WIX Filters’ “Racing with Ryan” Sweepstakes Provides Most Sought-After Ticket Package in NASCAR:

Two Tickets to the World’s Fastest Half-Mile, with Airfare & Hotel Accommodations

Stewart-Haas Racing

And playing a large part in WIX Filters’ activation of the sponsorship is the company’s “Racing with Ryan” sweepstakes, with the grand prize being two coveted tickets to the Sharpie 500, which will run under the lights at the world’s fastest half-mile oval.

So sought after are tickets to Bristol’s annual night race that they’re willed to family members, fought over contentiously in divorce proceedings, and even offered up as collateral. Yet when the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series makes its 100^th visit to the .533-mile bullring nestled in the East Tennessee mountains, attending the Sharpie 500 could be as easy as registering for the “Racing with Ryan” sweepstakes at www.WIXsweeps.com/ryannewman.

But there is no time to waste, for fans have only until July 31 to enter. Limit one entry per person. Official rules can be found online at www.WIXsweeps.com/ryannewman.

In addition to tickets, WIX Filters will provide the grand-prize winner with the second-most coveted need at Bristol – hotel accommodations. Airfare will also be included, as will VIP passes that will allow for a meet-and-greet with Newman, two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart, and Stewart-Haas Racing pit crew members at the No. 39 U.S. Army team transporter inside the track’s infield. And during pre-race ceremonies, the grand-prize winner will present the WIX Filters Lap Leader Award to the previous week’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Lap Leader Award winner and receive a WIX Filters prize pack.

There will be 39 total prizes given away as part of the “Racing with Ryan” sweepstakes. Beyond the grand prize, 12 second-prize winners will receive a signed 1:24 die-cast of the No. 39 Chevy with display case, a $100 O’Reilly Auto Parts gift card, and a WIX Filters prize pack. Twenty-six third-prize winners will receive a $75 gift card to the NASCAR.com Superstore and a U.S. Army pit hat.

“This promotion provides us with a way to give back to the fans that support WIX and our partners, O’Reilly Auto Parts and Stewart-Haas Racing,” said Jeff Blocher, brand manager for WIX Filters, a member of the Affinia Group family of brands. “The sweepstakes provides 39 chances to win, along with a grand prize that we think equates to every race fan’s dream weekend.”

While a dream trip for fans, the upcoming Bristol race weekend is business as usual for WIX. That’s because WIX Filters’ sponsorship of Newman and the No. 39 Chevy is more than skin-deep. Stewart-Haas Racing uses WIX Filters to help maintain its edge in the highly competitive Sprint Cup Series.
“With Stewart-Haas Racing, we have an excellent partner for putting together a great national promotion featuring Ryan Newman, but we also have a NASCAR team that uses our products to help them win races and perform at the top level of the sport,” Blocher said. “It’s a point of pride when the guys working on the racecars come up and tell you they like using your products and they have great confidence that WIX Filters will get the job done every weekend.

“Our relationship with Stewart-Haas Racing also gives WIX a product relationship with Tony Stewart Racing in USAC and the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, along with track sponsorship at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, where we’re able to bring the WIX brand to fans of grassroots racing.”

-SHR-

About WIX Filters:

Since 1939, Wix Filters has been an innovator in filtration products. WIX designs, manufactures and distributes products for automotive, diesel, agricultural, industrial and specialty filter markets. Its product line includes oil, air, cabin interior, fuel, coolant, transmission and hydraulic filters for automobiles, trucks and off-road equipment. WIX, a member of the Affinia family of brands, is the number one filter in NASCAR and an exclusive NASCAR Performance Product. Its NASCAR relationship also includes the WIX Filters Lap Leader Award, which recognizes the drivers leading the most laps in each race. For more information, visit www.wixfilters.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 approximately $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.

About Stewart-Haas Racing:

Stewart-Haas Racing is the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team co-owned by two-time Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart and Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation – the largest CNC machine tool builder in the western world. The team fields two entries in the elite Sprint Cup Series – the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet Impala for Stewart and the No. 39 U.S. Army/Tornados/Haas Automation Chevrolet Impala for 2008 Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman. Based in Kannapolis, N.C., Stewart-Haas Racing operates out of a 140,000-square-foot facility with more than 150 employees. For more information, please visit us on the Web at www.StewartHaasRacing.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/StewartHaasRacing and on Twitter at @StewartHaasRcng.

- True Speed Communication for Stewart-Haas Racing, Press Release

No 16 NSCS Pit Crew

It was the fifth victory of the season for the No. 16 crew, which remains in first place in the Tissot standings. The crews for Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are tied for second with three wins each.

Biffle’s No. 16 Ford Fusion spent the least amount of time on pit road – 214.601 seconds — during the 500-lap race at the world’s fastest half-mile oval. The quick pit stops helped Biffle to a fourth-place finish in the Sharpie 500.

“These guys work hard not only during the race but all week to be at the top of their game,” said No. 16 crew chief Greg Erwin. “They are a team in every sense of the word and that is a big part of what has made them a successful pit crew. They even have their own fans now on www.3Mcarcare.com where 3M has a contest going to name the 16 pit crew. I’ve heard a few of the suggestions and some of them are pretty good. No matter what name they pick though, these guys have earned it.”

The No. 16 over-the-wall crew at Bristol consisted of: Todd Zeigler (front-tire changer), Colin Pasi (front-tire carrier), Kyle Power (rear-tire changer), Kevin McDowell (rear-tire carrier), Rodney Fetters (jackman), Billy Manchester (gasman), Shane Wood (catch can) and Chris Elliott (windshield). The team’s crew chief is Greg Erwin and the pit crew coach is Andy Ward.

Biffle’s crew will collect $5,000 for the pit road win, raising its season Tissot earnings to $25,000. The team with the most Tissot Pit Road Precision Award wins at the completion of the 36-race Sprint Cup schedule will receive a $100,000 bonus plus Tissot watches for the crew and driver.

Tissot has been the official watch and timekeeper of NASCAR since 2006. The company is also the official timekeeper for a number of other sports, including the MotoGP World Championship, the Ice Hockey World Championship and the Cycling World Championship.

2009 Tissot Pit Road Precision Award Standings

Pos Team No. Pit Crew For Wins Prize Money

1 16 Greg Biffle 5 25,000

T2 24 Jeff Gordon 3 15,000

T2 48 Jimmie Johnson 3 15,000

4 14 Tony Stewart 2 10,000

T5 43 Reed Sorenson 1 5,000

T5 33 Clint Bowyer 1 5,000

T5 39 Ryan Newman 1 5,000

T5 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 1 5,000

T5 1 Martin Truex Jr. 1 5,000

T5 00 David Reutimann 1 5,000

T5 99 Carl Edwards 1 5,000

T5 42 Juan Pablo Montoya 1 5,000

T5 11 Denny Hamlin 1 5,000

T5 9 Kasey Kahne 1 5,000

T5 20 Joey Logano 1 5,000

2009 Tissot Pit Road Precision Award Winners

Daytona, 2/15 Reed Sorenson Team

Fontana, 2/22 Tony Stewart Team

Las Vegas, 3/1 Greg Biffle Team

Atlanta 3/8 Clint Bowyer Team

Bristol, 3/22 Jimmie Johnson Team

Martinsville, 3/29 Jeff Gordon Team

Fort Worth, 4/5 Jeff Gordon Team

Phoenix, 4/18 Ryan Newman Team

Talladega, 4/26 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Team

Richmond, 5/2 Jeff Gordon Team

Darlington, 5/9 Martin Truex Jr. Team

Charlotte, 5/25 David Reutimann Team

Dover, 5/31 Greg Biffle Team

Pocono, 6/7 Carl Edwards Team

Michigan, 6/14 Greg Biffle Team

Sonoma, 6/21 Juan Pablo Montoya Team

New Hampshire, 6/28 Jimmie Johnson Team

Daytona, 7/4 Tony Stewart Team

Chicagoland, 7/11 Denny Hamlin Team

Indianapolis, 7/26 Greg Biffle Team

Pocono, 8/3 Kasey Kahne Team

Watkins Glen, 8/10 Jimmie Johnson Team

Michigan, 8/16 Joe Logano Team

Bristol, 8/22 Greg Biffle Team

- DMF Communications for Tissot Pit Road Precision Award, Press Release

2009 NNS Matt Kenseth (Photo Credit: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images for NASCAR)

“At the end there, I thought we were probably good enough to run sixth or seventh, but just kept getting stuck behind people that were slower than me and couldn’t get around them,” said Kenseth. “So, overall it was a good night for us compared to what we’ve been doing. The last four weeks have been closer, a little more consistent.

