Catchfence

HAMLIN + HOMESTEAD = 16TH CUP WIN FOR WIX FILTERS

WIX Filters

Cars using WIX Filters scored 16 victories in 36 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races in 2009 in addition to the Budweiser Shootout and Sprint All-Star Race. Hamlin earned WIX Filters Lap Leader of the Race honors at Homestead leading a race-high 71 of 267 laps.

Hamlin flashed by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate on lap 223 and steadily pulled away from the field, crossing the finish line 2.632 seconds ahead of second-place Jeff Burton. Hamlin made what was the race winning pass off Turn 2 and never looked back.

“It’s been a great year,” Hamlin said. “To get four wins and to win on a track that people don’t necessarily expect us to win on is a great deal. Starting this car in back [38th-place] and coming to the front was a show. We hope to be where Jimmie [Johnson] is at in a couple of years and we’re showing that we do have a little bit of strength.”

Hamlin heaped praise on crew chief Mike Ford for making his No. 11 Fed-Ex Express Toyota better during the race.

“Yeah, that’s the thing is we kept working on it,” Hamlin said. “Me and Mike went back and forth with adjustments all day and just kept getting it a little bit better. Then we’d go take a step back and he’d make it two steps better the next run. That shows what communication that we have between us and how strong our relationship is. I don’t see us getting any weaker anytime soon.”

JD Gibbs, owner of the No. 11 and President of Joe Gibbs Racing, was impressed by the team’s performance.

“What’s encouraging for our future and just watching Denny and Mike’s leadership at JGR and the way they work together and don’t get panicky,” Gibbs said. “We didn’t have the best car and the way that they make changes in the race and over the season, you’ll really see impressive things. I’m really looking forward to next year. The pit crew was really impressive. We are real excited to watch Joey [Logano] following in the footsteps of Tony [Stewart] and Kyle [Busch] and Denny by winning Raybestos Rookie of the Year.”

The victory was the eighth for Hamlin in 151 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. He won for the fourth time in 2009 and for the first time four races at Homestead. He gained three positions in the standings with his Homestead victory, finishing fifth overall in the standings.

Hamlin averaged 126.986 mph in a race that took 3 hours, six minutes and 18 seconds to complete. There were 18 lead changes among 10 drivers and the event was slowed by seven cautions for 31 laps.

Since 1939, WIX® Filters, a member of the Affinia Group family of brands, has been an innovator in filtration products. WIX designs, manufactures and distributes products for automotive, diesel, agricultural, industrial and specialty filter markets. Its product line includes oil, air, cabin interior, fuel, coolant, transmission and hydraulic filters for automobiles, trucks and off-road equipment. WIX, a member of the Affinia family of brands, is the number one filter in NASCAR and an exclusive NASCAR Performance Product. Its NASCAR relationship also includes the WIX Filters Lap Leader Award, which recognizes the drivers leading the most laps in each race. For more information, visit www.wixfilters.com.

Affinia Group Inc. is an innovative global leader in the design, manufacture, distribution and marketing of industrial grade products and services, including extensive offerings of aftermarket parts for automotive and heavy-duty vehicles. With more than $2 billion in annual revenue, Affinia has operations in North and South America, Europe, Asia and India. For more information, visit www.affiniagroup.com.

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.’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 WIX Filters, Press Release