Cars using WIX Filters have racked up 15 victories in 32 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races this season in addition to the Budweiser Shootout and Sprint All-Star Race. Hamlin earned WIX Filters Lap Leader of the Race honors at Martinsville leading a race-high 206 of 500 laps.

Hamlin wrestled the lead away from Johnson on lap 363 and never again gave up the top spot. After the race Johnson said he had one last chance to pass with about 40 laps to go but could not find a way around the No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota.

“You’ve almost got to dive bomb yourself down in there and out-brake the guy getting into the corner,” Hamlin said. “There’s not too much nowadays of guys actually getting a run off the corner. It’s more about who can out-brake each other. I feel our brake package is as good as it’s ever been so for him to be able to out-brake me, he was going to have to out-dive me getting into the corner. And I saw him kind of going low so I got aggressive on the brakes and made sure I held my line.

“You know, he had a few opportunities. He was right there, gave me a few taps with about 50 to go and just really just made sure I didn’t make any mistakes. If I got up the racetrack and gave him a hole then it was shame on me but he was going to have to make a hole at that point.”

“I just think our short track package has been really good all year,” Hamlin said. “I told Mike [Ford, crew chief] at the spring race here that our brakes were as good at lap 500 as they were at lap one. Obviously everyone at Raybestos® and JGR has come up with a great package for us. It’s been the one consistent thing that stayed with us pretty much through the whole year and been one of our strong suits.”

The victory was the seventh for Hamlin in 147 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. He won for the third time in 2009 and for the second time in nine races at Martinsville.

Hamlin was strong on the short tracks this season. He finished first or second in four of the six short track races this season and collected two wins and five top-five finishes and led 956 total laps.

Hamlin averaged 73.633 mph in a race that took 3 hours, 34 minutes and 44 seconds to complete. There were 21 lead changes among 12 drivers and the pace was slowed by 15 cautions for 77 laps. Hamlin is ninth in the series championship standings, two points behind eighth-place Greg Biffle and 61 ahead of 10th-place Carl Edwards.

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

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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.

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 www.raybestoschassis.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.