Tuesday

WIX Filters Becomes Official Filter of Stewart-Haas Racing

Filed under Press Releases, Sprint Cup Series

Partnership Kicks Off with Ryan Newman Driving the No. 39 WIX Filters Chevrolet in Feb. 12 Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway

WIX Filters to Reappear with Newman as Primary Sponsor on the No. 39 Chevrolet in
Aug. 21 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race at Michigan International Speedway

KANNAPOLIS, N.C., (Jan. 18, 2011) – WIX Filters, a member of the Affinia Group family of brands, has joined Stewart-Haas Racing as the team’s official filter. The two-car NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team will use WIX Filters in Tony Stewart’s No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet Impala and Ryan Newman’s No. 39 U.S. Army/Tornados/Haas Automation Chevrolet Impala.

To kick off the partnership, WIX Filters will be the primary sponsor of Newman and the No. 39 team in the Feb. 12 Budweiser Shootout at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. The invitation-only event marks the start of the 2011 NASCAR season, and Newman earned his way into the non-points race by virtue of his 2008 Daytona 500 victory.

“Winning the 50^th running of the Daytona 500 is my greatest achievement so far in NASCAR,” said Newman, the only college graduate driving full-time in the Sprint Cup Series, as he holds a vehicle structure engineering degree from Purdue University. “The opportunity to run the Shootout gives us more knowledge to make another run at a Daytona 500 victory. Having WIX Filters join us as a technical partner at Stewart-Haas Racing provides an immediate advantage, so it makes sense to start the season with them on board our No. 39 Chevy.”

WIX Filters will rejoin Newman and the No. 39 team as primary sponsor for the Aug. 21 Sprint Cup race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, where Newman is a two-time Sprint Cup race victor and a one-time pole winner.

When not serving as a primary sponsor, WIX Filters will have brand identification beneath the hoods of both Stewart-Haas Racing entries and on the sleeve of Newman’s uniform.

“With Stewart-Haas Racing, we have an excellent partner to help promote our brand, 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,” said Jeff Blocher, brand manager for WIX Filters. “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.”

“WIX Filters’ involvement with Stewart-Haas Racing is more than skin-deep,” said Bobby Hutchens, the director of competition for Stewart-Haas Racing who holds a mechanical engineering degree from North Carolina State University. “We use WIX Filters to help maintain our edge. Advantages in this sport are measured in thousandths of a second, and a lot can be gained by having the best filters on our racecars. Efficiency equals horsepower, and you can never have enough horsepower.”

About WIX Filters:

Since 1939, WIX Filters has been an innovator in filtration products. A member of the Affinia family of brands, 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. 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/Mobil 1 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