#38-Kevin Conway was the Raybestos Rookie of the Race in the April 10 Subway Fresh Fit 600 at Phoenix, posting a 33rd-place finish. Conway leads #46-Terry Cook by 41 points (66-25) in the Raybestos Rookie standings entering the April 18 Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Cook led once for one lap at Phoenix, the first lap he has led in two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. He became the first Raybestos Rookie to lead lap since Joey Logano led once for one lap in the 2009 AMP Energy 500 at Talladega. Only once in 18 previous NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Texas has a Raybestos Rookie scored a victory. Dale Earnhardt Jr. scored his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win by 5.920 seconds over Jeff Burton in the 2000 Samsung Mobile 500. A Raybestos Rookie has finished in the top-10 in eight of the past 13 spring races. The best start by a Raybestos Rookie in the spring race at Texas is third by Kasey Kahne in 2004. The most recent Raybestos Rookie to score a top-five finish is Logano, who placed third in the 2009 AMP Energy 500 at Talladega. Denny Hamlin is the only Raybestos Rookie to qualify for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup since the program was created in 2004. The way to the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship is to win Raybestos Rookie of the Year. Since 1979, six Raybestos Rookie of the Year drivers have gone on to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup title: Dale Earnhardt (1979), Rusty Wallace (1984), Alan Kulwicki (1986), Jeff Gordon (1993), Tony Stewart (1999, 2005) and Matt Kenseth (2000). See full rookie notes, history and more on my 2010 Rookies page.(4-16-2010)
