Robert Richardson was the Raybestos Rookie of the Race in the October 7 John Deere 250 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. Richardson scored a 16th-place finish, his best in 19 career Craftsman Truck Series starts, and took top rookie honors for the first time this season.

Erik Darnell leads Chad McCumbee by 41 points (176-135) in the Raybestos Rookie standings entering the October 21 Kroger 200 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

Darnell and McCumbee were the only Raybestos Rookies to lead a lap at Talladega. Darnell led once for once for five laps while McCumbee held the top spot once for one lap.

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 Matt Crafton by 150 points and leads 15th-place Brendan Gaughan by 48.

Darnell was the Raybestos Rookie of the Race in the April 2 Kroger 250 at Martinsville, grabbing an 11th-place finish.

Todd Kluever was the Raybestos Rookie of the Race in the 2005 Kroger 200 at Martinsville. Kluever finished second, 1.013 seconds behind race winner Ricky Craven.

The 2005 event also marked the first time in three fall race at Martinsville where TWO or more Raybestos Rookies finished inside the top-10. Timothy Peters grabbed an eighth-place finish on the lead lap.

At least one Raybestos Rookie has scored a top-10 finish in each of the three fall Craftsman Truck Series races at Martinsville.

Carl Edwards is the only Raybestos Rookie to win a pole in two previous fall truck series races at Martinsville. Edwards grabbed the top starting spot in 2003.

Top-five finishes by Raybestos Rookies in the fall race at Martinsville:

2003: Carl Edwards, second
2005: Todd Kluever, second

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos Rookies in the fall race at Martinsville:

2003: Carl Edwards, second
2004: Robert Huffman, 10th
2005: Todd Kluever, second
2005: Timothy Peters, eighth

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 - 176
Chad McCumbee - 135
Aric Almirola - 130
Marcos Ambrose - 125
Bobby East - 102
Boston Reid - 99
Joey Miller - 96
Kerry Earnhardt - 93
Erin Crocker - 89
Kraig Kinser - 78
Kyle Krisiloff - 70
Robert Richardson - 63
Ryan Moore - 38
Scott Lagasse Jr. - 36

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
John Deere 250 - Richardson, 16th