With Jamie McMurray’s victory in the Feb. 14 Daytona 500, cars using WIX Filters swept both NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at the 2.5-mile speedway plus captured the Budweiser Shootout and Gatorade Duel special event races. The win by Harvick was the 11th Cup victory for WIX Filters in 2010.

Harvick and his Richard Childress Racing teammate Clint Bowyer were running first and second and only a few hundred feet from taking the white flag when the final caution of the race waved for a three-car accident off Turn 4. Had race leader Bowyer received the white flag the race would have ended but instead the field lined up for a frantic overtime finish with Harvick and Bowyer on the front row for the restart.

Harvick restarted on the inside line and got a big break when Jeff Gordon made a move that stalled Bowyer and the outside line. He officially crossed the finish line .092 seconds ahead of Kahne to capture his second win of the season.

“Coming to the white I thought it was going to be the 33 [Bowyer] first and us second, and then the caution came out and we could see the white flag,” Harvick said. “I was content about that. I knew those guys needed a good day, and I knew you never know what's going to happen on the last lap with people pushing and shoving from the back. But on the last restart, once the 24 [Gordon] pulled out and slowed those outside two lines down, that was pretty much the end of it.”

Harvick scored his second win of the 2010 season and stretched his lead to 212 points in the series championship standings over second-place Jeff Gordon and 225 over defending champion Jimmie Johnson. Harvick said Johnson is still the man to beat for the title but knows what it will take to win the championship.

“For us we've just got to keep working hard,” Harvick said. “We're in a fortunate position with the start to our season, and we need to we've got to plan to keep working on our cars and keep trying to make things better, and hopefully when the stress starts with 10 weeks to go, we'll be as ready as we've ever been from the 29 and RCR standpoint, and I think we have a good plan for that.

“But you never know what's going to happen until you get in there. You've got to be on your hot streak. You've got to do everything right. You've got to minimize the DNFs, you've got to win a race or two, you've got to finish in the top five and do all the things that we've been doing in the Chase. You've just got to make it happen at the right time.”

Gil Martin, Harvick’s crew chief, said the team was fortunate to be leading the series standings and said he wouldn’t hesitate rolling the dice to win more races.

“Luckily we're going to be able to take some chances possibly that we haven't been able to take in the past,” Martin said. “We're going to be in a situation where we're going to have a fleet of cars that's ready to go to the Chase, not one that we're just barely able to get there. That's what we're looking forward to more than anything.”

Harvick also earned WIX Filters Lap Leader of the Race honors at Daytona, leading eight times for a race-high 28 laps. He won for the 13th time in 340 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races and for the second time in 19 races at Daytona.

Harvick averaged 135.719 mph in a race that took 3 hours, 3 minutes and 18 seconds to complete. The race was slowed by nine cautions for 37 laps and featured 47 lead changes among 18 drivers.

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.

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.

*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.

Camp & Associates, Inc.