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Raybestos Rookie of the Year Contender Logo

– NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES

· Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the September 4 Great Clips 300 at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway. Stenhouse Jr. grabbed a 10th-place finish, his fourth top-10 of the season, and claimed top rookie honors for the seventh time in 2010.

· Brian Scott leads Ricky Stenhouse Jr. by 12 points (197-185) in the overall Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the September 10 Virginia 529 College Savings 250 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway.

Justin Allgaier was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2009 Virginia529 College Savings 250, posting an eighth-place finish.

DID YOU KNOW? TWO Raybestos® Rookies have won the September race at Richmond: Bobby Hamilton (1989) and Steve Park (1997). Hamilton edged Tommy Ellis by two car lengths while Park crossed the finish line 1.432 seconds ahead of Randy LaJoie.

DID YOU KNOW? Only once in the past 20 fall races have TWO Raybestos® Rookies finished in the top-five in Richmond: 1989. Bobby Hamilton won while Kenny Wallace finished third.

Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the fall race at Richmond:

1989: Bobby Hamilton, FIRST

1989: Kenny Wallace, third

1993: Hermie Sadler, third

1997: Steve Park, FIRST

2004: Kyle Busch, fifth

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the fall race at Richmond:

1989: Bobby Hamilton, FIRST

1989: Kenny Wallace, third

1993: Elliott Sadler, third

1993: Joe Bessey, eighth

1994: Johnny Benson, sixth

1997: Steve Park, FIRST

1998: Andy Santerre, 10th

2004: Kyle Busch, fifth

2005: Reed Sorenson, seventh

2009: Justin Allgaier, eighth

The most recent Raybestos® Rookie driver to lead a lap in the fall race at Richmond is Kevin Harvick, who led once for one lap in the 2000 event, a span of eight races.

Andy Santerre (1998) is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole for the fall race at Richmond.

DID YOU KNOW? Only once in the past 20 fall races have TWO Raybestos® Rookies finished in the top-five at the fall race in Richmond. In 1989, Bobby Hamilton won while Kenny Wallace finished third.

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS

DRIVER POINTS

Brian Scott 197

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 185

Colin Braun 174

James Buescher 97

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

New England 200 Colin Braun, 12th

Subway Jalapeno 250 Ricky Stenhouse Jr., third

Dollar General 300 Brian Scott, third

Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 Brian Scott, sixth

Kroger 200 Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 11th

U.S. Cellular 250 Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 14th

Zippo 200 Brian Scott, 13th

CARFAX 250 Colin Braun, ninth

Food City 250 Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 22nd

NAPA Auto Parts 200 Colin Braun, 22nd

Great Clips 300 Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 10th

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 season at Memphis (Millington, Tenn.) Motorsports Park (race No. 32) and in his 36th 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 (128 races).

· DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole position in the Nationwide Series is Justin Allgaier, who captured the top starting position for the 2009 Kroger 250 at Memphis (Millington, Tenn.) Motorsports Park (30 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. 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 $1.8 billion in annual revenue, Affinia has operations in North and South America, Europe, Asia and India. For more information, visit www.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