“We didn’t run particularly well the entire race, but we ran a lot better than I thought we would. The double file restarts are just real hard here. If you get on the bottom or get behind somebody, it almost made it harder to pass here because everybody’s stuck side by side.”

Kenseth started the race fifth, based on one of the team’s strongest qualifying efforts of the season. He moved to second position on lap 17 and ran there until the team came down pit road under the race’s second caution on lap 64.

Eventually, Kenseth’s Ford Fusion began to lose grip, with the veteran falling back to 13th on lap 164. Still Kenseth would hold his No. 17 DEWALT car inside the field’s top 15 for virtually the entire race, with the team using a series of pit stops under caution to work with the car’s handling.

Kenseth advanced to as high as seventh position with only 33 laps remaining, but would lose position on a series of double file restarts
that preceded a plethora of late cautions. The race was actually red flagged for rain with just eight laps remaining after the 11th and final caution of the evening. Kenseth restarted in 10th with four laps remaining and was able to hold on to the top-10 position.

The finish was the team’s fifth consecutive finish of 14th or better, but Kenseth’s first top 10 in four races. Despite the solid run, Kenseth dropped one position to 12th in the Sprint Cup point standings; the final spot inside the Chase cutoff.

With just two races remaining in Atlanta and Richmond before the Chase cutoff, Kenseth leads 13th place Kyle Busch by only 34 points. In a tight points battle that sees just 69 points separate eighth and 14th positions, Kenseth trails 11th place Kasey Kahne by just 18 points and he’s only 41 points behind eighth.

“All we can do is run the best we can,” said Kenseth of the points race. “If we get it running better and finishing better we won’t have to worry about it. This was better, but we still have work to do. It’s 26 races from Daytona to Richmond and every race is important and you put forth your best effort every week.

“You do all you can do each week,” added Kenseth. “You get down to crunch time, and it’s that close, but you had a chance to gain or lose points for the last 23 weeks. So, you’ve just got to do the best you can every week, and where it ends up, it ends up.”

Kenseth and the series will take its last off weekend of the season next week before returning to action in two weeks at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Kenseth has posted finishes of 12th or better in his last six races at the 1.54-mile speedway, including four top-fives.

- Roush Fenway Racing, Press Release

NSCS No. 71 TaxSlayer.com/TRG Motorsports at Bristol

In qualifying Gilliland put in a fabulous lap, putting the No. 71 TaxSlayer.com Chevy 12th on the grid. This comes after finishing each of the two practices in the top ten.

The team ran a strong 60% of the race running as high as eighth. The team was performing great pit stops, helping Gilliland to makeup track position. The car was better on long runs and the team was poised for a strong finish. On lap 355, with no warning, a lower ball joint broke sending the 71 TaxSlayer.com Chevy into the wall and ending the team’s run early.

“I am really proud of all the guys at TRG Motorsports, they did a great job preparing this car and working on it all weekend,” Gilliland said. “We were fast from the minute we hit the race track on Friday. That is what you need to be competitive in this series and that is how our weekend started. Our TaxSlayer.com Chevy was running really well. We were never in danger of going a lap down. That is hard to do at Bristol. There were some great cars and teams laps down when we went out.”

“I think we broke something on the right front of the car. This is the hardest track on equipment. I had no warning, all at once it went. It is unfortunate. This whole weekend has been very positive for everyone at TRG Motorsports. We made some big strides as a team this weekend. We will rebound at Atlanta. We will have TaxSlayer.com on the car and it is one of my favorite tracks and we will be competitive there as well.”

Kevin Buckler, TRG Motorsports team principal, is proud of the way the team performed this weekend.

“This was almost a corner turned for TRG Motorsports this weekend,” Buckler said. “We ran competitively with some of the top teams in the sport and the guys worked their butts off all weekend and it showed. With top times in practice, a strong qualifying effort, competitive pit stops and a great race going, we were having a great weekend. David really delivered all weekend, driving smart and never missing a mark. Slugger (Labbe, crew chief) was brilliant on the setup and Mike (Brown, general manager and spotter) really earned his paycheck this weekend – it was nuts! The part failure is disappointing, but we are going away from Bristol with a great feeling for the future of this team. This was flat-out racing, no secret aero advantages or parts we can’t afford. We are going to surprise a lot of people before this season is over.”

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will take next weekend off and return to action Labor Day weekend, Sunday, September 6 for another night race.

TaxSlayer Pro’s computerized tax return system, which was introduced to professional tax practitioners in 1992, is the first chapter in the company’s story. The second was in 1998 when they used the basic technology from the professional package to develop their own individual version for online preparation and e-Filing. Growing out of an established firm with a solid reputation of over 30 years in the Tax Preparation business, TaxSlayer.com has the full expertise of a professional tax service behind every return. The TaxSlayer.com individual program is a fully featured online tax preparation step-by-step system that is designed for the individual taxpayer. This program provides all of the forms, calculations and communication links to allow you to prepare and e-File a tax return electronically with the IRS. Additional information can be found at www.taxslayer.com and www.taxslayerracing.com.

TRG Motorsports is based in Mooresville, North Carolina. Currently the team fields a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series entry as well as a limited Camping World Truck Series effort and an ARCA RE/MAX Series team. The Racer’s Group was founded in 1993 and has been competing at the top level of sports car racing. TRG’s Porsche sports car program is run out of the company’s headquarters in Petaluma, California. The team has the most wins of any team in the Grand-Am Rolex Series with 28, including the 2005 and 2006 Rolex Series GT championship trophy to go along with wins in the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona (three) and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The TRG Motorsports crew is comprised of Mike Brown, Jim Burns, Paul Clapprood, Dennis Croxell, Bobby Dell, Marc Hendricksen, Andy Pugh, Tim Rice, Jesse Sanders and Joe Zanolini.

TRG Motorsports would also like to thank Racehost.com for their support.

- TRG Motorsports, Press Release

Busch headed into Bristol on the outside looking in, sitting in 15th-position, 70 points out of 12th. Martin, on the other hand came to Bristol in the top-12, but not by much. He was actually on the bubble in the 12th-position.

In the final laps, it was Busch and Martin duking it out for the win. Busch would come out on top to celebrate in victory lane as Martin drove to a runner-up finish. - Full Story by Amanda Vincent – Louisville NASCAR Examiner

Regan Smith (credit: Cameras in Action)

The Furniture Row Racing driver started 28th and for a good portion of the Sharpie 500 he ran in the low 20s.

“It was kind of a mixed bag tonight,” said Smith. “We had some good green-flag runs, but when we slipped it was costly. When you fall two laps down it’s difficult to gain track position. A couple of more cautions at the right time would have made a big difference for us, but things just didn’t fall in our favor.”

