races).(Camp & Assoc./Raybestos PR), see Rookie history, rules, standings and more on my 2009 Rookie Page.(2-19-2009)
