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2009 Raybestos Rookie Contender Logo

– NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES

Justin Allgaier was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the August 15 CARFAX 250 at Michigan International Speedway. Allgaier scored a seventh-place finish, his 10th top-10 of the 2009 season and claimed top rookie honors for the seventh time this season. He became the first Raybestos® Rookie to score a top-10 finish at Michigan since 2005.

Allgaier led the Michigan race twice for eight laps and was the only Raybestos® Rookie to lead a lap in the event.

DID YOU KNOW? At least one Raybestos® Rookie has scored a top-10 finish in 20 of 23 NASCAR Nationwide Series races this season.

Allgaier leads Brendan Gaughan by 17 points (205-188) entering the August 21 Food City 250 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

Allgaier is fifth in the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship standings, best of any Raybestos® Rookie, 83 points ahead of sixth-place Steve Wallace.

DID YOU KNOW? THREE Raybestos® Rookies rank inside the top-10 in the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship standings: Allgaier, Brendan Gaughan (ninth) and Michael McDowell (10th).

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

Cale Gale was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2008 Food City 250, grabbing a fourth-place finish.

DID YOU KNOW? Cale Gale won the pole position or the 2008 Food City 250, his first career pole in the race. He joined Kevin Harvick (2000) as the only Raybestos Rookie pole winners in the August race at Bristol since the program was created in 1989 (20 races).

ALL RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE FRONT ROW Gale was joined on the front row last August by fellow Raybestos Rookie Dario Franchitti comprising the first all-rookie front row since the NASCAR Nationwide Series was formed in 1982.

DID YOU KNOW? Kevin Harvick (2000) is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win the Food City 250 at Bristol.

Harvick is also the only first-year driver to lead the most laps in an August Bristol race. He led twice for 241 of the 250 laps, the most laps led by a Raybestos® Rookie in a Nationwide Series race at Bristol.

DID YOU KNOW? Only twice once since the program was created in 1989 have TWO or more Raybestos® Rookie finished in the top-10 in the August race at Bristol (19 races):

2000: Kevin Harvick (FIRST) and Jay Sauter (sixth)

2000: David Ragan (sixth) and Brad Keselowski (seventh)

Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at Food City 250:

1991: Jeff Gordon, third

1997: Steve Park, second

2000: Kevin Harvick, FIRST

2004: Kyle Busch, third

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at Food City 250:

1989: Kenny Wallace, ninth

1991: Jeff Gordon, third

1994: Johnny Benson, eighth

1995: Jeff Fuller, 10th

1997: Steve Park, second

1998: Wayne Grubb, seventh

2000: Kevin Harvick, FIRST

2000: Jay Sauter, sixth

2001: Scott Wimmer, sixth

2007: David Ragan, sixth

2007: Brad Keselowski, seventh

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS

DRIVER POINTS

Justin Allgaier 205

Brendan Gaughan 188

Michael McDowell 177

Scott Lagasse Jr. 153

Michael Annett 152

John Wes Townley 106

Erik Darnell 104

Ken Butler III 67

Terry Cook 32

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 500 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

CARFAX 250 Justin Allgaier, seventh

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 (90 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 (nine 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.

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*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