Catchfence

2009 Raybestos Rookie Contender Logo

– NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES

- Justin Allgaier was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the August 8 Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. Allgaier scored a 17th-place and claimed top rookie honors for the sixth time this season.

- Allgaier leads Brendan Gaughan by 11 points (197-186) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the August 15 CARFAX 250 at Michigan International Speedway.

- Allgaier is fifth in the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship standings, best of any Raybestos® Rookie. He is 50 points ahead of sixth-place Steve Wallace.

- Gaughan gained one position in the series championship standings, moving into ninth-place. Allgaier and Gaughan are the only Raybestos® Rookies ranked inside the top-10 in the series standings.

DID YOU KNOW? At least one Raybestos® Rookie has scored a top-10 finish in 19 of 22 NASCAR Nationwide Series races this season.

TWO Raybestos® Rookies have won pole positions during the 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series season: Gaughan and Erik Darnell.

Dario Franchitti was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2008 CARFAX 250 at Michigan, scoring a 13th-place finish.

DID YOU KNOW? Kyle Busch (2004) and Steve Park (1997) are the only Raybestos® Rookies to win in 17 previous races at Michigan.

DID YOU KNOW? THREE Raybestos® Rookies have scored top-five finishes in 17 races at Michigan.

DID YOU KNOW? Shawna Robinson is the only female driver to earn Raybestos® Rookie of the Race honors in Nationwide Series competition at Michigan. Robinson placed 11th in 1992, the first-ever Nationwide Series race at Michigan.

Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at Michigan:

1997: Steve Park, FIRST

2004: Kyle Busch, FIRST

2005: Carl Edwards, third

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at Michigan:

1997: Steve Park, FIRST

1997: Matt Kenseth, eighth

2000: Jimmie Johnson, sixth

2000: Kevin Harvick, ninth

2002: Scott Riggs, sixth

2002: Kasey Kahne, 10th

2004: Kyle Busch, FIRST

2005: Carl Edwards, third

2005: Denny Hamlin, eighth

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS

DRIVER POINTS

Justin Allgaier 197

Brendan Gaughan 186

Michael McDowell 175

Scott Lagasse Jr. 153

Michael Annett 148

John Wes Townley 105

Erik Darnell 104

Ken Butler III 67

Terry Cook 25

HIGHEST-FINISHING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE BY RACE

EVENT HIGHEST-FINISHING ROOKIE

Camping World 300 Michael McDowell, 14th

Stater Bros. 300 Brendan Gaughan, ninth

Sam’s Town 300 Michael McDowell, sixth

Food City 250 Justin Allgaier, fifth

O’Reilly 300 Justin Allgaier, 10th

Nashville 300 Scott Lagasse Jr., 10th

Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 Brendan Gaughan, seventh

Aaron’s 312 Scott Lagasse Jr., eighth

Lipton Tea 250 Michael McDowell, eighth

Diamond Hill Plywood Erik Darnell, fourth

CARQUEST Auto Parts 300 Brendan Gaughan, second

Heluva Good! 200 Justin Allgaier, 10th

Federated Auto Parts 300 Michael McDowell, eighth

Meijer 300 Brendan Gaughan, fourth

Northern Tool.com 250 Erik Darnell, fourth

Camping World RV Sales 200 Erik Darnell, ninth

Subway Jalapeno 250 Justin Allgaier, eighth

Dollar General 300 Justin Allgaier, 10th

Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 Michael Annett, seventh

Kroger 200 Brendan Gaughan, 12th

U.S. Cellular 250 Michael McDowell, eighth

Zippo 200 Justin Allgaier, 17th

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE HISTORY

· DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a Nationwide Series race is Juan Pablo Montoya. Montoya captured the 2007 Corona Mexico 200 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez (Mexico City, Mexico), crossing the finish line .750 seconds ahead of Denny Hamlin (89 races).

· DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole position in the Nationwide Series is Erik Darnell. Darnell captured the top starting spot for the 2009 Northern Tool.com 250 at The Milwaukee (Wisc.) Mile (eight races).

