Catchfence

2010 Raybestos Rookie of the Year

AT DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY, MAY 13, 2010,

Justin Lofton posted the eighth-best overall speed in today’s first practice session at Dover, best of any Raybestos Rookie. The rest of the class: Austin Dillon (18th), Brett Butler (20th) and Jennifer Jo Cobb (30th).

Justin Lofton

“I think actually the truck is a little bit better. It’s taking the driver getting used to it. I don’t know if we could have pulled off a 0 like Kyle did in first practice but I definitely think we could have easily pulled off a low 60. This is actually the first truck that the guys got to build from scratch, Mark Rette [crew chief] and my crew. It goes back to last year and the success that we had in the ARCA car moving into the Camping World Truck Series and just really excited to be driving one of Mark’s trucks. It’s hooked up and we’re ready to go. It’s cool to be back at a handling racetrack. We’re really good at those, one where a driver really plays a key. Just looking forward to a solid weekend.”

HAVE YOU BEEN HERE BEFORE?

“I’ve never seen Dover in person until today [smiles]. It was pretty cool. I walked around and talked to Ron Hornaday, Todd Bodine, Matt Crafton [and] Johnny Benson. I talked to all of those guys and pretty much every one of ‘em told me the same thing with different variations and I kind of took it all, blended it all together and went out there and tried to hold it as close to wide-open as you can and it’s paying off for us.”

COMMENT ON THE ENTRANCE TO THE CORNERS HERE.

“It happens so fast that you really don’t know unless you’re sitting there thinking about it, kind of waiting for it. Everything is happening so fast at this track that you’re thinking about exit when you’re entering so you’re really just like ‘Okay, I don’t care what the truck does I just need to get it pointed at this angle. I need it to be here at this point so I can get off the corner so I don’t smack the wall.’ That’s the big key here. You can really tear up a race truck because there’s no room.”

WHAT WOULD BE A GOOD RACE FOR YOU?

“A win [laughs]. To be honest a win would be awesome. I definitely think we have a shot at it but a solid top-five would get all the guys spirits back up. We’ve been struggling the first couple of races this year and just get everyone’s spirits up going into this little summer stretch.”

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. Press Release