The Bristol event was the 12th race of the season for the part-time No. 78 Furniture Row team, which has qualified in every race.

“We just don’t want to show up and finish a race, we want to finish with a strong performance,” stated Smith. “We’ve had some good results this year and plan on having more in our remaining races.”

While Smith wasn’t pleased with the 27th-place finish at the half-mile oval, he did add to his streak of never having a DNF (did not finish) in his Sprint Cup career. He has been running at the finish in 53 consecutive races.

The Bristol race winner was Kyle Busch. Rounding out the top five in order were: Mark Martin, Marcos Ambrose, Greg Biffle and Denny Hamlin.

The next race for Smith and the Denver-based Furniture Row team will be Sept. 5 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

- DMF Communications for Furniture Row Racing, Press Release

Paul Menard

After posting his fourth top-10 finish of the season in the Nationwide Series last night at Bristol Motor Speedway, Menard returned to the .533-mile speedway for Saturday night’s Sharpie 500. The team practiced twice on Friday afternoon and qualified 39th for the 500-lap shootout.

Pole winner Mark Martin led the 43-car field to the green flag before a sellout crowd of 160,000 fans at Bristol Motor Speedway. Menard, who started 39th, quickly radioed into crew chief Larry Carter that the car’s handling was really tight in the center of the corner.

With an early long green flag run, Menard was lapped on lap 46 by Martin. After going down a lap, the team used the caution on lap 63 as a chance to regroup and make adjustments to Menard’s Ford Fusion that would help him work his way better through traffic. During the pit stop, the No. 98 PEAK / Menards pit crew changed four tires, added two cans of fuel, and made both a rubber and track bar adjustment to their Ford Fusion.

During the next green flag run, Menard was caught by the leader, putting him two laps down. When the next caution flag flew, Carter told Menard to stay on the track, which would earn him one lap back as the remaining cars were waved around the pace car. Menard restarted in the 36th position as the field was shown the green flag once again.

With the next caution flag coming out on lap 164, Menard was able to come down pit road for another set of tires and adjustments. During the stop the team made both an air pressure and wedge adjustment to help with the handling of Menard’s Ford Fusion. Following the pit stop, Menard noted the changes were helping the car on the short run, but they were losing something in the longer runs.

Carter and the crew continued to make changes to the No. 98 PEAK / Menards Ford Fusion over the course of the night. And with the right changes, Menard began to move up the leaderboard.

For the fifth race weekend in a row, rain once again became a factor in the late stages of the evening. With only 30 laps remaining, rain showers moved over the track. A few crew chiefs and teams gambled that the rain would remain in the area, but lost this week. The racing resumed with a short run to the end. Through a good pit call at the end of the race to pit for tires, Menard was able to pick up a handful of positions late in the race to finish the night in the 24th position.

“I have to say that we made the right adjustments to our No. 98 PEAK / Menards Ford Fusion as the night went on,” said Menard following the race. “If we could have started the race a little bit better and not gone down those laps, I think we would have been in a lot better spot at the end of race. We made the right adjustments throughout the race to make our car work better for us, but should have finished better than what we ended up on the board.”

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will enjoy a weekend off next weekend, while Menard and his No. 98 Richmond / Menards team will travel to Canada for the Nationwide Series race on Sunday afternoon. ESPN2 television and MRN radio affiliates will carry the live Nationwide Series race broadcast beginning at 2:00 p.m. (EST).

NEXT UP:

Pep Boys Auto 500

Atlanta Motor Speedway (1.5-mile speedway)

Hampton, Ga.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

ABOUT MENARDS

Well-known as the place to “Save Big Money,” Menards is a family-owned home improvement retailer with 252 hometown hardware stores in 12 Midwestern states. Menards carries all the tools, materials and supplies for all your home improvement needs from just needing a light bulb to building a new house. Most Menards stores also carry name brand appliances, pet products, lawn and garden supplies and even groceries as your one-stop shopping experience. There is something for everyone at Menards from the beginning do-it-yourselfer to the experienced contractor. The company’s strength and success can be seen in the well-stocked and maintained stores, the lowest prices in town and the way guests are always treated like family.

For more information, visit www.menards.com or www.menardsracing.com

ABOUT YATES RACING

Yates Racing currently operates three motorsports teams in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Formerly known as Robert Yates Racing, the team is owned by Doug Yates, who took the reins after his father, Robert Yates, retired following the 2007 season. In 2008, Doug partnered with Max Jones; a former road racer and long-time race team championship General Manager. During Yates Racing’s 21-year tenure in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series, the organization has earned a total of 57 wins, 49 poles, 270 top-five finishes, 433 top-ten finishes, and a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship. In 2009, Hall of Fame Racing has teamed up with Yates Racing to field the No. 96 Ford Fusion in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Sponsorship opportunities are available; please contact Jon Sands with Yates Racing at 704-720-4621 or visit www.yatesracing.com.

- Yates Racing, Press Release

Bobby Labonte Ask.com 2009 NSCS

Pole winner Mark Martin led the 43-car field to the green flag and soon the .533-mile track resembled rush hour traffic in New York City. Labonte held his own though and made his way to 14th position by his first pit stop under caution on lap 65. Since Labonte reported that his Ford was handling “tight in the center”, crew chief Ben Leslie called for an air pressure adjustment to fix the handling issues. After the 96 crew bolted on four tires and filled Labonte’s Ford with fuel, he rejoined the race on lap 69 in 15th place.

Over the next run, the handling issues persisted and Labonte fell back to 17th place. On lap 135 the No. 96 Ask.com Ford was again on pit road, this time for four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment. Labonte restarted the race on lap 140 in 17th position.

Working to make up track position, Labonte hammered down on the restart, only to find opposition from the No. 11 car. The two raced hard for several laps and ultimately Labonte’s Ford was sent spinning on the frontstretch – The Ask.com Ford incurred enough damages to be taken behind the wall.

After some major body work to the No. 96, Labonte returned to the track on lap 200. He was several laps down to the leaders. For the remainder of the race Labonte held his own and took the checkers in 36th place, 39 laps down.

Kyle Busch held off Mark Martin for the win. Marcos Ambrose ran third, followed by Greg Biffle, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman. Kurt Busch came home seventh, followed by Jimmie Johnson. Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished ninth, and Matt Kenseth was 10th.

UPCOMING RACE:

Atlanta Motor Speedway

Sunday, Sept. 6, 2009

7:00 p.m. (EST) ESPN television and PRN radio

LABONTE’S MICHIGAN STATS:

Start: 20th
Finish: 36th
Laps: 461/500
Led: 0
Highest running position: Sixth
Lowest running position: 39th
Fastest Laps: One
Points: 55

LABONTE’S 2009 CUMULATIVE STATS:

Points: 2120
Rank: 30th
Top fives: One
Top 10s: One
Starts: 24
Poles: 0

- Yates Racing, Press Release

Ryan Newman (L) and crew chief Tony Gibson look over data - Cameras In Action

The strong finish in the U.S. Army/Haas Automation Chevrolet vaulted Newman from ninth to seventh place in the driver point standings. He is 84 points inside the Chase cut line with two races remaining before NASCAR’s championship playoff commences. (see driver standings below)

The pivotal point of the race for Newman and the No. 39 team was when crew chief Tony Gibson called for two tires while the majority of the teams took four following a caution for light rain on Lap 422 of 500. The decision paid off as Newman jumped nine positions — from 11th to second — when the race was restarted on Lap 432.

From that point on, Newman hung tough in the top 10. He was positioned in eighth place when the race was red-flagged on Lap 493 for a multicar accident. He went on to pick up two spots in the closing laps.

