KFDM COOP Posted November 28, 2006 Report Posted November 28, 2006 O'Quinn, 21, tops Andretti, 41, as top Busch rookieAssociated Press Danny O'Quinn Jr. beat out longtime racer John Andretti for the NASCAR Busch Series Rookie of the Year Award. The two drivers entered Saturday's final race at Homestead-Miami Speedway tied for first place. Although Andretti beat O'Quinn on the track in the season finale, judges gave the award to the 21-year-old. "It feels awesome," O'Quinn said. "I was just sitting back at the trailer there, and we were all kind of nervous and shaking and didn't know what was going to happen. It's just an awesome program." O'Quinn, who had one top five and five top 10s in 33 races, finished 19th in the standings. Andretti, who was eligible for rookie honors despite having won races in Nextel Cup, open-wheel, sports cars and Indy cars, was 12th in the points with one top five and four top 10s. But it's OK with him that O'Quinn is the top rookie. "That was never our goal," Andretti said. "He deserves rookie of the year. All we've been trying to do is develop our team and work toward the future." O'Quinn had praise for the 43-year-old Andretti. "Racing with John definitely brought a little extra-added competition to it, him being at a lot of these tracks before," O'Quinn said. "He helped all of us rookies a lot. When we went to the rookie meetings and things, he would come out and tell us things about the tracks and stuff." Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press
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