Cars using WIX Filters have now won six of the 14 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races this season in addition to the Budweiser Shootout and Sprint All-Star Race.

Stewart took the lead for the final time on lap 164 of the 200-lap event, thanks to a speedy pit stop. Over the next 37 laps Stewart held off Carl Edwards and saved fuel, thanks in large part to “coaching” from crew chief Darian Grubb.

“There at the end we had an awesome pit stop,” Stewart said. “Our guys have been doing such a great job all year and come in second and come out with the lead like that I mean that was really the turning point for us there at the end. Once we got that lead and we were able to hold Carl off they went into fuel mode and tried to conserve and as soon as we got a little bit of lead we were able to do the same thing.

“So at that point just listening to Darian and he knows what pace we need to run and he kept backing me down when I’d get going too hard or too quick. He would tell me he needed more and we’d slow down a little more.

“We’re just thankful we could make it. That’s due to Hendrick horsepower and their engine department. They make good power and they make good mileage too.”

Stewart’s first victory of the 2009 season was his second in 15 races at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway and his 34th in 370 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. He scored the first owner-driver victory in the series since Ricky Rudd won at Martinsville (Va.) in 1998. Stewart also earned WIX Filters Lap Leader of the Race honors in the Pocono 500 and trails Kyle Busch by just one race (4-3) in the overall standings. He leads the series championship standings by 71 points over second-place Jeff Gordon.

“I’m ecstatic,” Stewart said. “It was nice to get that all-star win this year but it was nice to get that first point win too. It’s nice to extend the point lead and nice to do it here in front of these fans who have always been good to the NASCAR league when we come here.”

Prior to the Pocono 500 NASCAR officials announced that double-file restarts would be used throughout every NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. And after the Pocono 500 you can count Stewart among its supporters.

“It was nice not having to race lap cars on the restarts and you knew that the guys you were racing for position,” Stewart said. “It did make it nice. When we get to the smaller tracks that will become more important. It [Pocono Raceway] was the perfect place to try it at and I think it’s something the fans are going to enjoy in the future.”

Stewart’s official margin of victory over Carl Edwards was 2.004 seconds. He averaged 138.515 mph in a race that took 3 hours, 38 minutes and 35 seconds to complete. There were 22 lead changes among 12 drivers and the event was slowed by five cautions for 20 laps.

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 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.