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2010 Raybestos Rookie Contender Logo

• Colin Braun was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the June 19 Bucyrus 200 at Road America (Elkhart Lake, Wisc.).  Braun posted an 11^th-place finish and grabbed top rookie for the fourth time in 2010.

• Brian Scott leads Ricky Stenhouse Jr. by 34 points (158-123) in the overall Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the June 26 New England 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

• Erik Darnell was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2009 New England 200, claiming a ninth-place finish.

• Michael Annett was the only Raybestos® Rookie to lead a lap in the 2009 race.  Annett led once for one lap and became the first freshman driver to lead a lap at New Hampshire since 2002.

• Landon Cassill (2008) and Shane Hmiel (2002) are the only Raybestos® Rookie pole winners since the NASCAR Nationwide Series began competing at the 1.058-mile speedway in 1990 (23 races).

• The best finish by a Raybestos® Rookie at New Hampshire is second-place by Steve Park in 1997.  Park finished .106 seconds behind race winner Mike McLaughlin.

• Only once in 23 previous races at New Hampshire have two Raybestos® Rookies finished inside the top-five at New Hampshire: Carl Edwards (second) and Denny Hamlin (third) in 2005.

• Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at New Hampshire:

1997:   Steve Park, second

2002:   Shane Hmiel, fourth

2005:   Carl Edwards, second

2005:   Denny Hamlin, third

• Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies at New Hampshire:

1990 (fall):      Bobby Moon, eighth

1991 (spring):  David Green, eighth

1992 (fall):      Ricky Craven, ninth

1997:               Steve Park, second

2002:               Shane Hmiel, fourth

2002:               Scott Riggs, ninth

2005:               Carl Edwards, second

2005:               Denny Hamlin, third

2009:               Erik Darnell, ninth

• TWO or more Raybestos® Rookies have finished in the top-10 twice at New Hampshire:

2002:   Shane Hmiel (fourth) and Scott Riggs (ninth)

2005:   Carl Edwards (second) and Denny Hamlin (third)

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS

DRIVER                                             POINTS

Brian Scott              158
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.      123
Colin Braun              108
James Buescher            97
Parker Kligerman          26

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
Scotts Turf Builder 300    Ricky Stenhouse Jr.,  25th
Nashville 300              Brian  Scott, 15th
Bashas’ Supermarkets 200   Ricky Stenhouse Jr.,  ninth
O’Reilly Auto Parts 300    Colin Braun,  13th
Aaron’s 312                Brian  Scott, 10th
BUBBA Burger 250           James Buescher,  12th
Royal Purple 200           Brian Scott,  25th
Heluva Good! 200           Brian Scott, ninth
TECH-NET Auto Service 300  Brian Scott, 33rd
Federated Auto Parts 300   Brian Scott, 28th
Meijer 300                 Colin  Braun, 10th
The Bucyrus 200            Colin Braun,  11th

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 (117 races).

• DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole position in the Nationwide Series is Allgaier (19 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