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2010 Raybestos Rookie Contender Logo

• Colin Braun was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the Feb. 27 Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway.  Braun was credited with a 28^th-place finish and grabbed top rookie honors for the first time this season.

• James Buescher leads Brian Scott by four points (34-30) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the March 20 Scotts Turf Builder 300 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

• Justin Allgaier was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2009 Scotts Turf Builder 300, scoring a fifth-place finish.

• DID YOU KNOW? The best finish by a Raybestos® Rookie in 21 previous spring races at Bristol is second by David Green in 1991.

• DID YOU KNOW? The most Raybestos® Rookies to finish inside the top-10 in the Scotts Turf Builder 300 are THREE in 2005: Reed Sorenson (third), Carl Edwards (seventh) and Denny Hamlin (ninth).

• DID YOU KNOW? Scott Riggs is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole in the spring race at Bristol.  Riggs won his first career pole came in 2002 in just his fifth career start.

• Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the Scotts Turf Builder 300:

1989:   Kenny Wallace, fifth

1991:   David Green, second

2004:   Kyle Busch, third

2005:   Reed Sorenson, third

2009:   Justin Allgaier, fifth

• Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the Scotts Turf Builder 300:

1989:   Kenny Wallace, fifth

1990:   Joe Nemechek, ninth

1991:   David Green, second

1991:   Tracy Leslie, eighth

1993:   Hermie Sadler, sixth

1995:   Curtis Markham, ninth

1997:   Steve Park, eighth

1998:   Wayne Grubb, seventh

1999:   Tony Roper, 10^th

2002:   Scott Riggs, ninth

2002:   Shane Hmiel, 10^th

2004:   Kyle Busch, third

2005:   Reed Sorenson, third

2005:   Carl Edwards, seventh

2005:   Denny Hamlin, ninth

2006:   John Andretti, ninth

2009:   Justin Allgaier, fifth

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT  STANDINGS

DRIVER                  POINTS

James Buescher          34
Brian Scott             30
Colin Braun             29
Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.    24
Parker Kligerman        15

HIGHEST-FINISHING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE BY  RACE

EVENT                HIGHEST-FINISHING ROOKIE

DRIVE4COPD 300       James Buescher,  eighth
Stater Bros. 300     Brian Scott,  10th
Sam’s Town 300       Colin Braun,  28th

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE HISTORY

• Justin Allgaier captured 2009 Raybestos® Rookie of the Year in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.  Allgaier claimed Raybestos® Rookie of the Race honors 11 times during the 2009 season and his final margin of victory over Brendan Gaughan was 18 points (269-251).  He finished the year with three top-five and 12 top-10 finishes and placed sixth in the series championship standings.  His best finish was a fifth-place effort at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (race No. 4).  Allgaier won his first career pole this past s eason at Memphis (Millington, Tenn.) Motorsports Park (race No. 32) and in his 36^th career start.

• DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a Nationwide Series race is Juan Pablo Montoya.  Montoya captured the 2007 Corona Mexico 200 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez (Mexico City, Mexico), crossing the finish line .750 seconds ahead of Denny Hamlin (105 races).

• DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole position in the Nationwide Series is Allgaier (seven races).

• The most recent streak for at least two Raybestos® Rookies to rank inside the top-10 in the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship standings is 21 consecutive races (2007 race at Kentucky Speedway, race No. 16, through 2008 Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, race No. 1).

• DID YOU KNOW? Since 2001, Roush Fenway Racing has won FOUR Raybestos® Rookie of the Year titles in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

2007:   David Ragan

2006:   Danny O’Quinn Jr.

2005:   Carl Edwards

2001:   Greg Biffle

• Kyle Busch posted a record-setting year on his way to the 2004 Raybestos® Rookie of the Year title.  In 34 starts, Busch won five times, captured five poles and scored 16 top-five and 22 top-10 finishes.  His second-place finish in the Nationwide Series championship standings is a record for a Raybestos® Rookie.  Other Raybestos® Rookie records Busch owns or shares: most starts (34), most wins (tied with Greg Biffle), most top fives (tied with Greg Biffle), most top 10s, most money won ($2,027,050), most championship points (4,943), most laps led (1,108) and most races led (21).

• David Stremme holds the record for fewest starts by a driver to win Raybestos® Rookie of the Year.  In 2003, he started just 18 of the 34 races and was the top rookie finisher in 16 of those starts.  Stremme scored three top-three finishes and had more top-10 finishes (seven) than any other first-year driver.  He led six races for a total of 86 laps.

• David Green was the first Raybestos® Rookie to win a Nationwide Series race, at Lanier, Ga., in 1991.  Green captured the Nestle 200 by 1.58-seconds over Jeff Gordon, a fellow Raybestos® Rookie.  A third Raybestos® Rookie, Todd Bodine, placed eighth in the race.

• Dennis Setzer was the first Raybestos® Rookie to win TWO or more races in a season.  In 1994, he won the Ford Credit 300 at South Boston (Va.) Speedway and The Pantry 300 at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway.

• Steve Park was the first Raybestos® Rookie to win THREE or more races in a season.  In 1997, he won the BellSouth Mobility/Opryland 300 at Nashville (Tenn.) Speedway, the Detroit Gasket 200 at Michigan International Speedway and the Autolite Platinum 250 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway.

• Kenny Wallace was the first Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole in the Nationwide Series.  Wallace grabbed the top starting spot for the 1989 Goody’s 300 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, the first race in the history of the Raybestos® Rookie of the Year program.

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*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