Catchfence

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Nov. 17, 2011 – Heading into the final weekend of the season, Ryan Truex has a three-point lead in the battle for the 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year (ROY) Award.

After the Wypall 200 at Phoenix International Raceway, Truex leads with 188 points. Blake Koch and Timmy Hill are tied with 185 points. Jennifer Jo Cobb is in fourth place in the standings with 149 points.

Koch and Hill will compete this weekend in the Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Truex will not race this weekend, but this does not knock him out of ROY contention.

Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidates in the NASCAR Nationwide Series are awarded points based only on his or her best 16 events.

· Attempting to qualify for a race earns the rookies one (1) bonus point.

· A 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 point system is used for scoring finishing positions. The highest-finishing rookie in each race earns ten (10) points, the 2nd-highest: nine (9) points, etc.

· Bonus points are awarded for a finish in the top-10. A rookie who wins is awarded ten (10) points, 2nd place: nine (9) points, etc. A 10th place finish gets one (1) bonus point.

· The Sunoco Rookie of the Year panel will meet during the final weekend of the season to rate each driver on a scale of ten (10) to one (1) based on favorable conduct in the following categories: conduct with NASCAR officials, conduct and awareness on track, personal appearances and relationship with the media.

Truex has only raced 17 of the 34 events, meaning all but one of his race finishes must be used. Koch and Hill have raced in 32 and 33 races, respectively. In order to overtake the lead from Truex on the competition side of the points race, Koch and Hill would need to earn bonus points by finishing inside the top-10 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. A final decision for the panel bonus points will be announced after the race.

About Ryan Truex

Ryan Truex came up through the NASCAR ranks with flair, winning back-to-back K&N Pro Series East Championships in 2009 and 2010. The 2009 campaign also earned him the Rookie of the Year honors and gave Michael Waltrip Racing its first NASCAR championship. Truex became only the second driver in series history to win both honors in the same year, after only Joey Logano. In 2011, NASCAR honored Truex as one of the “Top 10 Drivers of the First 25 Years of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East;” he was the youngest racer to make the list.

Ryan spent the first half of the 2011 Nationwide Series season in the No. 99 car for Pastrana-Waltrip Racing, earning at least a top-20 finish in eight of the ten races. He jumped at the chance to race the No. 20 car for the Joe Gibbs Racing stable starting in Sept. 2011. He finished in the top-15 in all six of his races with the new team, including four top-10s. He won the Sunoco Rookie of the Race Award for all six races, and is on pace to be the NASCAR Nationwide Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year.

- MTJ Motorsports Press Release