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

• Joey Logano was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2009 AMP Energy Juice 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, grabbing a third-place finish.

• DID YOU KNOW? Ron Bouchard is the only Raybestos® Rookie to win the AMP Energy Juice 500 at Talladega (41 previous races).  Bouchard won the 1981 race by inches over Darrell Waltrip and Terry Labonte.

• Since 1975, only SIX Raybestos® Rookies have scored top-five finishes in the fall race at Talladega:

1977:   Ricky Rudd, fourth

1981:   Ron Bouchard, FIRST

1987:   Davey Allison, second

1999:   Tony Stewart, fifth

2004:   Brendan Gaughan, fourth

2006:   Martin Truex Jr., fifth

2009:   Joey Logano, third

• TWO or more Raybestos® Rookies have finished in the top-10 in the fall race at Talladega THREE times since 1975:

1980:   Lake Speed, eighth

1980:   Kyle Petty, ninth

1981:   Ron Bouchard, FIRST

1981:   Stan Barrett, ninth

2000:   Mike Bliss, ninth

2000:   Matt Kenseth, 10^th

• Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the AMP Energy Juice 500 at Talladega (since 1975):

1976:   Skip Manning, ninth

1977:   Ricky Rudd, fourth

1979:   Harry Gant, seventh

1980:   Lake Speed, eighth

1980:   Kyle Petty, ninth

1981:   Ron Bouchard, FIRST

1981:   Stan Barrett, ninth

1984:   Tommy Ellis, ninth

1987:   Davey Allison, second

1999:   Tony Stewart, fifth

2000:   Mike Bliss, ninth

2000:   Matt Kenseth, 10^th

2002:   Ryan Newman, seventh

2004:   Brendan Gaughan, fourth

2009:   Joey Logano, third

• Davey Allison holds the record for most laps led by a Raybestos® Rookie in the fall race at Talladega.  Allison led seven times for 77 laps on his way to a second place finish in 1987.

• The most Raybestos® Rookies to lead a lap in the fall race at Talladega are FOUR (2006 and 2000).

• TWO Raybestos® Rookies have won the pole for the AMP Energy Juice 500 since 1975: Geoffrey Bodine (1982) and Jimmie Johnson (2003).

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS

DRIVER                                            POINTS

Kevin Conway                                    198

Terry Cook                                            38

HIGHEST-FINISHING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE BY RACE

EVENT                                                          HIGHEST-FINISHING ROOKIE

Auto Club 500                                                            Kevin Conway, 31^st

Shelby American                                             Kevin Conway, 36^th

Kobalt Tools 500                                            Kevin Conway, 31^st

Food City 500                                                 Kevin Conway, 28^th

Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500                         Kevin Conway, 31^st

Subway Fresh Fit 600                                    Kevin Conway, 33^rd

Samsung Mobile 500                                      Kevin Conway, 27^th

Aaron’s 499                                                    Kevin Conway, 30^th

Crown Royal 300                                            Kevin Conway, 37^th

SHOWTIME Southern 500                            Kevin Conway, 33^rd

Autism Speaks 400                                         Kevin Conway, 33^rd

Coca-Cola 600                                                Kevin Conway, 35^th

Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500                          Kevin Conway, 35^th

Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400              Kevin Conway, 40^th

Toyota/Save Mart 350                                                Kevin Conway, 28^th

LENOX Industrial Tools 301                         Kevin Conway, 32^nd

Coke Zero 400                                                            Kevin Conway, 14^th

LifeLock.com 400                                          Kevin Conway, 33^rd

Brickyard 400                                                 Kevin Conway, 34^th

Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500             Kevin Conway, 31^st

Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen Kevin Conway, 31^st

IRWIN Tools Night Race                               Kevin Conway, 36^th

Emory Healthcare 500                                    Kevin Conway, 37^th

Air Guard 400                                                 Kevin Conway, 41^st

AAA 400                                                        Kevin Conway, 37^th

Price Chopper 400                                          Kevin Conway, 38^th

Pepsi MAX 400                                              Kevin Conway, 31^st

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 (51 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 (87 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 Juice 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (36 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