Aric Almirola was the Raybestos Rookie of the Race in the May 19 Quaker Steak and Lube 200 at Lowe's (Concord, N.C.) Motor Speedway. Almirola finished ninth, his second top-10 of the season, and took top Raybestos Rookie honors for the second time in 2006.

Erik Darnell finished 10th at Lowe's Motor Speedway, his third top-10 finish this season. Darnell leads Almirola by 12 points (65-54) in the Raybestos Rookie standings entering the May 27 City of Mansfield 250 at Mansfield (Ohio) Motorsports Speedway. Darnell is 11th in the Craftsman Truck Series championship standings, best of any Raybestos Rookie. He trails 10th-place Matt Crafton by just four points.

Did You Know? The best finish by a Raybestos Rookie at Mansfield is fourth by Todd Kluever in 2005.

• A Raybestos Rookie has scored top-five finishes in both Craftsman Truck Series races at Mansfield: Kluever and Tracy Hines, who placed fifth in 2004.

Did You Know? The most Raybestos Rookies to finish in the top-10 at Mansfield is two in 2004: Hines and Mark McFarland (sixth).

• The best start by a Raybestos Rookie at Mansfield: Brad Keselowski, who started 11th in 2004.
• The most Raybestos Rookies to finish on the lead lap in a race at Mansfield is SEVEN in 2004: Hines, McFarland, Shane Sieg (12th), David Reutimann (14th), Brad Keselowski (16th), Brandon Whitt (18th) and Kelly Sutton (20th).
• No Raybestos Rookie has led a lap in two races at Mansfield.

Raybestos Rookie History

• The most Raybestos Rookies to win a race in a single season is THREE in 1997: Kenny Irwin, Tony Raines and Randy Tolsma.
• The most poles by a Raybestos Rookie is four (Greg Biffle in 1998 and Kurt Busch in 2000).
• Busch holds the record for best championship finish (2nd), most wins (four) and most money won ($745,632).
• The record for most top fives by a Raybestos Rookie is 13 (shared by Busch and Carl Edwards).
• The record for most top-10 finishes by a Raybestos Rookie is 19, by Ricky Hendrick in 2001.
• Irwin was the first Raybestos Rookie to win a race in the Craftsman Truck Series. He captured the Florida Dodge Dealers 400K at Homestead-Miami Speedway on March 16, 1997. Irwin took the checkered flag by .289 seconds over Mike Bliss.
• Irwin also holds the record for quickest win by a Raybestos Rookie in the Craftsman Truck Series, scoring his first career victory at Homestead in just his third career start.

Raybestos Rookie Contender Point Standings

Driver - Points
Erik Darnell - 65
Aric Almirola - 54
Kyle Krisiloff - 39
Chad McCumbee - 38
Erin Crocker - 34
Kerry Earnhardt - 31
Joey Miller - 30
Bobby East - 29
Boston Reid - 29
Kraig Kinser - 24
Robert Richardson - 22
Scott Lagasse Jr. - 14
Sean Murphy - 12
Marcos Ambrose - 6
J.R. Patton - 3
Tam Topham - 1

Highest-Finishing Raybestos Rookie by Race

Event - Highest Finishing Rookie
GM FlexFuel 250 - Darnell, sixth
RaceTickets.com 200 - Darnell, 11th
John Deere 200 - Darnell, eighth
Kroger 250 - Darnell, 11th
Ram Tough 200 - Almirola, 10th
Quaker Steak and Lube 200 - Almirola, ninth