The Raybestos Rookie of the Year battle is a tight one - and it's about to get even tighter.

The scoring system states that only the best 14 finishes by a Raybestos rookie candidate will count toward their final points total in the rookie standings.

With the 14th race officially in the books, bad finishes from here on out will be tossed.

In other words, rookies better make it count.

Currently, Tayler Malsam (No. 81 One Eighty Toyota) holds a mere four-point lead over Johnny Sauter (No. 13 Fun Sand/Rodney Atkins/Curb Records Chevrolet) in the Raybestos Rookie standings. Statistically, he has been the best rookie as well, though again by the slimmest of margins over Sauter.

Here's the tale of the tape between the two rookie front-runners:

Driver Rating: Malsam's 82.9 leads Sauter's 81.3

Average Running Position: Malsam's 12.9 leads Sauter's 13.3

Fastest Laps Run: Malsam's 57 leads Sauter's 46

Laps in the Top 15 percentage: Malsam's 68.2% leads Sauter's 65.6%

Sauter does lead one key statistical category: Laps Led. Sauter has led 45 laps, which is ninth-most in 2009. Malsam has led 12 laps this season.

James Buescher (No. 10 International MAXX FORCE Diesel Ford) sits third in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings, 15 points behind Malsam. Through the first 14 races, Buescher has a Driver Rating of 69.3, an Average Running Position of 17.1, two Fastest Laps Run and a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 37.7%.

Raybestos Rookie Of The Year Standings

Driver Points
1. Tayler Malsam 155
2. Johnny Sauter 151
3. James Buescher 140
4. Ricky Carmichael 93
5. Brian Ickler 67
6. J.R. Fitzpatrick 61
7. Brent Raymer 45
8. Chris Jones 45
9. Chase Austin 16
10. Ryan Hackett 5