“Taking two tires was a good call by (crew chief) Tony Gibson,” stated Newman, who ran in the top-12 for the majority of the race. “We came out second, got some track position and made the best of it by finishing sixth. The U.S. Army/Haas Automation Chevrolet was pretty good and we managed to come away with a strong finish.”

“Ryan drove a great race and it was an awesome night for us,” said Gibson. “We gambled a little by taking two tires at the end thinking the rain was going to come. Then I got a little nervous when the rain didn’t come, but the U.S. Army Chevy ran great on two new tires. The pit crew really stepped up and did an outstanding job. We’re like our Soldiers — we fight hard every week no matter where we finish.”

Newman’s teammate, Tony Stewart, had radio issues and finished 33rd. He remains first in the point standings.

The race winner was Kyle Busch. Rounding out the top five in order were: Mark Martin, Marcos Ambrose, Greg Biffle and Denny Hamlin.

Saturday night’s 500 lapper topped of a history-making week for Newman, who became the first NASCAR driver to compete in four races in the same week at the same track.

The Bristol quadruple had a slow start for Newman, who was involved in an early accident in Wednesday night’s Modified race. He came back strong on the same night with a fourth-place finish in the Camping World Truck Series event. He also had a respectable run in Friday night’s Nationwide race, finishing 13th.

“It was a challenging schedule but also plenty of fun,” said Newman. “When you represent our Soldiers you know what it takes when it comes to preparation and mental toughness. I take a lot of pride wearing the Army uniform and every time I compete I want the Soldiers to know that we never give up and will always fight hard to complete the mission.”

Newman and the Army team will continue that fight at the next Sprint Cup race — Sept. 5 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

###

Current Driver Point Standings:

1. Tony Stewart, 3564 points

2. Jimmie Johnson, 3344

3. Jeff Gordon, 3310

4. Denny Hamlin, 3141

5. Carl Edwards, 3110

6. Kurt Busch, 3103

7. Ryan Newman, 2995

8. Greg Biffle, 2986

9. Juan Pablo Montoya, 2975

10. Mark Martin, 2971

11. Kasey Kahne, 2963

12. Matt Kenseth, 2945

______________________

Outside the Chase Cut Line

13. Kyle Busch, 2911

14. Brian Vickers, 2906

15. Clint Bowyer, 2833

Remaining Races Before the Chase:

Sept. 5 — Atlanta

Sept. 11 — Richmond

- DMF Communications for U.S. Army Racing, Press Release

Tony Stewart - (Photo Credit: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

With only one finish outside the top-25 this season and only five finishes outside the top-10 leading into Saturday night’s Sharpie 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, one could surmise that Tony Stewart was due for a bad race.

The Sharpie 500 was it, as Stewart finished a lowly 33rd, 11 laps down to race winner Kyle Busch.

The initial culprit was a rare radio communication problem, where Stewart couldn’t hear either crew chief Darian Grubb or spotter Bob Jeffrey and no one could hear Stewart. The driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet Impala SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) had to go “old school” to convey the handling characteristics of his racecar. If he put his hand on the A-pillar, the car was tight. If he put his hand on the door, the car was loose. How tight or how loose was Grubb’s best guess.

As the team tried to change out radios, harnesses and the assorted wiring whenever the caution flag waved, the seconds spent on pit road burned precious time on the track. Stewart restarted in 42nd on lap 15 after the first attempt to fix the radio, which was drawn out when the window net fell down just prior to the restart. Stewart was forced to return to the pits so that the window net could be hooked back up. Stewart lost a lap in the process, but got it back when he stayed out on the racetrack when another caution period began on lap 44.

But because Stewart couldn’t convey exactly what needed to be done to make the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevy better, he quickly fell into the clutches of race-leader Mark Martin, who put him back down a lap on lap 102.

In another attempt to fix the radio during a caution period on lap 137, Stewart was caught speeding off pit road. NASCAR penalized him a lap for the infraction, and just like that, Stewart was two laps down in 38th.

Finally, by lap 257, after a series of pit stops to cure the team’s radio issues, a familiar voice was heard in each crew member’s headset: “Tight in the center-third,” said Stewart.

Halfway through the 500-lap race, radio communication between driver and team was reestablished. Grubb quickly called for a track bar adjustment while the over-the-wall crew changed four tires and filled the fuel cell.

“We’ve been driving blind for 260 laps,” Stewart said. “We’ve overcome worse than this.”

And so with a little less than half of the Sharpie 500 left to run, Stewart set out to earn the best finish possible. Restarting in 33rd when racing resumed on lap 263, the No. 14 machine was the first car two laps down.

By lap 360, Stewart had climbed to 31st. He was still two laps down, along with Bobby Labonte, Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler. But after a round of pit stops during a caution on lap 357, Grubb radioed to Stewart that he could go the distance on fuel.

With nothing to lose and everything to gain, Stewart could stay out, get his laps back, and maybe, just maybe, salvage a decent finish.

But those plans were thwarted too. Not by radio malfunctions, but by an electrical problem that cut the engine off whenever it ran at a low rpm, specifically during caution periods. Stewart’s car stalled on the frontstretch on lap 441 and again in the pits on lap 457. Nine more laps were lost, leaving Stewart on a lap of his own in 33rd when the checkered flag mercifully dropped.

To a certain degree, the Sharpie 500 was a throwaway race for Stewart. The two-time Sprint Cup champion clinched a spot in the in the 12-driver Chase for the Championship by simply starting last weekend’s race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. His effort at Bristol, no matter how bad, would have no bearing on his Chase eligibility.

But a win would’ve earned Stewart 10 more bonus points to start the Chase, giving him a total of 40, as Stewart came into Bristol with 30 bonus points thanks to victories at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway in June, Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in July and Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International in August. Obviously, it wasn’t to be.

Busch, however, did scoop up those bonus points, putting him 10 points ahead of Stewart when the 10-race Chase begins Sept. 20 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, as Busch has four wins to Stewart’s three. But, Busch is also 34 points outside the top-12 with only two races remaining before the Chase field is set. If he’s not in the Chase, his bonus points are worthless.

“Well, I’m telling you, this was like an episode of the Twilight Zone,” said Stewart after completing his 22nd career Sprint Cup race at Bristol. “How it started was I switched my frequency on my radio over to Ryan’s (Newman) channel to wish them luck, which is not uncommon, but I couldn’t go back to my channel. Every channel I went to, it was still them. And then I switched to the second radio, which is our backup radio, and I hadn’t even touched it, and it was them. So the first 200 laps, I’m listening to Ryan and his spotter. That’s what I was hearing on the radio. The reason I stayed on that and didn’t unplug the radio was because at least if a caution came out I could hear his spotter calling the caution out.

“Then we had a short in the wiring harness to the ignition boxes and we thought it was the safety kill switch because the light came on and I guess it just shows if there is a short in the system somewhere. It was real sporadic and then all of a sudden it came on. Whatever it was wiggled itself loose enough that they finally just got one of the junctions in the ignition box back together.

“Nobody gave up or was yelling and screaming. I thought everybody handled it well. That’s the first fire drill we’ve had to go through during a race and I thought, considering, that everybody did a good job. I couldn’t do anything until I got back to the pit box and they did an awesome job of tearing through it and trying to figure out what it was.”

Newman, driver of the No. 39 Haas Automation/U.S. Army Chevrolet Impala SS for SHR, finished sixth to score his tenth top-10 finish of the season and his second consecutive top-10 at Bristol.

Stewart remains atop the championship point standings, but his lead shrank to 220 points over second-place Jimmie Johnson. Newman, meanwhile, gained two spots to climb to seventh in the standings. He’s now 569 points out of first and 84 points ahead of 13th-place Busch.

