Marcos Ambrose was the Raybestos Rookie of the Race in the September 23 Smith's Las Vegas 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Ambrose placed seventh, his third top-10 finish of the season, and took top rookie honors for the third time this season. He led the Las Vegas race once for 12 laps and was the only first-year driver to led a lap in the event.

Raybestos Rookies Kraig Kinser and Aric Almirola also posted strong finishes at Las Vegas. Kinser placed ninth, his first top-10 effort of the 2006 season. Almirola grabbed a 10th-place finish, his third top-10 this season.

Erik Darnell leads Chad McCumbee by 39 points (173-134) in the Raybestos Rookie standings entering the October 7 John Deere 250 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

Two Raybestos Rookies have won pole positions this season: Darnell and Marcos Ambrose. Darnell took the top staring spot for the Toyota Tundra 200 at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway (race No. 16) while Ambrose won the pole for the Built Ford Tough 225 at Kentucky Speedway (race No. 13).

Ambrose is the only Raybestos Rookie to capture WIX Filters Lap Leader of the Race honors in the Craftsman Truck Series this season. Ambrose led twice for 49 laps to claim the honor in the Built Ford Tough 225.

Darnell is 14th in the Craftsman Truck Series championship standings, best of any Raybestos Rookie. He trails 13th-place Mike Skinner by 100 points and leads 15th-place Brendan Gaughan by 64.

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 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 - 173
Chad McCumbee - 134
Aric Almirola - 127
Marcos Ambrose - 116
Bobby East - 97
Joey Miller - 96
Boston Reid - 96
Kerry Earnhardt - 92
Erin Crocker - 83
Kraig Kinser - 78
Kyle Krisiloff - 70
Robert Richardson - 53
Ryan Moore - 38
Scott Lagasse Jr. - 33

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
Power Stroke Diesel 200 - Darnell, 10th
Toyota Tundra 200 - Ambrose, third
O'Reilly 200 - Darnell, 18th
New Hampshire 200 - Darnell, ninth
Smith's Las Vegas 350 - Ambrose, seventh