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NEWS AND NOTES FROM THE RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDERS

– NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES

- Brendan Gaughan was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the August 30 NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec. Gaughan scored a ninth-place finish, his sixth top-10 and claimed top rookie honors for the sixth time in 2009.

DID YOU KNOW? At least one Raybestos® Rookie has scored a top-10 finish in 22 of 25 NASCAR Nationwide Series races this season.

Justin Allgaier leads Brendan Gaughan by 10 points (207-197) entering the September 5 Degree V12 300 at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway.

THREE Raybestos® Rookies are in the top-10 in the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship standings. Allgaier is sixth followed by Gaughan (eighth) and Michael McDowell (tenth).

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 Degree V12 300 at Atlanta, scoring a 20th-place finish.

Carl Edwards won the 2005 Degree V12 300 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, scoring his first NASCAR Nationwide Series victory. Edwards owns the only victory by a Raybestos® Rookie in 17 Nationwide Series races at Atlanta and is one of just four freshman drivers to score a top-five at the 1.54-mile speedway.

Edwards is also the only Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole position at Atlanta.

DID YOU KNOW? A Raybestos® Rookie has finished in the top-10 in four of the last five Nationwide Series races at Atlanta.

DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to lead a lap in a Nationwide Series race at Atlanta is John Andretti in 2006 (once for one lap).

Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at Atlanta:

2002: Scott Riggs, fourth

2004: Kyle Busch, second

2005: Carl Edwards, FIRST

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at Atlanta:

2002: Scott Riggs, fourth

2002: Johnny Sauter, 10th

2004: Kyle Busch, second

2004: J.J. Yeley, 10th

2005: Carl Edwards, FIRST

2005: Michel Jourdain, 10th

2006: Burney Lamar, eighth

2007: Juan Pablo Montoya, eighth

DID YOU KNOW? Two or more Raybestos Rookies have finished inside the top-10 THREE times in 17 races at Atlanta.

Raybestos® Rookies that have led a lap in the NASCAR Nationwide Series races at Atlanta:

2001: Greg Biffle (once for 38 laps)

2002: Scott Riggs (twice for 12 laps)

2002: Brian Vickers (twice for 12 laps)

2003: David Stremme (once for two laps)

2004: Kyle Busch (twice for 17 laps)

2005: Carl Edwards (three times for 47 laps)

2006: John Andretti (once for one lap)

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS

DRIVER POINTS

Justin Allgaier 207

Brendan Gaughan 197

Michael McDowell 184

Michael Annett 162

Scott Lagasse Jr. 154

Erik Darnell 113

John Wes Townley 109

Ken Butler III 75

Terry Cook 37

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

Food City 250 Michael Annett, eighth

NAPA Auto Parts 200 Brendan Gaughan, ninth

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 (92 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 (11 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