NEWS AND NOTES FROM THE RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDERS – NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

Budweiser Shootout at Daytona

• DID YOU KNOW? Denny Hamlin is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win in the 32-year history of the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona.  Hamlin captured the 2006 race by .172 seconds over Dale Earnhardt Jr. and claimed Raybestos® Rookie of the Year honors that same season.  He is the only Raybestos® Rookie driver to lead a lap in the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona (three times for 16 laps in 2006).

• TWO Raybestos® Rookies participated in the 2009 Shootout:  Joey Logano (28^th) and Scott Speed (25^th), the only time two or more rookies have participated in the event.

• Ryan Newman is the only other Raybestos Rookie to participate in the Shootout, scoring a 15^th-place finish in 2002.

Daytona 500

• Scott Speed was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2009 Daytona 500, posting a 35^th-place finish.

• The best finish by a Raybestos® Rookie in 52 previous Daytona 500 races is third-place by Scott Wimmer in 2004.

• DID YOU KNOW? Since 1975, only three Raybestos® Rookies have scored a top-five finish in the Daytona 500: Wimmer, David Ragan (fifth in 2007) and Jeff Gordon (fifth in 1993).

• DID YOU KNOW? Since 1975, only three Raybestos® Rookies have won the pole position for the Daytona 500: Loy Allen (1994), Mike Skinner (1997) and Jimmie Johnson (2002).

• Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the Daytona 500 (since 1975):

1979:   Dale Earnhardt, eighth

1980:   Jody Ridley, 10^th

1989:   Rick Mast, sixth

1991:   Bobby Hamilton, ninth

1993:   Jeff Gordon, fifth

2000:   Matt Kenseth, 10^th

2002:   Ryan Newman, seventh

2006:   Clint Bowyer, sixth

2007:   David Ragan, fifth

• Jeff Gordon is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win a Gatorade Duel qualifying race at Daytona in the sport’s modern era.  Gordon won his qualifying race for 500 in 1993.

• DID YOU KNOW? Greg Biffle is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points event at Daytona International Speedway.  Biffle won the 2003 Coke Zero 400, scoring his first career win 4.102 second ahead of second-place finisher Jeff Burton.  He led only once, covering the final 21 laps.  Biffle was the only Raybestos® Rookie to score a win during the 2003 season.

• DID YOU KNOW? Ryan Newman (2002) is the most recent driver to earn top rookie honors in the Daytona 500 AND win Raybestos® Rookie of the Year.

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE HISTORY

• Joey Logano won 2009 Raybestos® Rookie of the Year in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.  Logano captured top rookie honors 26 times in 36 races and officially claimed the honor by 33 points (270-237) over Scott Speed.  At 19 years of age, Logano became the youngest driver to win Raybestos® Rookie of the Year in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

• Logano scored his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory in at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (race No. 17).  The victory came in his 20^th career start.  He finished the season with one win, three top-five and seven top-10 finishes and placed 20^th in the final series championship standings.

• Logano is the THIRD driver from Joe Gibbs Racing to win Raybestos® Rookie of the Year, joining Tony Stewart (1999) and Denny Hamlin (2006).

• DID YOU KNOW? Logano is the most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a Sprint Cup Series race, capturing the 2009 LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway ahead of second-place Jeff Gordon (20 races).

• DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole position in the Sprint Cup Series is Patrick Carpentier.  Carpentier captured the top starting spot for the 2008 LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (56 races).

• DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to score a top-five finish is Logano, who placed third in the 2009 AMP Energy 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (four races).

• Regan Smith (2008) became the first Raybestos® Rookie of the Year in the 52-year history of the program without a DNF (did not finish).  He was running at the finish in all 34 starts he made and captured top rookie honors over Sam Hornish Jr. by just seven points (236-229).

• The 2008 season marked the first time in NASCAR’s modern-era (since 1972) that THREE drivers shared the lead in the Raybestos® Rookie standings.  After the second race of the season, Sam Hornish, Jr., Dario Franchitti and Regan Smith were all tied at the top of the standings.

• Ryan Newman holds the all-time Raybestos® Rookie record for most poles (6), most top-fives (14) and most top-10s (22).

• Denny Hamlin is the only Raybestos® Rookie to qualify for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup since the program was created in 2004.

• The record for most earnings by a Raybestos® Rookie Hamlin holds the record for most earnings by a Raybestos® Rookie ($6.6 million in 2006).

• The record for most wins by a Raybestos® Rookie is THREE, shared by Tony Stewart (1999) and Jimmie Johnson (2002).

• A Raybestos® Rookie has posted multiple victories SEVEN times in NASCAR Sprint Cup:

1987:   Davey Allison, two

1999:   Tony Stewart, three

2000:   Dale Earnhardt Jr., two

2001:   Kevin Harvick, two

2002:   Jimmie Johnson, three

2005:   Kyle Busch, two

2006:   Denny Hamlin, two

• More than one Raybestos® Rookie has posted victories during their first season only three times:

1981:   Morgan Shepherd (one) and Ron Bouchard (one)

2000:   Dale Earnhardt Jr. (two) and Matt Kenseth (one)

2002:   Jimmie Johnson (three) and Ryan Newman (one)

• The way to the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship is to win Raybestos® Rookie of the Year.  Since 1979, six Raybestos® Rookie of the Year drivers have gone on to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup title: Dale Earnhardt (1979), Rusty Wallace (1984), Alan Kulwicki (1986), Jeff Gordon (1993), Tony Stewart (1999, 2005) and Matt Kenseth (2000).

• The longest streak for a Raybestos® Rookie to be in the top-10 in the Sprint Cup Series championship standings during the sport’s modern-era is 60 races (2001 MBNA Platinum 400 through 2002 Ford 400).

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 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.

*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