Catchfence

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER ADVANCE MATERIAL

FOR THE O’REILLY CHALLENGE

NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES RACE

AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2009,

Brendan Gaughan trails Justin Allgaier by 10 points in the chase for Raybestos Rookie of the Year entering the O’Reilly Challenge at Texas. Gaughan was the top rookie last week at Memphis (Millington, Tenn.) Motorsports Park. He claimed posted a fifth-place finish, his third top-five and eighth top-10 of the season.

Brendan Gaughan

BRENDAN GAUGHAN, No. 62 LOAN STAR TITLE LOANS CHEVROLET:

YOU ARE MAKING ONE FINAL PUSH FOR RAYBESTOS ROOKIE OF THE YEAR.

“The thing you have to remember about the Raybestos Rookie deal is that aren’t what make the champion and I think that’s a misnomer that a lot of people have. It’s where you are in your overall points, it’s where you are in the Raybestos Rookie points, then there’s a board that meets and says how well to do with the media that things this year. There’s a lot of things that go into it. But saying that you won the points at least gives you a better fighting chance.

I’ve said all along I’d love to win the Raybestos Rookie award. I won it in the Craftsman Trucks, I finished second in the Winston West and finished second in the Sprint Cup so I would certainly love to get another W in the Raybestos Rookie category but I also at the same time have to respect what Justin has done. He is truly more of a rookie than I am [smiles]. He’s done a great job. He’s got a pole, he’s been in the top-five in points, he’s had his ups and downs, he’s had his wrecks and his low points but he’s done a great job but that doesn’t mean that I’m giving it to him. I still like to have trophies on the mantle and Rusty Wallace Racing, they haven’t won a championship here. They’ve won a race with Jamie McMurray, Steven has won some ARCA races and anytime you can add another notch you want to do it and that would be a pretty darn big notch saying we have the Raybestos Rookie. We’re not giving up on it.”

TO WIN THE AWARD YOU’RE PROBABLY GOING TO HAVE TO WIN A RACE.

“Yes, honestly, even if he beat me in overall points, if I had a win I believe the panel would vote in my favor so I definitely feel that the 5-hour Energy Chevy for us definitely needs to win a race ‘cause that would really seal it and that gives me the most rookie points. I’ve got to catch him in rookie points, I really believe I’ve probably got to get a win, maybe get one more pole wouldn’t be a bad move. Phoenix is a good track for me, west coast, my deal, always get pumped up for that And of course we’re sitting here in Texas so I think we have a great finishing stretch for me to get this. We made a big leap last weekend, another top-five, get a W I think we can still win the Raybestos championship.”

HOW BIG WOULD A WIN BE FOR YOU AND THE ORGANIZATION?

“It would do a lot for us right now. The 62 team is still looking for sponsorship for next year. Rusty is working his tail off on it. Last race at Memphis one of our potential sponsors saw us and said ‘Wow.’ They saw up leading the race, pulling away from everybody and they said this is an organization they want to be with. That’s how good it can be when you’re winning races. If we did that, forget about being Rusty’s second win the Nationwide Series, forget about what it would for the Raybestos Rookie points, it would put us in a great spot to secure a sponsor and that is the ultimate goal is to come back next year stronger with money with the sponsorship and not have to worry about it like we have this year. We’ve had a great year of not having to worry about it so hopefully we can seal that up soon.”

IT SEEMS LIKE OVER THE PAST MONTH OR SO THIS TEAM HAS TURNED THE CORNER.

“This team has almost underperformed almost most of the year. We’ve had great race cars. The boys at the shop have been building great stuff. Shane Huffman has been putting great stuff together. Bryan Berry and Dale Ferguson have been giving me good cars. We’ve had a lot of things happen. We’ve had tires, we’ve had wrecks, I’ve wrecked myself, I’ve pushed too hard. I’ve had my own mistakes. I looked like a rookie at times this year and I’ve also just gone ‘Oh my God, how did this happen to us’ at times this year. We have had an interesting season to say the least but you always want to finish strong. In any sport you always want to finish strong and that propels you into the next season and this sport it probably plays a bigger role than any other.”

HOW WOULD YOU LIKE FINISH OFF THIS SEASON?

“First, first, first [laughs]. I’ve love to be able to keep this consistency we’ve been gaining. I think our last four races we’ve been like 15th, 11th, seventh, fifth. We’ve been getting back on that right side. If we can keep those positions improving we’ve only got a few left. We’ve got a win in there. But it would help our overall point standing, our Raybestos point standing, give us that look at a sponsor and set us up for next year pretty well.”

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 a global leader in the on and off-highway replacement products and service industry. In North America the Affinia family of brands includes WIX® Filters, Raybestos®, AIMCO® and BrakePro® brake products, and McQuay-Norris® and Raybestos™ Chassis parts. South American and European brands include Nakata®, Filtron®, Urba® and Quinton Hazell®. For more information, visit 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