Kahne confirmed as Rookie of the Year.

Raybestos have confirmed that Evernham Motorsports' Kasey Kahne is the 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup 'Rookie of the Year' after a record-breaking year that yielded everything except a win.

Although rookie drivers are not usually marked out as immediate fan favourites, Kahne's exploits this year in Ray Evernham's #9 Dodge has won him the support of thousands of fans.

Winning four Bud Poles, completing a countless number of daring yet clean and successful overtaking manoeuvres, taking crafty veteran drivers to the very limit with sheer guts and determination and above all, suffering one heartbreak after another when victory was in sight, Kahne was easily the standout driver in a year that had a good crop of rookie drivers.

The elfish 24 year-old from Washington finished the 2004 season with four poles, 13 top-five and 14 top-ten finishes in 36 starts and was the Raybestos Rookie of the Race in 19 events. He narrowly missed out on a place in the inaugural Nextel 'Chase for the Championship' and eventually finished 13th in the final points table.

Somewhat ironically, it was his near misses and misfortunes that have endeared him to the fans, as he finished in a very close second place on no less than five occasions. Four of those five runner-up finishes were by less than a single car length.

There was also THAT strip of oil in the Food City 500 at Bristol and THAT collision with Tony Stewart in Chicagoland, both of which cost him potential victories and while rookie drivers usually don't get too much sympathy from NASCAR fans, the sheer ill-luck surrounding his Bristol crash and Stewart's questionable tactics in Chicagoland have guaranteed that if and when Kahne eventually does win a Nextel Cup Series race he will receive a rapturous response from the grandstands.

Kahne also becomes the youngest Raybestos Rookie of the Year since Jeff Gordon in 1993, who was 22 at the time. He started the season as a pure rookie, starting his first career Nextel Cup race in the season opening Daytona 500.

Final Raybestos Rookie of the Year points

1. Kasey Kahne 376
2. Brendan Gaughan 256
3. Brian Vickers 255
4. Scott Wimmer 247
5. Scott Riggs 237
6. Johnny Sauter 155