Atlanta Rookie Notes and News: #20-Joey Logano was the Raybestos Rookie of the Race in the March 1 Shelby 427 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Logano scored a 13th-place finish and took top rookie honors for the second time this season and for the second consecutive race. Logano leads Scott Speed by one point (32-31) in the Raybestos Rookie standings entering the March 8 Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. A Raybestos Rookie has scored top-10 finishes in two of the last three spring races at Atlanta. Kevin Harvick scored a memorable win as a Raybestos Rookie in the 2001 Kobalt Tools 500. Harvick beat Jeff Gordon by just .006 seconds to capture his first Sprint Cup Series victory in just his third career start. Raybestos Rookies Robby Gordon (1997) and Johnny Benson (1996) scored their first career poles in back-to-back spring race at Atlanta. Gordon captured his first pole in his 11th career start while Benson took the top spot in just his fourth career start. The late Kenny Irwin holds the record for most laps led by a Raybestos Rookie in the spring race at Atlanta. In 1998, Irwin led five times for 112 laps. 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 (58 races ago). The most recent Raybestos Rookie to win a pole position in the Sprint Cup Series is Patrick Carpentier at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (23 races). The most recent Raybestos Rookie to score a top-five finish is David Ragan at Richmond (49 races).(Camp & Assoc./Raybestos PR)(3-5-2009)
