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| Raybestos Rookie Preview: Texas
06-05-2007 | Truckseries.com Report
Aaron Fike was the Raybestos Rookie of the Race in the June 1 AAA Insurance 200 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. Fike finished 10th, his third top-10 finish of the season and claimed top rookie honors for the fifth time this season. Fike leads Willie Allen by 26 points (90-64) in the Raybestos Rookie standings entering the June 8 Sam's Town 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. Fike is ninth in the Craftsman Truck Series championship standings, best of any Raybestos Rookie. He is 54 points behind eighth-place Jack Sprague and holds a 13-point advantage over 10th-place Matt Crafton. Kenny Irwin won the inaugural O'Reilly 400K at Texas Motor Speedway in 1997, edging out Boris Said and Rick Crawford for the win. Irwin went on to capture Raybestos Rookie of the Year that same season. Chad McCumbee was the Raybestos Rookie of the Race in the 2006 Sam's Town 400 at Texas, scoring a ninth-place finish. Two Raybestos Rookies led a lap in the race: McCumbee (once for one lap) and Kerry Earnhardt (once for two laps). A Raybestos Rookie has won four of the 18 Craftsman Truck Series races at Texas: Irwin, Travis Kvapil (2001) and Brendan Gaughan, who swept both races in 2002. Raybestos Rookies Kvapil and Gaughan gave the rookie class three consecutive wins in 2001-2002. No Raybestos Rookie has won a pole at Texas since the series started competing at the 1.5-mile speedway in 1997 (18 races). Top-five finishes by Raybestos Rookies in the June race at Texas: Top-10 finishes by Raybestos Rookies in the June race at Texas: 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. Four drivers from Roush Racing have won Raybestos Rookie of the Year while competing in the Craftsman Truck Series: Carl Edwards (2003), Greg Biffle (1998), Kurt Busch (2000) and Erik Darnell (2006). Kenny Irwin was the first Raybestos Rookie to win a race in the Craftsman Truck Series. Irwin captured the Florida Dodge Dealers 400K at Homestead-Miami Speedway on March 16, 1997. He 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 win at Homestead in just his third career start. Raybestos Rookie Contender Point Standings Highest Finishing Raybestos Rookie by Race
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