Catchfence

NEWS AND NOTES FROM THE RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDERS

– NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES

Johnny Sauter was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the June 5 WinStar World Casino 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. Sauter scored a sixth-place finish, his second consecutive top-10 and third in eight races this season. All three of Sauter’s top-10 finishes have been in the last four races. He claimed top Raybestos® Rookie honors for third time in 2009.

Sauter won the pole at Texas, his first in 19 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts and the first by a Raybestos® Rookie this season. He became the first Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole since Scott Speed claimed the top starting position at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in 2008 (16 races). Sauter became the second consecutive freshman driver to win the pole position for the June race at Texas, joining Justin Marks who captured the top starting spot in 2008.

Tayler Malsam placed ninth at Texas, his third top-10 finish of the season. Malsam is 11th in the series NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship standings, best of any Raybestos® Rookie.

Sauter leads Malsam by four points (87-83) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the June 13 Michigan 200 at Michigan International Speedway. This is the first time in 2009 that Sauter has led the standings.

Scott Speed was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2008 Michigan 200, scoring a third-place finish. Speed was also the only Raybestos® Rookie to lead the race, holding the top spot twice for 17 laps.

Kurt Busch owns the best finish by a Raybestos® Rookie at Michigan, a second place effort in 2000.

Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at Michigan (nine races):

2000: Kurt Busch, second

2003: Carl Edwards, fifth

2008: Scott Speed, third

DID YOU KNOW? Jamie McMurray is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole at Michigan. McMurray captured the top starting spot for the 2000 race.

Only THREE Raybestos® Rookies have led a lap in nine races at Michigan:

2000: Kurt Busch, two laps

2003: Carl Edwards, 22 laps

2008: Scott Speed, 17 laps

The most Raybestos® Rookies to finish inside the top-10 in a Camping World Truck Series race at Michigan: TWO in 2000: Busch (second) and McMurray (sixth).

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS

DRIVER POINTS

Johnny Sauter 87

Tayler Malsam 83

James Buescher 73

Ricky Carmichael 54

J R Fitzpatrick 52

Brent Raymer 30

Brian Ickler 22

Chris Jones 19

Chase Austin 16

HIGHEST-FINISHING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE BY RACE

EVENT HIGHEST-FINISHING ROOKIE

NextEra Energy Resources 250 J.R. Fitzpatrick, fourth

San Bernardino County 200 Ricky Carmichael, eighth

American Commercial Lines 200 Tayler Malsam, 13th

Kroger 250 James Buescher, 11th

O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 Johnny Sauter, ninth

North Carolina Education Lottery 200 Tayler Malsam, eighth

AAA Insurance 200 Johnny Sauter, fifth

WinStar World Casino 400 Johnny Sauter, sixth

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE HISTORY

· Colin Braun was the 2008 Raybestos® Rookie of the Year in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Braun became the SIXTH Roush Fenway Racing driver to win Raybestos® Rookie of the Year in the series. In 25 starts Braun scored three top-five and eight top-10 finishes and placed 13th in the series championship standings. His best finish was a third-place effort at Kansas Speedway in April. Braun’s official margin of victory over Brian Scott in the final Raybestos® Rookie standings was 19 points (234-215).

DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a race in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is Scott Speed. Speed won the 2008 AAA Insurance 200 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway, crossing the finish line 3.379 seconds ahead of second-place Jack Sprague (25 races).

DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole position in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is Johnny Sauter. Sauter won the pole for the 2009 WinStar World Casino 400 at Texas Motor Speedway (one race).

The most Raybestos® Rookies to win a race in a single season: THREE in 1997 (Kenny Irwin, Tony Raines, and Randy Tolsma).

The most poles by a Raybestos® Rookie: FOUR (Greg Biffle in 1998 and Kurt Busch in 2000).

Kurt Busch holds the record for best championship finish (2nd), most wins (four), and most money earned ($745,632).

The record for most top-fives by a Raybestos® Rookie is 13 (Kurt Busch in 2000 and Carl Edwards in 2003).

The record for most top-10 finishes by a Raybestos® Rookie is 19, by Ricky Hendrick in 2001.

SIX drivers from Roush Fenway Racing have won Raybestos® Rookie of the Year while competing in the Camping World Truck Series:
2008: Colin Braun

2006: Erik Darnell

2005: Todd Kluever

2003: Carl Edwards

2000: Kurt Busch

1998: Greg Biffle

Kenny Irwin was the first Raybestos® Rookie to win a race in the Camping World Truck Series. Irwin captured the Florida Dodge Dealers 400K at Homestead-Miami Speedway on March 16, 1997. He took the checkered flag by .289 seconds over Mike Bliss.

Irwin also holds the record for quickest win by a Raybestos® Rookie in the Craftsman Truck Series, scoring his first career win at Homestead in just his third career start.

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. Press Release