Catchfence

McHenry, Ill. (May 26, 2010)  Over the past two seasons it appears the only thing that stops Joe Gibbs Racing on the short tracks are Raybestos® brakes.

Cars using Raybestos® brake products, a member of the Affinia Group family of brands, have won two of three short track races this season and have claimed seven of nine events on tracks less than a mile in length over the past two seasons.  Joe Gibbs Racing has led 1,996 of a possible 4,212 laps (47.4 percent) in those events.

Kyle Busch won May 1 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway, the THIRD CONSECUTIVE win for Raybestos® at the .75-mile speedway.  Busch and JGR teammate Denny Hamlin have led 685 of 1200 possible laps (57.1 percent).  Hamlin won March 29 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, his SECOND CONSECUTIVE at the .526-mile track.  His average finish in the last three races at the .526-mile speedway is 1.33. He has led the most laps in each of the last THREE CONSECUTIVE races at Martinsville (674 of 1,509 possible laps).< /FONT>

Since the introduction of the Raybestos® Generation 2 brake package used on all short tracks plus the ovals at Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway, Pocono (Pa.) Raceway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Raybestos® has won nine of 16 races (56.3 percent) and led 2,055 of 6,187 possible laps (33.2 percent).

“I really thank the manufacturers of Raybestos® brakes and all the work that they do for us giving us the best possible brakes that are out there,” Busch said.  “It’s fun to go to the short tracks.  You’ve got to have the best brakes in the business and Raybestos are the best brakes.  We’ve gotten a package that really works for our cars and the guys have really worked hard on those.  That’s probably one of the departments that takes the most criticism from me on the short track stuff [smiles] but those guys work hard and they deserve what they got tonight.”

Following his most recent Martinsville win, Hamlin gave insight into how superior stopping power gave him advantage late in the race.

“The Raybestos® brakes were amazing,” Hamlin said.  “This is probably the best I’ve ever felt, as far as brake package.  I’m going to say that on my debrief.  It just seems like every time we come here we have a little bit better brake package than what we did before.  And it just seemed like this one, no matter how hard I use them, we have no temperature, we don’t show any temperature and ultimately it helps us run harder and not maybe pay the consequence of maybe blowing a tire in the long run.  I had a hard pedal all day.  Look at 90 percent of my passes t hat happened today.  It was because I dive bombed somebody getting in corner and out braked them.  For sure it’s something that we don’t need to change.”

To gain a competitive advantage, the Joe Gibbs cars use the Raybestos® Sprint Cup braking system.  The ultra-lightweight aluminum alloy six-piston calipers are the stiffest and lightest calipers available in all of NASCAR.  The innovative calipers were developed using Raybestos® technology partner Alcon’s state of the art “optimized design” process, and include an asymmetric body design and advanced between-piston and crossover cooling features.   The brake package also provides for the largest brake pad volume (surface area) and largest rotor (13.15” outside diameter, and 1.65” thick) available in NASCAR.

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.

Alcon Components USA is a wholly owned subsidiary of Alcon Components Limited, the UK based manufacturer of premium brake and clutch products. Alcon systems are engineered and designed for the most rigorous demands and are widely used throughout the world of motorsport, from Formula One to IndyCar to NASCAR, as well as in various high performance road vehicles including Jaguar, Land Rover and Bentley.  For more information, visit www.alconusa.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 Brand Brakes, Press Release