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February 17, 2006

Nextel Cup Rookie Roundup-Daytona

Did ya know?
Denny Hamlin was only the second rookie to take part in the Budweiser Shootout and the only one ever to win the event and the fifth driver to win it in his first attempt. Only two rookies, Scott Wimmer and Jeff Gordon, have finished in the top five in the Daytona 500. Wimmer has the best finish as a rookie with his 3rd place finish in 2004. Three rookies have grabbed the Bud pole at Daytona, Jimmie Johnson the last to accomplish this feat in 2002. Travis Kvapil was the top rookie last year finishing 19th.

Denny Hamlin
Team: Joe Gibbs Racing #11 Chevy Monte Carlo
Crew Chief: Mike Ford
Hamlin was 12th fastest in Daytona 500 qualifying and ninth in his qualifying race. "I made a rookie mistake getting into pit road and missed my pit stall and went to the back. We fought our way back up there. I'm pretty happy about the car. We've got to tweak it a little bit. It's not handling quite as good as I was hoping."

Martin Truex Jr
Team: Dale Earnhardt Incorporated #1 Chevy Monte Carlo
Crew Chief: Kevin "Bono" Manion
Truex was only 37th in qualifying but confident that his car would be quick on Sunday. Truex finished tenth in his Gatorade Duel. "It was good and bad. We got a fast car. It drives really good until the tires wear out and then it's terrible. We've got some work to do tomorrow to get it to drive better."

Reed Sorenson
Team: Ganassi-Sabates #41 Dodge Charger
Crew Chief: Jimmy Elledge
Sorenson was a disappointing 29th in qualifying and ran 11th in his Gatorade Duel. "We just didn't really have the right gear to run the bottom. We finally moved up to the top there near the end and got a couple good runs. It wasn't very fun until we moved up to the high side there, and then it was pretty cool."

Clint Bowyer
Team: Richard Childress Racing #07 Chevy Monte Carlo
Crew Chief: Gil Martin
Bowyer was the top rookie qualifier for the Daytona 500 grabbing the 7th position. Bowyer finished 21st in his qualifying race. "I learned a lot. That's the way it is. We just struggled out there. It was a little bit tight and I was fighting the car and the main thing is fighting knowing where to be."

David Stremme
Team: Ganassi-Sabates #40 Dodge Charger
Crew Chief: Jeff Vandermoss
Stremme was 43rd in qualifying last weekend and finished 20th in his qualifying race. During the race he got into tight quarters with fellow rookie JJ Yeley, "They just pinched me in. I was watching ahead. A lot of those guys were trying to race in and everything else and they squeezed me in there and I was already on the brakes and everything. It was crazy."

JJ Yeley
Team: Joe Gibbs Racing #18 Chevy Monte Carlo
Crew Chief: Steve Addington
Yeley was 17th quickest in qualifying. Yeley spun out in his Gatorade Duel with just over a lap to go. JJ rallied to finish 24th. The Interstate Chevy will start from the outside of row 18 in the Daytona 500 on Sunday.

Brent Sherman
Team: BAM Racing #49 Dodge Charger
Crew Chief: Ron Otto
Sherman was 50th out of 58 cars in Daytona 500 qualifying. Sherman stayed out of trouble and finished 15th in his Gatorade Duel. "We stuck to a game plan. We rode around and made sure that we were going to have a good car for Sunday. At the end we put tires on and maybe passed five or six cars which we would have raced our self into the race anyhow."