Busch did all he could to crack the top-12 by leading the final 68 laps of the Sharpie 500 and beating Martin across the stripe by .098 of a second. It was Busch’s 16th career Sprint Cup victory, his fourth of the season and his third at Bristol.

Finishing third behind Martin was Australian Marcos Ambrose, while Greg Biffle and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-five. Newman, Kurt Busch, Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Matt Kenseth comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were 11 caution periods for 76 laps, with seven drivers failing to finish the 266.5-mile race.

The Sprint Cup Series takes a rare weekend off before returning to action Sept. 6 with the Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The race begins at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by ESPN beginning with its pre-race show at 7 p.m.

- True Speed Communication for Stewart-Haas Racing/Old Spice Racing/Office Depot Racing, Press Release

Kyle Busch held off Mark Martin in a tight battle in the closing laps to win Saturday night’s Sharpie 500 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. Busch scored his fourth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory this season and gave Raybestos® brand Brakes, a member of the Affinia Group family of brands, their sixth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win in 2009.

But to earn the trip to victory lane, Busch raced hard with series veteran Mark Martin. The race went green for the final time on lap 496 of the 500-lap event with Busch leading Martin. Despite getting a fender alongside Busch with two laps to go, Martin could not pull off the pass. Busch won, officially edging Martin by just .098 seconds (approximately one car length).

“Man, what an honorable racecar driver Mark Martin is,” Busch said after the race. “It’s such an honor to race with him and to give him the room that he needed for him to give me the room that I needed was awesome. I can’t thank him enough. He didn’t let me win the race but he certainly didn’t take it from us. Tonight we had what mattered most when it mattered most and we were able to get the victory tonight.”

One thing the team didn’t have any issues with: brakes. At least one car at Bristol on Saturday night had brake problems but that wasn’t the case for the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota.

“They performed great here at Bristol,” Busch’s crew chief, Steve Addington, said. “We’re really getting more comfortable with the Raybestos® stuff. We’ve learned a lot going to that and how it can make us better race teams. We found a balance in pad compounds, master cylinder sizes and stuff for the new calipers. It was just a better brake, more aggressive so we decided to find out where we were and get our balance right.

“This place, you have a loose entry getting in the corners here so people crank a lot of front brake in their cars and they carry it down to the center of the corner to keep the back of the car from getting out from under ‘em. That puts a lot of heat in the front rotors and front pads and stuff so you’ve got to have a great system to hold up all night long and run as fast as we did tonight with the 5 and the 48 and to beat ‘em, my hat is off to Raybestos® and the brakes.”

Busch is 13th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship standings, 34 points behind 12th-place Matt Kenseth and a spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

The average speed of the race was 84.820 mph and the official time of the event was 3 hours, eight minutes and 31 seconds. There were 12 lead changes among five drivers and 11 cautions slowed the pace for 76 laps.

To gain a competitive advantage at Bristol, the Joe Gibbs cars used 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 $2 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, Press Release

Team Chevy - GM Racing

With 24 of the 36 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) in the record books, Chevrolet continues to lead the 2009 Manufacturers’ Cup standings. Team Chevy continues to have six drivers in the Chase standings.

A total of four Team Chevy drivers captured top-10 finishes in the 500-lap/266.5-mile race. Ryan Newman, No. 39 US Army Impala SS, finished sixth in tonight’s race and jumped two positions in the standings to seventh place.

Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Impala SS, looked to be heading for his first victory at Bristol when an issue with the right rear during a pit stop forced the three-time and defending champion to return to pit road dropping from the lead to 21st position. He rallied back to finish eighth and sits second in the standings.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No.88 AMP Sugar Free/National Guard Impala SS, finished in ninth place.

Points leader and two-time NSCS champion Tony Stewart, No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Impala SS, persevered through radio issues and electrical problems to finish 33rd tonight. He remains on top of the points order with a margin of 220 points.

Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Impala SS, also had an uncharacteristically issue-plagued race and took the checkered flag in 23rd position. He is third in the point standings.

Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Target Impala SS, ran strongly in the top-10 until a late race flat tire relegated him to the 25th finishing position. Montoya dropped two positions in the standings to ninth.

Kyle Busch (Toyota) won the race. Marcos Ambrose (Toyota), Greg Biffle (Ford) and Denny Hamlin (Toyota) completed the top-five finishers.

After the final “off” weekend of the season, the Series picks up again on September 6, 2009 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 POP TARTS/CARQUEST IMPALA SS – Finished 2nd
POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:

KERRY THARP: We’ll roll into our post race here for the Sharpie 500. Tonight’s race runner up, his one thousandth career NASCAR National Series start, Mark Martin, driver of the No. 5 Kellogg’s Carquest Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.

You certainly had a very strong car tonight. You led a lot of laps. Moved up a couple spots in the standings. Your thoughts about how tonight’s race unfolded.

MARK MARTIN: Well, you know, I’d first like to say that it was incredible what the fans did here tonight. In my opinion, a thousand starts ain’t no big deal. But what they did made me cry. It’s pretty cool. Almost get emotional thinking about it again.
I love this sport as much as they do. I’m so grateful to have a chance to do what I did tonight, which is drive a really fast racecar and finish where it was running. We’ve had so much trouble this year, not finishing like we ran. It was cool.
Yeah, we ran second, but I bet we had the fans on their feet those last few laps. You know, that’s cool.

KERRY THARP: We’ll start with questions.

Q. Mark, your philosophy on last laps. Quite clear you were not going to make contact. How do you not go back and wonder about all the races you could have won had you used your bumper?

MARK MARTIN: If you watched that race real close, I didn’t need to use the bumper. Kyle gave me all the room in the world to make that pass, and I didn’t make it. That’s one thing.
If somebody abused me enough to really, really irritate me, I might use that bumper. But Kyle gave me all the room in the world. It’s a good thing because I was over my head when I went in that corner and I got loose. If he’d have been crowding me, we both would have went up to the wall. I’m really grateful for that.
He raced me like a good sport. When he’s behind me, I will be comfortable that he will race me the same way that I raced him. I can’t say how he might race someone else on the racetrack because they may have different history. But I feel really, really good at night when I go to bed. I have managed to win a race or two, and none of ‘em did I have to pull something dirty.

Q. Mark, on the restarts, the race leader can get on the gas well before the start/finish line. You’re second. How much of a disadvantage is it that you can’t pass him before you get to the start/finish line?

MARK MARTIN: Well, the double file restart, I mean, you can’t start picking that apart. No, I wasn’t in the best line the whole second half of the race. I was always on the inside. So that was a disadvantage. Probably not as big a disadvantage as single file and lining up behind the leader. Maybe it was because there was one instance where I lost second place, you know, because I was on the inside. But that’s the breaks.
We raced really hard. Anybody that thinks that I was soft out there on the racetrack tonight wasn’t watching. I raced my guts out. And my team gave me an incredible car. We made a race out of it.

Q. Mark, not only did you get out of here unscathed, you nearly won the thing. You gained 48 points in the big picture tonight. What is that sense of relief tonight?

MARK MARTIN: It’s not enough. But it’s much better than last week (laughter). I really, really would be a lot more comfortable with 150. And we had that leaving Indy. Everything turned upside down. We will be fine if we finish how we run, absolutely.
But, you know, I don’t have the greatest of confidence that, you know, the things we can’t control are going to be kind to us because we haven’t had an average year for those things. It hasn’t been average.
Anyway, I’m sure that we’ll run really good at Atlanta and I’m sure we’ll run really good at Richmond. You know, if it comes down to just flat out racing, and not a bunch of, you know, cautions and crashes and flat tires, people stay out, all that mess, rain comes, all that stuff that’s happened to us this year, if we can just go out and race for it, it’s going to be great.
I had a good time tonight. I had a really great racecar. I felt that that was a great battle right there at the end with Kyle. He didn’t even attempt to pinch me, crowd me or anything else. He gave me more than enough racing room to pull it off, and I just couldn’t get it done on the bottom that quick. We weren’t that much better. We were just pretty equal. I got a good handful of wheel and managed to get beside him and get the fans on their feet.

