Todd Kluever was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the August 24 O'Reilly 200 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.  Kluever finished 13th and took top rookie honors for the eighth consecutive race and 12th time in 17 races this season.

Kluever maintains a comfortable lead over Timothy Peters in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the September 8 Cheerios Betty Crocker 200 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway.  He leads Peters by 87 points (216-129).

Kluever used his solid run at Bristol to move up one position in the Craftsman Truck Series championship standings.  He is 12th in points, 29 behind 11th-place Jack Sprague and 59 behind 10th-place David Starr.

The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a Craftsman Truck Series race is Carl Edwards, who won the 2003 Federated Auto Parts 200 by 1.209 seconds over Ted Musgrave at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway.

The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole position for a Craftsman Truck Series race: David Reutimann, who won the pole for the 2004 Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.  Reutimann logged a lap of 171.255 mph to win the top starting spot.

Season Tidbits:
Kluever owns the best finish and best start by a Raybestos® Rookie in the Craftsman Truck Series this season.  In addition to his second-place finish at Indianapolis (Ind.) Raceway Park, he also placed second July 3 at Kansas Speedway, .387 seconds behind winner Todd Bodine.  Kluever grabbed the second starting position for the July 10 race at Kentucky Speedway alongside pole winner Bill Lester.

Raybestos® Rookie Kerry Earnhardt won the pole for the season-opening Florida Dodge Dealers 250, his first pole in his first Craftsman Truck Series start.

Four Raybestos® Rookies have led a lap this season:

• Regan Smith (three times in one race for four laps, 10 miles)
• Kluever (once in one race for two laps, three miles)
• Earnhardt (one lap, 2.5 miles)
• Sean Murphy (one lap, 1.54 miles)

Raybestos® Rookies at Richmond International Raceway:
Robert Huffman was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2004 Kroger 200 at Richmond.  Huffman placed sixth, on the lead lap, and was the only first-year driver to finish in the top 10.

DID YOU KNOW?  Only once in nine previous races at Richmond have TWO Raybestos® Rookies finished in the top five.  In 2000, Kurt Busch finished third and Scott Riggs placed fifth.

DID YOU KNOW?  The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to lead a lap at Richmond: Kurt Busch, who led four times for 102 laps on his way to a third-place finish.  No other Raybestos® Rookie has led more laps or scored a better finish at the .75-mile oval.

Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at Richmond:
1997: Kenny Irwin, fifth
1998: Greg Biffle, third
2000: Kurt Busch, first
2000: Scott Riggs, fifth

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at Richmond:
1996: Nathan Buttke, sixth
1997: Irwin, fifth
1997: Randy Tolsma, ninth
1998: Biffle, third
2000: Busch, first
2000: Riggs, fifth
2001: Ricky Hendrick, eighth
2001: Billy Bigley, 10th
2004: Huffman, sixth