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2010 Raybestos Rookie Contender Logo

• Joey Logano was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2009 Air Guard 400 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway, scoring a 14^th-place finish.

• DID YOU KNOW? Tony Stewart (1999) is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win the fall race at Richmond.  Stewart scored his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win by 1.115 seconds over second-place Bobby Labonte.

• The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to score a top-five in the fall race at Richmond is David Ragan (third-place in 2007).

• Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the fall race at Richmond (since 1975):

1977:   Sam Sommers, fifth

1979:   Dale Earnhardt, fourth

1980:   Jody Ridley, fifth

1999:   Tony Stewart, FIRST

2001:   Kevin Harvick, second

2002:   Ryan Newman, second

2005:   Kyle Busch, fourth

2007:   David Ragan, third

• DID YOU KNOW? The most Raybestos® Rookies to finish in the top-10 in a fall race at Richmond are THREE in 1979: Earnhardt (fourth), Harry Gant (ninth) and Joe Millikan (10^th).

• Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the Air Guard 400 (since 1975):

1975:   Bruce Hill, eighth

1976:   Terry Bivins, ninth

1977:   Sam Sommers, fifth

1979:   Dale Earnhardt, fourth

1979:   Harry Gant, ninth

1979:   Joe Millikan, 10^th

1980:   Jody Ridley, fifth

1983:   Trevor Boys, ninth

1989:   Dick Trickle, eighth

1989:   Hut Stricklin, ninth

1993:   Jeff Gordon, 10^th

1994:   Steve Grissom, seventh

1996:   Johnny Benson, 10^th

1998:   Kenny Irwin, 10^th

1999:   Tony Stewart, FIRST

2001:   Kevin Harvick, second

2002:   Ryan Newman, second

2005:   Kyle Busch, fourth

2007:   David Ragan, third

• DID YOU KNOW? Since 1975, only TWO Raybestos® Rookies have led the most laps in a fall race at Richmond: Tony Stewart (1999) and Ryan Newman (2002).  Stewart led five times for 333 of the 400 laps, the most led by a first-year driver at the .75-mile speedway since 1975.  Newman led twice for 145 laps.

• The most recent Raybestos® Rookie to lead a lap in the fall race at Richmond is Paul Menard (once for one lap in 2007).

• Raybestos® Rookies that have led a lap in the Air Guard 400 (since 1975):

1979:   Dale Earnhardt (twice for 19 laps)

1993:   Bobby Labonte (twice for 12 laps)

1996:   Johnny Benson (once for 13 laps)

1998:   Kenny Irwin (once for one lap)

1999:   Tony Stewart (five times for 333 laps)

2001:   Kevin Harvick (once for 12 laps)

2002:   Ryan Newman (twice for 145 laps)

2003:   Greg Biffle (once for two laps)

2005:   Kyle Busch (three times for 10 laps)

2005:   Travis Kvapil (once for one lap)

2007:   Paul Menard (once for one lap)

• DID YOU KNOW? The first time two Raybestos® Rookies claimed front row starting positions in the modern-era of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series occurred at the 2002 fall race at Richmond.  Jimmie Johnson won the pole while Ryan Newman claimed the second-place starting position.   An all-rookie front row has occurred just one other time:  the 2004 Pocono 500 (Kasey Kahne won the pole ahead of second-place Brian Vickers).

• Raybestos® Rookie Denny Hamlin won the pole for the 2006 fall race at Richmond, one of three poles he won during his initial NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.  Hamlin became the fourth Raybestos® Rookie since 1975 to win the pole for the Air Guard 400, joining Dale Earnhardt (1979), Bobby Labonte (1993) and Jimmie Johnson (2002).

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS

DRIVER               POINTS

Kevin Conway         193
Terry Cook            38

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
Food City 500                            Kevin Conway, 28th
Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500             Kevin Conway, 31st
Subway Fresh Fit 600                     Kevin Conway, 33rd
Samsung Mobile 500                       Kevin Conway, 27th
Aaron’s 499                              Kevin Conway, 30th
Crown Royal 300                          Kevin Conway, 37th
SHOWTIME Southern 500                    Kevin Conway, 33rd
Autism Speaks 400                        Kevin Conway, 33rd
Coca-Cola 600                            Kevin Conway, 35th
Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500             Kevin Conway, 35th
Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400         Kevin Conway, 40th
Toyota/Save Mart 350                     Kevin Conway, 28th
LENOX Industrial Tools 301               Kevin Conway, 32nd
Coke Zero 400                            Kevin Conway, 14th
LifeLock.com 400                         Kevin Conway, 33rd
Brickyard 400                            Kevin Conway, 34th
Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500        Kevin Conway, 31st
Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen Kevin Conway, 31st
IRWIN Tools Night Race                   Kevin Conway,  36th
Emory Healthcare 500                     Kevin  Conway, 37th

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 (44 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 (80 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 (29 races).

• Regan Smith (2008) is the only Raybestos® Rookie of the Year in the 54-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 format began 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