Q. When you see Kyle Busch, looking at his record here, running third, what goes through your mind in terms of wondering what is he going to do, how is he going to do it?

MARK MARTIN: You know, all those guys out there are incredibly talented racecar drivers. Kyle’s driving personality isn’t that different than a number of others that I was racing with. We’re racing, going for it, you know. I expect Kyle to race me hard. I expect him to race me clean. And he has. He can expect the same from me.

Q. Mark, why do you think the fans here loved you so much and hated Kyle so much? What was it like toward that end with those two things colliding?

MARK MARTIN: You know about Kyle. You don’t need me to say anything about that. He has won a lot of races. I’ll tell you, anybody that wins a whole lot gets booed. Jeff Gordon never did anything, in my opinion, to get booed. And he got booed a lot because he won a lot. That’s part of the sport. Kyle’s incredibly talented and he’s won a lot. That’s part of it.
The other part is he’s kind of antagonized his detractors, as well, which doesn’t help any either. I don’t know why they were so kind to me tonight. Maybe they realize that the reason that I’ve been around for a thousand races is because I love it as much as they do.

Q. (No microphone.)
MARK MARTIN: I didn’t catch that completely. When you guys watch that race, you don’t know how over my head I am to be there. You know, if it was so easy, I would have passed him. But I was over my head just being there.
Just like Marcos (Ambrose) said, Dick Trickle told me in 1977, in order to finish first, first you must finish. And I almost didn’t finish. I was so close to losing control of my car when I got on the inside of him. Y’all can’t see that.
I guess you have a hard time grasping that if I could have, I would have passed him, but I couldn’t. And I was also so out of control that if we’d have touched, I would have wrecked, too, because I didn’t have control of my car. If I thought, Well, I’ll just go up there and rub him out, well, I’d have wrecked.
I was already just about to wreck. You guys can’t see that. But, man, I was right here. I was just about gone. And so was Kyle. I mean, he’s doing everything he could.
So, man, I’m sorry, Dustin, that I didn’t win, but I tried hard (smiling). I tried really hard. And I know it’s points. And it’s a trophy. And it’s everything else. It’s a win. But that’s all I had in that little 16 seconds that I had. If you’d have gave me 20 laps, I might have, could have got it done. In that 16 second span that I had to get it done, that was all I had.

Q. Mark, when you’re out on the track, as a driver, is being in a really fast car going door to door with somebody who is equally as talented as you are, win, lose or draw for the last 20 laps, is that pretty much as much fun as you can have as a driver?

MARK MARTIN: It’s a lot more fun than not going door to door and not being able to see anybody out there. Even though you have to take second sometimes, that grind and that grit, that push and that challenge, you know, is way more rewarding than running away easy.
You got to get your wins. And I’ve had enough. I like those run aways, easy ones, too, because I like to pile ‘em up. But definitely a very gratifying race. I’m not disappointed that we ran second and I’m proud that we had the fans on their feet. And we’ll get ours. We have already this year. And we’ll get ‘em again.

Q. When you’re out there on the track, doing it, is it as much fun as when you were 18 or 20 on a dirt track, kind of going balls out?

MARK MARTIN: To be real honest with you, what I was explaining to Dustin, it’s really only fun when you look back. At the time I don’t know what Marcos would say, but it wasn’t fun to me. It was really, really, really hard, you know. I have drove a racecar before and laughed, was laughing. I wasn’t having any laughs out there. There was some serious business going on there, and I thought I was going to do something stupid and spin out and mess this up again.
So it’s so hard at the time that I don’t think you realize the fun in it as much as now that it’s over with, yeah, that was fun and, yeah, it was really cool. I’m sure the fans were on their feet. That’s cool.

Q. Was it so much fun that it made you wonder if you could have had five more laps, might have been different?

MARK MARTIN: Well, it might have been different with five more laps. But we didn’t have ‘em. You know, we could have had a flat tire if there had been five more laps. I’m glad the thing’s over with really, to be honest with you. We’ve had so much trouble this year, I really did want to make the pass. When I got completely beside him, I thought, This is going to be tough on the inside, but I’m completely beside him. Only problem was, my car was out of control, you know, for an instant there. It wasn’t like I could mash the gas and accelerate and start finalizing the pass there. I got in there over my head (laughter).
I’ll take it. It was a great race. It’s not like we haven’t won one this year. We might win some more if we keep running like that. We really gave it our all.

Q. You don’t know what it’s like up here when there’s 10 laps to go and there’s five minutes to get the story in, and we ask these stupid ass questions because we don’t know what happened because we’re doing five things at once. We have to ask you that so can you let us know how hard it was.

MARK MARTIN: Yeah, well that’s cool (laughter). Thank you. It means a lot. Boy, I’m not sure that you guys realized how hard I was really trying. For a brief moment, Marcos was sitting pretty to win the race there. I don’t know what it looked like to you, but I knew I was in trouble there for a second.

KERRY THARP: Congratulations. Put on a great show for us tonight. Thank you.

MARK MARTIN: Thank you.

FastScripts by ASAP Sports

About General Motors: General Motors Company, one of the world’s largest automakers, traces its roots back to 1908. With its global headquarters in Detroit, GM employs 235,000 people in every major region of the world and does business in some 140 countries. GM and its strategic partners produce cars and trucks in 34 countries, and sell and service these vehicles through the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, Opel, Vauxhall and Wuling. GM’s largest national market is the United States, followed by China, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Canada, Russia and Germany. GM’s OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services. General Motors Company acquired operations from General Motors Corporation on July 10, 2009, and references to prior periods in this and other press materials refer to operations of the old General Motors Corporation. More information on the new General Motors Company can be found at www.gm.com.

- GM Racing Communications, Press Release

Team Chevy - GM Racing

IS THAT WHAT HAPPENS AT BRISTOL? “It is when you’re running in the middle of the pack.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED? “Yeah I just got in the back of the No. 33 there and just tried to check up to let him gather it up. Normally in that situation you don’t check up like that but I wanted to make sure he gathered it up and just got myself wrecked.”

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 TARGET IMPALA SS, FINISHED 25TH: “I had a great car all day. It is really too bad that I got a flat late in the race. Brian and everyone that works on the Target Chevrolet did an amazing job. It is not the finish we wanted but I think we are still ninth and just need to bounce back in Atlanta.”

MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 POP-TARTS/CARQUEST IMPALA SS, FINISHED 2ND: IT WAS A LOT OF FUN TO WATCH, HOW WAS IT INSIDE THE CAR? “That was pretty exciting. I want to thank all the fans again for being so great tonight. Thank you guys. You brought a tear to my eye. What can I say? Kyle (Busch) gave me room and I didn’t get the pass. We were both racing hard for it. That inside was tough and I took my shot at it. I just about slid up into him and wiped us both out. He gave me plenty of room there. He didn’t crowd me at all and I needed the room because I slipped the back end and I did everything I could. I wanted to get him but just couldn’t pull it off.”

