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2010 Raybestos Rookie Contender Logo

• Kevin Conway was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the March 7 Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway, posting a 31^st-place finish.

• Conway leads Terry Cook by 29 points (33-4) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the March 21 Food City 500 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

• DID YOU KNOW? The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to lead a lap at Bristol: Kevin Harvick in the 2001 Food City 500 (17 races).  In fact, Harvick led the most laps in the event (three times for 137 laps).

• The best finish by a Raybestos® Rookie in the Food City 500 came in 1979 when Dale Earnhardt scored his first career win.  Since Earnhardt’s victory, only three drivers have finished in the top-five in the spring race:

1981:   Morgan Shepherd, fourth

1989:   Dick Trickle, fifth

2003:   Greg Biffle, fifth

• DID YOU KNOW? Tony Stewart is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win the pole at Bristol in his rookie season.  Stewart took the top spot in the 1999 Sharpie 500 (August race).  He also holds the record for most laps led by a Raybestos® Rookie, holding the top spot once for 225 laps.

• DID YOU KNOW? Only once since 1975 have THREE Raybestos Rookies have finished in the top-10 in a race at Bristol.  In 1979, Dale Earnhardt scored his first career win in the Food City 500 and was joined in the top-10 by Terry Labonte (seventh) and Joe Millikan (eighth).

• DID YOU KNOW? Only once since 1981 have TWO or more Raybestos® Rookies finished in the top-10 in the Food City 500.  In 1981, Morgan Shepherd placed fourth and Tim Richmond finished 10^th.

• Since 1975, Tim Richmond is the only Raybestos® Rookie to score top-10 finishes in both Bristol races in NASCAR’s modern era (1972-present).  In 1981, Richmond finished 10^th in the Food City 500 and 10^th in the Sharpie 500.

• TWO or more Raybestos® Rookies have finished in the top-10 in BOTH races at Bristol just once since 1975.  In 1981, Morgan Shepherd (fourth) and Tim Richmond (10^th) logged top-10 finished in the Food City 500 while Ron Bouchard (fifth) and Richmond (eighth) finished in the top-10 in the Sharpie 500.

• Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the Food City 500:

1979:   Dale Earnhardt, FIRST

1981:   Morgan Shepherd, fourth

1989:   Dick Trickle, fifth

2003:   Greg Biffle, fifth

• Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the Food City 500:

1979:   Dale Earnhardt, FIRST

1979:   Terry Labonte, seventh

1979:   Joe Millikan, eighth

1981:   Morgan Shepherd, fourth

1981:   Tim Richmond, 10^th

1989:   Dick Trickle, fifth

1995:   Robert Pressley, 10^th

2002:   Jimmie Johnson, seventh

2003:   Greg Biffle, fifth

2005:   Travis Kvapil, seventh

• Scott Speed was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2009 Food City 500, logging a 28^th-place finish.

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT  STANDINGS

DRIVER           POINTS

Kevin Conway     33
Terry Cook        4

HIGHEST-FINISHING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE BY  RACE

EVENT               HIGHEST-FINISHING ROOKIE

Auto Club 500       Kevin Conway, 31st
Shelby American     Kevin Conway,  36th
Kobalt Tools 500    Kevin Conway,  31st

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 (24 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 (60 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 (eight races).

• Regan Smith (2008) became the first Raybestos® Rookie of the Year in the 56-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 $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., for Raybestos, Press Release