Darnell stretched his lead in the Raybestos Rookie standings to 29 points (135-106) over a second-place tie between Aric Almirola and Chad McCumbee entering the August 4 Power Stroke Diesel 200 at O'Reilly Raceway Park (Indianapolis, Ind.).

Darnell led twice for 11 laps at Memphis, the first laps he has led this season.

Marcos Ambrose won the pole position for the July 8 Built Ford Tough 225 at Kentucky Speedway (race number 13). Ambrose claimed his first career pole in his 10th start in the series. He led the race twice for 49 laps to claim WIX Filters Lap Leader of the Race honors. Ambrose is the only Raybestos Rookie to capture the award this season.

Darnell is 13th in the Craftsman Truck Series championship standings, best of any Raybestos Rookie. He trails 12th-place Matt Crafton by 162 points and leads 14th-place Brendan Gaughan by five.

Todd Kluever was the Raybestos Rookie of the Race in the 2005 Power Stroke Diesel 200. Kluever finished second, .418 seconds behind race winner Dennis Setzer.

Carl Edwards is the only Raybestos Rookie to win in 11 previous Craftsman Truck Series races at O'Reilly Raceway Park. Edwards won the 2003 Power Stroke Diesel 200 by .617 seconds over Travis Kvapil.

DID YOU KNOW? At least one Raybestos Rookie has logged a top-10 finish in eight of the 11 previous Craftsman Truck Series races at O'Reilly Raceway Park, including five of the last six.

DID YOU KNOW? Edwards is also the only Raybestos Rookie to lead the most laps at O'Reilly Raceway Park since the series began competing at the .686-mile speedway in 1995. He led once covering the final 119 laps of the race.

Top-five finishes by Raybestos Rookies at O'Reilly Raceway Park:
2000: Jamie McMurray, third
2001: Travis Kvapil, fifth
2003: Carl Edwards, first
2005: Todd Kluever, second

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos Rookies at O'Reilly Raceway Park:
1996: Jay Sauter, sixth
1996: Nathan Buttke, eighth
1997: Randy Tolsma, sixth
1997: Kenny Irwin, seventh
1998: Greg Biffle, seventh
1998: Ron Barfield, ninth
2000: Jamie McMurray, third
2000: Kurt Busch, sixth
2001: Kvapil, fifth
2001: Matt Crafton, seventh
2003: Carl Edwards, first
2004: Tracy Hines, ninth
2005: Todd Kluever, second

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 - 135
Aric Almirola - 106
Chad McCumbee - 106
Joey Miller - 87
Boston Reid - 80
Erin Crocker - 73
Bobby East - 73
Kyle Krisiloff - 70
Marcos Ambrose - 66
Kerry Earnhardt - 60
Kraig Kinser - 48
Robert Richardson - 41
Scott Lagasse Jr. - 33
Michel Jourdain Jr. - 17
Ryan Moore - 17
Sean Murphy - 12
J.R. Patton - 4
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
City of Mansfield 250 - Miller, fifth
AAA Insurance 200 - Almirola, 12th
Sam's Town 400 - McCumbee, ninth
Con-way Freight 200 - Darnell, 12th
Toyota Tundra Milwaukee 200 - Almirola, 13th
O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 - Ambrose, third
Built Ford Tough 225 - Darnell, ninth
O'Reilly 200 - Darnell, second