YOU TALKED ABOUT YOU AND ALAN (GUSTAFSON) GETTING TOGETHER AND TALKING ABOUT PUTTING MICHIGAN BEHIND YOU AND MOVING FORWARD, YOU DID THAT TONIGHT VERY NICELY. “It was a good run. I’m really glad that we finished like we ran tonight. There were so many times this year that we haven’t done that and I’m proud to drive this guy’s car. Alan and all these guys, they are just fantastic. I’m having the time of my life and it’s a real special night even though we ran second.

“I wanted to get him, but there wasn’t any use in, you know; we were racing hard for it. I got in under him. He gave me plenty of room and it was a good thing because I got sideways and slid right up and it was a good thing that he didn’t crowd me or we’d have both wrecked. I tried to get him. But I’m real proud of Pop Tarts and CARQUEST and everybody. I’d like to have won it, but we finally got a decent finish with a great race car and no matter how this thing falls, I’m proud of this race team. I’m proud to drive their car and I’m having the time of my life.”

THIS IS BRISTOL. YOU COULD HAVE USED THE BUMPER, WHY DIDN’T YOU?
“I don’t he (Kyle Busch) would have (used it) on me. He gave me room. I just didn’t get it done. He gave me room to pass him and I couldn’t do it.”

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 AMP SUGAR FREE/NATIONAL GUARD IMPALA SS, FINISHED 9TH: HOW DID YOU GUYS SLIP BACK THERE AT THE END? “Well that last run there we were real tight. I needed long runs. My car wasn’t good at the restarts and those guys behind us I think had a little bit better tires than we did. I’m real happy. We were running real good. It’s a shame we had all them cautions. I think Mark (Martin) could have won the race and we could have probably finished a little bit better. All them cautions just stacked everybody up and we didn’t have a good car on the restarts. It’s just a shame. We worked hard though.”

ANOTHER GOOD POSITIVE WEEKEND FOR YOU AND THE NO. 88 TEAM. “Yeah it was a good finish for us. The car was working good in practice and when the race started we had some work to do. We made it better. I’m real proud of my team. My guys worked really hard. They had some awesome pit stops and we just had a pretty decent car. We just didn’t have what we needed there at the end and the cautions fell a little too often for me.

RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 U.S. ARMY CHEVROLET IMPALA SS, FINISHED 6TH: “We struggled at the start of the race then made the car better, but we lost track position. Taking two tires (Lap 423) was a good call by (crew chief) Tony Gibson. We came out second and got some track position and made the best of it by finishing sixth. We were running 11th when we took two tires. Again, a good call — it was a pretty good car the U.S. Army Chevrolet. I am looking forward to the off weekend. “I am looking forward to a little time off. Enjoy the outdoors a little bit and spend some time with the dogs and the Wife.”

WAS THE FOUR RACES THIS WEEK A PHYSICAL STRAIN ON YOU? “I haven’t felt the greatest for the last week and a half of so, lack of energy. I was a little down all week; it didn’t hurt me at all. I am fine. I could do a couple hundred laps more.”

JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 CATERPILLAR IMPALA SS, FINISHED 18TH: “Man, our Caterpillar Chevy was fast all night. We got trapped behind some cars early in the race and then we were low on power at times. I think we had a wire loose that caused us to not run on all eight cylinders at various times during the race. As a result, we ended up a couple of laps down but this CAT Racing team fought back and were able to get a decent finish.”

CASEY MEARS, NO. 07 JACK DANIEL’S CHEVROLET, FINISHED 13TH: “We got run into there, real early and crunched up our left fender. That kind of hurt us on how our Jack Daniel’s Toast to the Troops Chevy turned for awhile. We tried making air pressure, track bar and chassis adjustments to get it better when we made it to pit road each time. We were tight early in a run and then good in the middle, but couldn’t get it just right for a whole run. The crew was great on pit road after we got run into from behind, then hit in the right front during that one wreck in turn 1. This is a good finish, but we want better – we’re getting there.”

CLINT BOWYER, NO. 33 CHEERIOS IMPALA SS – Finished 21st: “We had a good run going in our Hamburger Helper Chevrolet but got hit from behind and that took us out of contention. I’m not really sure what happened but it’s pretty unfortunate. We’re not out of this thing yet (running for the Chase). We’ll keep fighting over these last two races.”

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT IMPALA SS, FINISHED 23RD: TOUGH NIGHT OUT THERE. “Yeah, we were making ground and moving forward. Maybe one too many adjustments I don’t know. We just had one pit stop where we made some adjustments and the car got extremely loose. We lost a couple of laps and fought from there to get back where we ended up.”

IT WAS A TOUGH NIGHT OUT THERE FOR YOU. “Yeah we were making ground. Real proud of everything. We weren’t the best car but we were going forward and got inside the top-10. I don’t know one adjustment maybe too many. We just got real, real loose. It wasn’t a big adjustment. It was just ridiculously loose and we just hung on until the caution came out. Fought back from that point on, and after that we were okay. We were never great. I don’t know it felt like something was wrong with the car after that. It just never was the same. It was really good the first third of the race.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S IMPALA SS, FINISHED 8TH: TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR NIGHT. “Fastest car out there. We should be in victory lane. It’s just a bummer we had something on pit road screw us up. Just really disappointed.”

TONY STEWART, NO. 14 OFFICE DEPOT/OLD SPICE IMPALA SS, FINISHED 33RD:
HOW DO YOU FEEL THE TEAM HANDLED THE ADVERSITY YOU FACED TONIGHT?
“Well, I’m telling you, this was like an episode of the Twilight Zone. How it started was I switched my frequency on my radio over to Ryan’s (Newman) channel to wish them luck, which is not uncommon. I didn’t go back to my channel. Every channel I went to it was still them. And then I switched to the second radio, which is our backup radio, and I hadn’t even touched it, and it was them. It was like an episode of the Twilight Zone. So the first 240 laps, well for the first 200 laps, I’m listening to Ryan and his dad, his spotter. That’s what I was hearing on the radio. Again, the reason I stayed on that and didn’t unplug the radio was because at least if a caution comes out I can hear his spotter calling the caution out. We had a short in the wiring harness to the ignition boxes and we thought it was the safety kill switch because the light came on and I guess it just shows if there is a short in the system somewhere. It was real sporadic and then all of a sudden it came on. Whatever it was wiggled itself loose enough that they finally just got one of the junctions in the ignition box back together. Nobody gave up or was yelling and screaming. I mean I thought everybody handled it well. That’s the first fire drill we’ve had to go through during a race and I thought, considering, that everybody did a good job. I couldn’t do anything until I got back to the pit box and they did an awesome job of tearing through it and trying to figure out what it was.”

WHILE YOU WERE SWITCHING OUT HELMETS AND ALL THAT STUFF, WERE YOU EVEN ABLE TO PAY ATTENTION TO HOW GOOD OR BAD YOUR CAR WAS?
“Darian (Grubb, crew chief) called on the radio and they thought I could hear him the whole time, which I couldn’t'; I couldn’t hear him at all, and he ended up tightening the car up when I was asking for it to be freer. So we’ve just got to work on that system and get it down pat a little better.”

WHEN YOUR CAR NEEDED A PUSH, WHAT WAS THAT?
“That was the ignition. We finally lost the connection there, so I had no ignition box.”

About General Motors: General Motors Company, one of the world’s largest automakers, traces its roots back to 1908. With its global headquarters in Detroit, GM employs 235,000 people in every major region of the world and does business in some 140 countries. GM and its strategic partners produce cars and trucks in 34 countries, and sell and service these vehicles through the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, Opel, Vauxhall and Wuling. GM’s largest national market is the United States, followed by China, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Canada, Russia and Germany. GM’s OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services. General Motors Company acquired operations from General Motors Corporation on July 10, 2009, and references to prior periods in this and other press materials refer to operations of the old General Motors Corporation. More information on the new General Motors Company can be found at www.gm.com.

