Catchfence

2009 Raybestos Rookie Contender

Raybestos Rookie Joey Logano posted the fourth-best overall speed in tonight’s final practice session for the Coca-Cola 600. The practice was cut short after just 18 minutes due to rain.

JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 THE HOME DEPOT TOYOTA: “I’m pretty happy with it. I think we were pretty good. We didn’t run but about four or five laps. We’ll see. I was happy with it. Obviously with the rain it’ll change it a lot for tomorrow and with the Nationwide race running tonight, maybe [laughs] will change it a lot, too. I’m just happy with everything right now. I think we brought back a better car than we had in the Showdown and the All-Star race. I think we’re good. I’m happier on this side than I am on the Nationwide side right now. That doesn’t happy often but I like it that way [laughs]. We’ll see.”

IF YOU START THE 600 ON A GREEN TRACK WHAT ARE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT YOU HAVE TO ADJUST TO? “You’re just going to go all out in the first corner like you do every other time, you know. If you don’t get your fast lap on lap one out there, you’re never going to get it. The whole rest of practice it’s just going to keep getting slower and slower. It’s like a one-time chance and you don’t have time to feel it out. You just go so that’s how it is in the race. You just go and feel it out on the way so that’s what it’s going to be. I’ve never been here before so I don’t know. We’ll just have to see on that whole deal. Right now it’s different than what it was five minutes ago so it’s going to be way, way different. I don’t know how different it’s going to be. It might be a lot, it might be a little bit. The tires might wear a lot, the tires may not. I’m going off what he [crew chief Greg Zipadelli] knows. Whatever he says I’m going to go with that [laughs].”

IS THE 600 THE LONGEST RACE THAT YOU’VE EVER COMPETED IN? HAVE YOU PREPARED FOR THIS RACE DIFFERENTLY? “It’s going to be about the same. I think as far as time-wise it’s going to be similar to Darlington. I don’t think there are any races that can go much longer than Darlington. I’m sure it’s going to be long. There’s going to be more green flag laps but it’s going to be long. My butt will be sore about halfway through but it is what it is.”

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