McHenry, IL — March 26, 2009  - Long regarded as one of NASCAR’s most demanding braking tracks, the half-mile “paperclip” oval at Martinsville is known for frequently wearing on two things: brake systems and driver patience.
 Looking to gain a decisive competitive advantage at Martinsville during the final weekend in March, all Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas will debut an entirely new Raybestos® brand Short Track / Road Course Sprint Cup braking system featuring ultra lightweight calipers, increased brake pad volume and larger rotor diameter. The detailed system, which combines advanced friction technology with optimized caliper design, is the result of diligent research and continuous development between Affinia’s Global Brake & Chassis Group and JGR.
 “We’ve been working for the last year and a half on this short track package,” said Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota. “It’s definitely better than what we’ve had in years past.”
 The ultra-lightweight aluminum alloy six-piston calipers, developed using Raybestos technology partner Alcon’s state-of-the-art “optimized design” process, are the stiffest and lightest calipers available for Short Track / Road Course in all of NASCAR. The calipers also feature asymmetric body design and advanced between-piston and crossover cooling features.
 The system’s new R602 pad shape, exclusive to the new Raybestos Short Track Caliper, offers the largest brake pad volume (contact surface area) in all of NASCAR, providing 13% more pad volume and 5% more pad area than any other competitor’s short track package. The Short Track system also features the largest rotor diameter available in all of Sprint Cup (13.15” outside diameter, 1.65” thick), a 72-vane casting that reduces hot distortion of the rotor, and features a new metallurgy achieving a 35% increase in tensile strength at operating temperature.
 “We’ve worked really hard on our brake package going into Martinsville,” said Steve Addington, Crew Chief for the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota. “We had troubles there last year and everything seems to be working great. He [Kyle Busch] has been happy with the brakes and really tickled to death with the package that we have going in there.”
 Like all Raybestos brake pad compounds developed and dyno-tested for street use, testing and development for the new Short Track system was conducted at the company’s dynamometer laboratory and Friction R&D facility in Winchester, Kentucky.
 
Raybestos® brand brake parts are produced by affiliated companies in Affinia’s Global Brake & Chassis Group, the leading manufacturer of braking systems in the transportation industry. Including everything from brake drums to rotors, pads, shoes and hydraulic parts, Raybestos brand brakes are the official brakes of NASCAR and the only brakes used by Joe Gibbs Racing in competition. In addition, the Raybestos brand is the preferred brake friction of the IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights.  For more information about Raybestos brakes, visit www.Raybestos.com.

Affinia Group Inc. is a global leader in the on and off-highway replacement products and service industry. In North America the Affinia family of brands includes Wix® filters, Raybestos®, AIMCO® and BrakePro® brake products, and McQuay-Norris® and Raybestos™ Chassis parts. South American and European brands include Nakata®, Filtron®, Urba® and Quinton Hazell®. 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.

Contact:

Brendan O'Brien

Bellwether Communications

(262)639-9093

bobrien@thebellwethergroup.com