- GM Racing Communications, Press Release

LapLeader- WIX Filters

WIX FILTERS LAP LEADER NOTES FOR THE SHARPIE 500 NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES RACE AT BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY, AUGUST 22, 2009.

· Kyle Busch led once for 68 laps to earn WIX Filters Lap Leader of the Race honors in tonight’s Sharpie 500. Busch has led 13 times in 13 races for 892 total laps.

· Busch and Tony Stewart are now tied for the lead (6-6) in the overall WIX Filters Lap Leader standings.

· Busch won tonight’s race, edging Mark Martin by .098 seconds. The victory is his fourth victory and sixth top-five finish of the season. He won for the third time in 10 starts at Bristol and swept both races here this season.

· UNOFFICIALLY Busch is 13th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship standings, 34 points behind 12th-place Matt Kenseth and five ahead of 14th-place Brian Vickers.

WIX FILTERS LAP LEADER AWARD STANDINGS

Tony Stewart 6

Kyle Busch 6

Denny Hamlin 3

David Reutimann 3

Kasey Kahne 2

Jeff Burton 1

Ryan Newman 1

Martin Truex Jr. 1

Juan Pablo Montoya 1

· BUSCH QUOTES: “The whole M&M’s team did a phenomenal job this weekend. They really worked hard. We tried making the car better in practice and made a lot of changes to it and everything and again the guys made some smart calls there during the race. We worked on it all night. We never gave up on it. We never had the best car I didn’t feel like. We just kept plugging away at making some adjustments trying to make the car faster, trying to make it better in the short run, better in the long run where it was capable enough of keeping up with the 5 [Mark Martin] in general, man. I mean, that thing was just flawless tonight. That thing was so fast. We did what we needed to do. We got track position when it mattered most there on the last stop. Got by the 55 and the 39 when it mattered. I wish we could have set sail from there but we had some cautions there last and the red flag and everything. It really setup a tight battle between myself and Mark Martin, who was the best car all night. Man, what an honorable racecar driver Mark Martin is. Such an honor to race with him and to give him the room that he needed for him to give me the room that I needed was awesome. I can’t thank him enough. He didn’t let me win the race but he certainly didn’t take it from us. Tonight we had what mattered most when it mattered most and we were able to get the victory tonight.”

WHAT IS IT LIKE RACING AS THE VILLAIN ESPECIALLY AT A PLACE WHERE IT SEEMS EVERYONE WANTED MARK MARINT TO WIN THIS RACE? “Really, it’s no different if I was the hero or the villain. I just love to race. That’s solely what I’m built to do, be a racecar driver. I mean, I don’t think I could make it as a basketball player or soccer player because I’d certainly run out of breath in a hurry. But a racecar driver seemed to be what my DNA gave me talent to do. I love it here. I love being able to race for Joe Gibbs Racing for all the people that help support what we do and our program and it’s a blast, man. I love the fans. And this is what’s so cool about this sport is we come here tonight and we fill this place with 160,000 people. You go to an NFL game on Sundays and you might see 40,000 people at a big game. Even the Super Bowl I think it only sells close to a hundred. That’s still not here and we can do it every week.”

WIX FILTERS LAP LEADER AWARD WINNERS BY RACE

EVENT DRIVER
Daytona 500 Kyle Busch, 88 laps

Auto Club 500 Tony Stewart, three laps

Shelby 427 Jeff Burton, 61 laps

Kobalt Tools 500 Ryan Newman, three laps

Food City 500 Kyle Busch, 378 laps

Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 Denny Hamlin, 296 laps

Samsung 500 David Reutimann, 40 laps

Subway Fresh Fit 500 Tony Stewart, 19 laps

Aaron’s 499 Kyle Busch, 42 laps

Crown Royal 400 Denny Hamlin, 148 laps

Southern 500 Martin Truex Jr., 61 laps

Coca-Cola 600 Kyle Busch, 173 laps

Autism Speaks 400 David Reutimann, 25 laps

Pocono 500 Tony Stewart, 39 laps

LifeLock 400 Kyle Busch, nine laps

Toyota/Save Mart 350 Kasey Kahne, 37 laps

LENOX Industrial Tools 301 Tony Stewart, 40 laps

Coke Zero 400 Tony Stewart, 86 laps

LifeLock.com 400 Kasey Kahne, two laps

Allstate 400 at The Brickyard Juan Pablo Montoya, 116 laps

Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 Denny Hamlin, 91 laps

Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen Tony Stewart, 34 laps

CARFAX 400 David Reutimann, four laps

Sharpie 500 Kyle Busch, 68 laps

Since 1939, WIX® Filters, a member of the Affinia Group family of brands, has been an innovator in filtration products. WIX designs, manufactures and distributes products for automotive, diesel, agricultural, industrial and specialty filter markets. Its product line includes oil, air, cabin interior, fuel, coolant, transmission and hydraulic filters for automobiles, trucks and off-road equipment. WIX, a member of the Affinia family of brands, is the number one filter in NASCAR and an exclusive NASCAR Performance Product. Its NASCAR relationship also includes the WIX Filters Lap Leader Award, which recognizes the drivers leading the most laps in each race. For more information, visit www.wixfilters.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 $2 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 WIX Filters, Press Release

Dodge Motorsports

KURT BUSCH (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger) Finished 7th

“I thought we had a car that could win. We managed to finish seventh with it due to some loose lug nuts. It was a good top-five car. It was good to run that well with the COT; we haven’t done that since we started using that car at Bristol.

TO HIS CREW OVER THE RADIO: “I’ll never give up on you guys. I’m sorry I yelled at you. I love you guys. I just get fired up. We live together, we die together.”

PAT TRYSON (Crew Chief, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger)

“The Miller Lite Dodge was good all night. We just had a little problem on pit road and then had a problem there when we got collected in that wreck which put us behind. Kurt did an awesome job getting us back up there and got us some of the positions that we lost.

“It was a good comeback. Kurt did an awesome job. It’s just a shame it happened (loose lug nut). It’s all part of the game. You don’t always have a perfect night. We salvaged a good finish out of it. We had a good car; that was the biggest thing…a big improvement over the spring.”

REED SORENSON (No. 43 Valvoline Dodge Charger) Finished 19th

“That was a decent run for us tonight. We had a problem in the pits early in the race that cost us a lot of spots. But Sammy Johns and the guys on the 43 worked hard all night. We lost a lap, but nobody gave up and we got it back. There’s a lot of build on from this race.”

DAVID STREMME (No. 12 Penske Racing Dodge Charger) Finished 20th

“We had a pretty good car. A top 20, so a pretty good night. We got behind that one run, came back and got the lucky dog and finished 20th.

KASEY KAHNE (No. 9 Budweiser Dodge Charger) Finished 28th

“Not much that I can say other than what a frustrating night for the Budweiser Dodge. We started toward the back and we were never able to get up front. We just missed it tonight.”

ELLIOTT SADLER (No. 19 Stanley Tools Dodge Charger) Finished 35th

“We had a long way to go when we started this race. We climbed to about 25th and things were looking pretty good. We even got the lucky dog. But we hurt the front end of our car trying to avoid somebody else’s mess and really hurt our chances for a good finish tonight.”

AJ ALLMENDINGER (No. 44 Hunt Brothers Pizza Dodge Charger) Finished 37th

“Man that was disappointing. We ran to the front pretty strong and I was just taking my time. We were in no hurry and then we have those brake problems. That really hurt. I thought we were going to have a great finish. Our lap times were pretty good even after we returned to the track.”

- Darnell Communications for Dodge Motorsports, Press Release