Catchfence

2009 Raybestos Rookie Contender

· Joey Logano was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the May 2 Crown Royal 400 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. Logano scored a 19th-place finish and claimed Raybestos® Rookie of the Race honors for the seventh time this season.

· Logano leads Speed by nine points (109-100) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the May 9 Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.

Michael McDowell was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2008 Southern 500, posting a 28th-place finish.

· DID YOU KNOW? Since 2001, TWO Raybestos® Rookies have won pole positions at Darlington Raceway: Kurt Busch (2001) and Kasey Kahne (2004).

· DID YOU KNOW? A Raybestos® Rookie has scored a top-10 finish in seven of the past 10 seasons at Darlington:

1999: Tony Stewart, sixth

2000: Matt Kenseth, sixth

2001: Kevin Harvick, eighth

2002: Ryan Newman, fifth (spring race)

2002: Jimmie Johnson, sixth (spring race)

2002: Ryan Newman, second (fall race)

2002: Jimmie Johnson, ninth (fall race)

2003: Jamie McMurray, fourth (fall race)

2003: Greg Biffle, 10th (fall race)

2004: Kasey Kahne, fifth (fall race)

2006: Denny Hamlin, 10th

Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at Darlington (since 1975):
1975: Bruce Hill, fifth (fall race)

1979: Terry Labonte, third (fall race)

1984: Rusty Wallace, fourth (fall race)

2002: Ryan Newman, second (fall race)

2003: Jamie McMurray, fourth (fall race)

2004: Kasey Kahne, fifth (fall race)

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at Darlington (since 1975):
1975: Bruce Hill, fifth (fall race)

1975: Bruce Jacobi, ninth (spring race)

1977: Ricky Rudd, seventh (fall race)

1978: Ronnie Thomas, ninth (fall race)

1979: Terry Labonte, third (fall race)

1980: Lake Speed, eighth (spring race)

1980: Jody Ridley, 10th (spring race)

1982: Geoffrey Bodine, seventh (fall race)

1982: Mark Martin, seventh (spring race)

1984: Rusty Wallace, fourth (fall race)

1984: Phil Parsons, seventh (fall race)

1984: Phil Parsons, eighth (spring race)

1981: Tim Richmond, eighth (fall race)

1991: Bobby Hamilton, 10th (fall race)

1993: Kenny Wallace, 10th (fall race)

1994: Jeff Burton, eighth (fall race)

2001: Kevin Harvick, eighth (fall race)

2002: Ryan Newman, second (fall race)

2002: Jimmie Johnson, ninth (fall race)

2003: Jamie McMurray, fourth (fall race)

2003: Greg Biffle, 10th (fall race)

2004: Kasey Kahne, fifth (fall race)

2006: Denny Hamlin, 10th

DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to lead a lap at Darlington is Kasey Kahne, who led three times for 24 laps in the 2004 spring race.

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS

DRIVER POINTS
Joey Logano 109

Scott Speed 100

Max Papis 28

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

Aaron’s 499 Scott Speed, fifth

Crown Royal 400 Joey Logano, 19th

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 (65 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 (30 races).

DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to score a top-five finish is Scott Speed. Speed scored a fifth-place finish in the 2009 Aaron’s 499 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (two 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