Fontana, CA — February 22, 2010

Raybestos® Brand Brakes NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rundown:

Jimmie Johnson held off Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton to win the Auto Club 500 Sunday afternoon at Auto Club (Fontana, Calif.) Speedway.  Johnson claimed his 48th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory after leading a race-high 101 of 250 laps.  His victory ties him with Herb Thomas for 12th on the all-time win list.  Johnson scored his fifth victory and 11th top-10 in 15 races at Auto Club Speedway and has led at least one lap in seven consecutive races at the 2.0-mile speedway.  The turning point of the race came on lap 224.  As Johnson’s car sat on pit road for a scheduled four-tire pit stop, the sixth and final caution waved for Brad Keselowski’s spin off Turn 4.  The No. 48 team quickly completed their service and Johnson returned to the track ahead of race leader Jeff Burton.  Johnson cycled into the lead on lap 227 as the other lead lap cars pitted for fuel and tires and he never again gave up the top spot.

There were 26 lead changes among 13 drivers in a race that took 3 hours, 31 minutes and 24 seconds to complete.  Johnson averaged 141.911 mph and his official margin of victory over Harvick was 1.523 seconds.  The race was slowed by six cautions for 30 laps.  Kevin Conway claimed top Raybestos® Rookie honors in the Auto Club 500 with a 31st-place finish.  Conway said the front splitter of his car was damaged early in the race.  He leads the rookie standings by nine points (11-2) over Terry Cook.  “It was a really long day,” Conway said.  “We broke our splitter really early on, broke the whole center section out of the splitter, so it made the car incredibly tight and trying to adjust around an aero issue is really difficult to do with mechanical grip, but we stayed out of trouble and survived.  Our ExtenZe Ford Fusion lasted all 250 laps and we made it 500 miles, so, all in all, it was a successful debut.”

 
Joe Gibbs Racing Rundown:

Joey Logano led the way for Joe Gibbs Racing, scoring a fifth-place finish.  Logano was pleased to run much better at a track where he struggled in both races last season.  He was the first Gibbs driver to score a top-five in 2010.  “A top-five here feels like a win for me for as much as we improved at this race track,” Logano said.  “The first time I came here was last year and we sucked.  We ran 35th to 40th the whole time.  Last time we came here we ran probably 20th to 25th and this time around we were within the top 10 and sneaked out a top-five there at the end.  You got to be pleased with that.  That was really cool.  Zippy (Greg Zipadelli, crew chief) made awesome calls.  The pit crew was amazing.  We gained spots just about every time we came down pit road.  I am really, really stoked about how we ran.”

While Logano was pleased with his afternoon the same could not be said for his teammates.  Kyle Busch logged a 14th-place finish and Denny Hamlin was credited with 29th after twice making unscheduled pit stops for cut tires.
“That was a long day for the FedEx Freight team,” Hamlin said.  “We fought a loose car early, worked our way to the front of the field and even led and fell back at the end.  We had our share of problems in cutting down tires - not once, twice.  I tell you we had no luck.”
 
Raybestos® Brand Brakes NASCAR Nationwide Series Rundown:

 Kyle Busch passed Greg Biffle on the final lap to win the Stater Bros. 300 Saturday afternoon at Auto Club Speedway.  Busch beat Biffle to the finish line by less than a car length (.051 seconds) to rack up his 31st career win.  He won for the third time in 11 races at Auto Club Speedway and claimed his sixth NASCAR national series win at Fontana.  Busch averaged 143.886 mph in a race that took 2 hours, six minutes and 46 seconds to complete.  The race was slowed by four cautions for 18 laps and featured 12 lead changes among seven drivers. 

Brian Scott was the top Raybestos® Rookie at Auto Club Speedway, grabbing a 10th-place finish.  Scott trails James Buescher by two points (24-22) in the chase for top rookie honors in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.  “It’s a little bit bittersweet,” Scott said.  “Our AccuDoc Toyota was really good.  We ran the top-five pretty much the whole race -- as high as second.  At the end we were sixth when the last caution came out.  There’s always a lot of discussion, especially now here with how much tires are worth, whether you come in and take tires or you don’t.  We were sitting sixth and you never know.   All the leaders fake low, then we were going to stay out and take track position to try to hold them off and then they all stayed out and we were kind of committed in staying out.  We only had about a three car buffer before fresh tires, with Carl Edwards, I think he took two. I kind of thought then that it takes them a lap to get going.  I think they had us cleared after the first corner.  I was wrong there.  We had a good finish, we had a good day finishing 10th.  It’s just a little upsetting that we didn’t finish better after running better all day.”

 
Scott injured his wrist in an accident during a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Michigan International Speedway and is considering surgery to speed the healing process.  “Unfortunately, my hand quit healing over the off -season when the doctors were under the impression that it was healing,” Scott said.  “Then they discovered it was too late to do anything about it before Daytona, it was like a week before Daytona.  They figured out that it quit healing and surgery was the only thing that was going to get it back together.  But, I need about -- depending on the doctor I talk to -- four to six to eight weeks to recover after surgery.  Now, I’m just backed into a corner.  It’s still broke, still sore.  It’s sore right now, it does hurt after a long race but you’re driving the cars and especially here at California -- those last three laps are so exciting.  You’re adrenaline is going, you don’t feel it then but I feel it when I get out.  Basically, my only two options are, if enough doctors think I can recover after Vegas in that three or four week stretch, I’ll do surgery then, if not then I’m going to have to wait until the end of the year and then get it operated on and be ready for 2011.”

The rest of the class: Buescher (13th), Colin Braun (18th), Parker Kligerman (22nd) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (39th).
 
Raybestos® Brakes Status Sheet:
Auto Club 500  

                    
1. Jimmie Johnson     6. Kurt Busch                                                                                                 
2. Kevin Harvick           7. Matt Kenseth                                                                          
3. Jeff Burton                8. Clint Bowyer                
4. Mark Martin                9. Tony Stewart

5. Joey Logano          10. Greg Biffle                 

 
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Points:

1. Kevin Harvick        331
2. Clint Bowyer          312      
3. Greg Biffle              304
4. Jamie McMurray    302 
5. Jeff Burton             300
6. Mark Martin            297           
7. Matt Kenseth         288
8. David Reutimann  273 
9. Joey Logano          263  
10. Carl Edwards      262

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Raybestos® Rookie of the Year:

1. Kevin Conway       11
2. Terry Cook               2

NASCAR Nationwide Series Raybestos® Rookie of the Year:

1. James Buescher        24
2. Brian Scott               22
3. Colin Braun              18
4. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. 15
5. Parker Kligerman       8

NASCAR Camping World Series Raybestos® Rookie of the Year:

1. Brett Butler               11
2. Justin Lofton            10
3. Austin Dillon               9                          
4. Jennifer Jo Cobb       8
5. Landon Cassill          7