Catchfence

2009 Raybestos Contender

· Joey Logano was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the April 18 Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix (Avondale, Ariz.) International Raceway. Logano scored a 21st-place finish and claimed top rookie honors for the third consecutive race.

· Logano leads Scott Speed by 13 points (86-73) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the April 26 Aaron’s 499 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

* Regan Smith was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2008 Aaron’s 499, scoring a 21st-place finish. Smith was the only first-year driver to lead the race, holding the top spot once for one lap.

* DID YOU KNOW? A Raybestos® Rookie has led a lap in the each of the past THREE consecutive spring races at Talladega:

2006: J.J. Yeley, once for one lap

2006: Denny Hamlin, once for one lap

2007: David Ragan, once for two laps

2008: Regan Smith, once for one lap

* The late Davey Allison is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega. He won the 1987 event by .78 second over Terry Labonte. Allison led the most laps in the race, holding the top spot six times for 108 of the 178 laps (the event was shortened by 10 laps due to darkness). Allison is the only Raybestos® Rookie to lead the most laps in the Aaron’s 499 and holds the record for most laps led by a rookie in the spring race at Talladega.

* Since Allison’s win in 1987, a Raybestos® Rookie has finished in the top-five in the Aaron’s 499 just twice: Tony Stewart (fifth in 1999) and Kurt Busch (third in 2001).

* DID YOU KNOW? Only one Raybestos® Rookie has won the pole position in 39 previous Aaron’s 499 races at Talladega: Jimmie Johnson (2002). Johnson won the second pole of his career and posted a seventh place finish in the race.

* DID YOU KNOW? At least one Raybestos® Rookie finished in the top-10 in four consecutive Aaron’s 499 races at Talladega from 1979 through 1982: Joe Millikan (fifth) and Terry Labonte (ninth) in 1979, Lake Speed (seventh) and Jody Ridley (tenth) in 1980, Tim Richmond (sixth) in 1981, and Mark Martin (tenth) in 1982.

* Only once since 1970 have TWO or more Raybestos® Rookies finished in the top-10 in consecutive spring races at Talladega: Joe Millikan (fifth) and Terry Labonte (ninth) in 1979, Lake Speed (seventh) and Jody Ridley (tenth) in 1980.

* Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the Aaron’s 499 (since 1975):

1979: Joe Millikan, fifth

1987: Davey Allison, FIRST

1999: Tony Stewart, fifth

2001: Kurt Busch, third

* Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the Aaron’s 499 (since 1975):

1977: Sam Sommers, 10th

1979: Joe Millikan, fifth

1979: Terry Labonte, ninth

1980: Lake Speed, seventh

1980: Jody Ridley, 10th

1981: Tim Richmond, sixth

1982: Mark Martin, 10th

1984: Phil Parsons, seventh

1987: Davey Allison, FIRST

1994: Steve Grissom, 10th

1996: Johnny Benson, 10th

1999: Tony Stewart, fifth

2001: Kurt Busch, third

2002: Jimmie Johnson, seventh

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS

DRIVER POINTS

Joey Logano 86

Scott Speed 73

Max Papis 19

Dexter Bean 1

HIGHEST-FINISHING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE BY RACE

EVENT HIGHEST-FINISHING ROOKIE

Daytona 500 Scott Speed, 35th

Auto Club 500 Joey Logano, 26th

Shelby 427 Joey Logano, 13th

Kobalt Tools 500 Joey Logano, 30th

Food City 500 Scott Speed, 28th

Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 Joey Logano, 32nd

Samsung 500 Joey Logano, 30th

Subway Fresh Fit 500 Joey Logano, 21st

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE HISTORY

· Regan Smith won 2008 Raybestos® Rookie of the Year honors in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, edging Sam Hornish Jr. by seven points (236-229). Smith became the first Raybestos® Rookie of the Year in the 52-year history of the program without a DNF (did not finish). He was running at the finish in all 34 starts he made during the season.

· DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a Sprint Cup Series race is Juan Pablo Montoya. Montoya captured the 2007 Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon (Sonoma, Calif.) Raceway, crossing the finish line 4.097 seconds ahead of second-place Kevin Harvick (63 races).

· DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole position in the Sprint Cup Series is Patrick Carpentier. Carpentier captured the top starting spot for the 2008 LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (28 races).

* DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to score a top-five finish is David Ragan. Ragan scored a third-place finish in the 2007 Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway (54 races).

* DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to score a top-10 finish is David Ragan. Ragan scored a 10th-place finish in the 2007 Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway (44 races).

· The 2008 season marked the first time in NASCAR’s modern-era (since 1972) that THREE drivers shared the lead in the Raybestos® Rookie standings. After the second race of the season, Sam Hornish, Jr., Dario Franchitti and Regan Smith were all tied at the top of the standings.

* Ryan Newman holds the all-time Raybestos® Rookie record for most poles (6), most top-fives (14) and most top-10s (22).

* Denny Hamlin is the only Raybestos® Rookie to qualify for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup since the program was created in 2004.

* Hamlin holds the record for most earnings by a Raybestos® Rookie ($6.6 million in 2006).

* The record for most wins by a Raybestos® Rookie is three, shared by Tony Stewart (1999) and Jimmie Johnson (2002).

* A Raybestos® Rookie has posted multiple victories SEVEN times in NASCAR Sprint Cup:

1987: Davey Allison, two

1999: Tony Stewart, three

2000: Dale Earnhardt Jr., two

2001: Kevin Harvick, two

2002: Jimmie Johnson, three

2005: Kyle Busch, two

2006: Denny Hamlin, two

* More than one Raybestos® Rookie has posted victories in their rookie season only three times: Morgan Shepherd and Ron Bouchard (one each in 1981), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (two) and Matt Kenseth (2000), Jimmie Johnson (three) and Ryan Newman (2002).

* The way to the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship is to win Raybestos® Rookie of the Year. Since 1979, six Raybestos® Rookie of the Year drivers have gone on to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup title: Dale Earnhardt (1979), Rusty Wallace (1984), Alan Kulwicki (1986), Jeff Gordon (1993), Tony Stewart (1999, 2005) and Matt Kenseth (2000).

* The longest streak for a Raybestos® Rookie to be in the top-10 in the Sprint Cup Series championship standings during the sport’s modern-era is 60 races (2001 MBNA Platinum 400 through 2002 Ford 400).

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., For Raybestos, Press Release