· Landon Cassill won the 2008 Raybestos® Rookie of the Year in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Cassill finished the season with one pole and five top-10 finishes in 19 starts. He grabbed the top starting spot for the Camping World RV Sales 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (race No. 18). His best finishes were sixth-place efforts at Gateway (Madison, Ill.) International Raceway and Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway.

· The most recent streak for at least two Raybestos® Rookies to rank inside the top-10 in the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship standings is 21 consecutive races (2007 race at Kentucky Speedway, race No. 16, through 2008 Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, race No. 1).

· Roush Fenway Racing has won THREE OF THE LAST FOUR Raybestos® Rookie of the Year titles in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and FOUR since 2001.

2007: David Ragan

2006: Danny O’Quinn Jr.

2005: Carl Edwards

2001: Greg Biffle

Danny O’Quinn Jr. narrowly edged John Andretti to win the 2006 Raybestos® Rookie of the Year title in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. O’Quinn Jr. finished one point higher than Andretti in the final standings, the closet margin in NASCAR national series history. He also became the second driver in series history to win the award without completing the full schedule.

Kyle Busch posted a record-setting year on his way to the 2004 Raybestos® Rookie of the Year title. In 34 starts, Busch won five times, captured five poles and scored 16 top-five and 22 top-10 finishes. His second-place finish in the Nationwide Series championship standings is a record for a Raybestos® Rookie. Other Raybestos® Rookie records Busch owns or shares: most starts (34), most wins (tied with Greg Biffle), most top fives (tied with Greg Biffle), most top 10s, most money won ($2,027,050), most championship points (4,943), most laps led (1,108) and most races led (21).

David Stremme holds the record for fewest starts by a driver to win Raybestos® Rookie of the Year. In 2003, he started just 18 of the 34 races and was the top rookie finisher in 16 of those starts. Stremme scored three top-three finishes and had more top-10 finishes (seven) than any other first-year driver. He led six races for a total of 86 laps.

David Green was the first Raybestos® Rookie to win a Nationwide Series race, at Lanier, Ga., in 1991. Green captured the Nestle 200 by 1.58-seconds over Jeff Gordon, a fellow Raybestos® Rookie. A third Raybestos® Rookie, Todd Bodine, placed eighth in the race.

Dennis Setzer was the first Raybestos® Rookie to win TWO or more races in a season. In 1994, he won the Ford Credit 300 at South Boston (Va.) Speedway and The Pantry 300 at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway.

Steve Park was the first Raybestos® Rookie to win THREE or more races in a season. In 1997, he won the BellSouth Mobility/Opryland 300 at Nashville (Tenn.) Speedway, the Detroit Gasket 200 at Michigan International Speedway and the Autolite Platinum 250 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway.

Kenny Wallace was the first Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole in the Nationwide Series. Wallace grabbed the top starting spot for the 1989 Goody’s 300 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, the first race in the history of the Raybestos® Rookie of the Year program.

Raybestos® brand brake and chassis parts are produced by affiliated companies in Affinia’s Global Brake and Chassis Group, the leading manufacturer of braking systems and chassis parts in the transportation industry. The brake line includes everything from brake drums to rotors, pads, shoes and hydraulic parts, while the chassis line features tie rods, ball points, idler arms and sway bar links. Raybestos brand braking and chassis systems are also the only systems used by NASCAR’s Joe Gibbs Racing in competition. For more information about Raybestos brakes, visit Raybestos.com. For more information on Raybestos Chassis visit RaybestosChassis.com

Affinia Group Inc. is an innovative global leader in the design, manufacture, distribution and marketing of industrial grade products and services, including extensive offerings of aftermarket parts for automotive and heavy-duty vehicles. With more than $2 billion in annual revenue, Affinia has operations in North and South America, Europe, Asia and India. For more information, visit www.affiniagroup.com.

*Affinia Group Inc.’s affiliated companies include Brake Parts Inc. WIX Filtration Corp LLC, Affinia Products Corp LLC and other high quality manufacturers of the Affinia family of brands.

- Camp & Associates, Inc. Press Release