Catchfence

2009 Raybestos Rookie Contender

Logano 9th
Speed 26th
Papis 35th

UNOFFICIAL Raybestos Rookie standings:

Logano 122
Speed 110
Papis 37
Bean 1

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER QUOTES FOR THE SOUTHERN 500 NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES RACE AT DARLINGTON RACEWAY, MAY 9, 2009.

JOEY LOGANO IN THE No. 20 THE HOME DEPOT TOYOTA WAS THE TOP RAYBESTOS ROOKIE IN TONIGHT’S RACE AT DARLINGTON.

NOTES:

* Logano scored a ninth-place finish, his second top-10 of the 2009 season and equaled his best effort in 14 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.

* Logano captured top Raybestos Rookie honors for the eighth time in 11 races this season.

* UNOFFICIALLY Logano leads Scott Speed by 12 points (112-110) in the Raybestos Rookie standings.

* Logano became the first Raybestos Rookie to score a top-10 at Darlington since Denny Hamlin placed 10th in 2006.

· DID YOU KNOW? A Raybestos® Rookie has scored a top-10 finish in eight of the past 11 seasons at Darlington. The others:

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

* Logano led tonight’s race once for 19 laps. He is the first Raybestos Rookie to lead a lap at Darlington since Kasey Kahne led three times for 24 laps in the 2004 spring race.

JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 THE HOME DEPOT TOYOTA: “Ups and downs. We started off the race too loose, too loose going backwards and made little changes. We were good. Everything we did and kept working on it throughout the race. I was trying to save the right side as much as I can. Learned a lot of things that will help me set up my car that I found in my race car that I didn’t like. I learned a lot. I was happy with that. We led a lot of laps. I thought that was cool, leading Darlington. Coming into this place, this was the one place I thought I was going to stink horribly. I thought I was going to be worse than we were at Texas this year. I was happy. We qualified good. We ran top-10 all day, top-five for a while. Just too tight, so aero-dependant. It showed when I got out front: I was see ya. It is what it is. I’ll take a top-10. Realistically the way I look at it that’s our first top-10. Talladega doesn’t mean anything to me. It’s a top-10, yeah, but it’s Talladega. This is a hard earned top-10. No luck played into it. It’s where we ran, where we deserved to run and it great for these guys. It’s huge.”

HOW DIFFICULT IS THIS TRACK MENTALLY? “This place will freaking kill ya believe me [laughs]. You’re running right up by the fence all day and you’re like aaahhhh every time you go through the corner and you’re like ‘Oh, I about hit the fence.’ It’s close but it’s fun. It’s grueling and I’m glad it’s over [smiles].”

DID YOU NEED THE RACE TO PLAY OUT ANY DIFFERENT FOR YOU TO FINISH CLOSER TO THE FRONT? “We were up toward the front you know for sure. We were leading the thing when we came down pit road. We’re not in the position, where we stand in the points, to go for the gusto and have a chance of not making it on fuel. And ultimately looking at it that was the right move to stay out. Mark won the race. But we took the conservative route and we got a good top-10, a solid finish, something that we needed an d go to the next one.”

WERE YOU SURPRISED THAT DIDN’T MAKE THAT BIG OF A DIFFERENCE TONIGHT? “Naw, it’s new asphalt. Everywhere you go, if it’s a short track, superspeedways, whatever, tires don’t wear. It’s all track position, especially here this is the hardest place to pass a car that I’ve ever been to.”

GREG ZIPADELLI, CREW CHIEF, No. 20 THE HOME DEPOT TOYOTA: HOW BIG IS THIS RUN FOR THE RACE TEAM? “I think it’s huge for all of us. I think it’s big for Joe Gibbs Racing, I think it’s huge for Joey. Everybody did a good job, just proud of everybody this weekend. Everybody stepped up. Pit stops were awesome. His qualifying effort was huge. And those are all little things that you learn and you realize how important things are.”

DID YOU THINK YOU’D EVER COME TO DARLINGTON AND TIRES WOULDN’T BE THAT BIG OF A FACTOR? “Oh man, not really in my lifetime but I guess it is what it is, you know what I mean. You’ve got to race the track. It’s an awesome place. They’ve done a really amazing job when they repaved this place. It still has some of the characteristics. The tires don’t give up but you still have to race it the same way. You still have to race hard. You see how many people got bit tonight, I mean, so certain things didn’t change.” HOW DIFFIC ULT DOES THAT MAKE YOUR JOB? YOU PIT FOR TIRES AND SEVEN OTHER GUYS STAY ON THE TRACK. “Yeah, we were coming down pit road and what it was going to take us for fuel tires weren’t going to slow us down that much. We needed that amount of fuel, basically, so that was what we did.

LOGANO PRESS CONFERENCE

“I felt like I learned a lot for next time I come here, what I want in a race car. I was very happy with the way we ran. I led laps in the Southern 500. I was stoked about that. I way all excited. I think we had a good run. There towards the end, we’re not in the points position to go gamble and try to stay out there on fuel right now. We played it conservative and we got a solid top-10. I mean that’s where we ran all day pretty much. We didn’t steal any spots. It’s just what it was. Awesome pit stops all night. Every time we came down pit road we gained spots at least one. That was huge.”

AT THIS POINT IN THE SEASON ARE YOU SURPRISED THAT YOUR TWO BEST FINISHES ARE AT TALLADEGA AND DARLINGTON? “The way I look at it this is our first true top-10 I think. Talladega is kind of a luck thing so we were lucky. I’m thankful for it but here we ran solid top-10. Kind of looking at where I ran good so far, Las Vegas is new asphalt. Here is new asphalt and Talladega. I don’t know what the deal is there but that’s kind of interesting. This place is one of those places I thought I was going to be really bad and I was happy with the way we ran.”

WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE TO TAKE PRAISE FROM A TWO-TIME CHAMPION LIKE TONY STEWART? DID TAKING THOSE LAPS A FEW WEEKS AGO WITH CALE YARBOROUGH MAKE THAT BIG OF A DIFFERENCE? “To have Smoke happy with the way I ran with his old car I think that was a very big compliment. They’re hard to get. This is a tough series to run good in, believe me. I know [smiles]. I think going with Cale helped a little bit. I was thinking about the last few laps of what he was telling me. I actually tried it. He was saying back up the corner and get back to the gas even before you get to the fence in three and four and trying to drive the car with the throttle. I started doing that at the end because my car was getting tight and it seemed to help a little bit. I guess Cale knows what he’s talking about [smiles].”

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