Cars using WIX Filters have excelled at both restrictor plate races this season, races where air flow entering the carburetor is at a premium. In addition to Keselowski’s victory at Talladega, Martin Truex Jr. won the pole for the Daytona 500 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway while Kyle Busch captured the second Gatorade Duel at Daytona.

“Talladega is such a crapshoot,” Keselowski said. “You can't expect anything. Can't expect to win, can't expect not to win. I knew that I had to get locked into somebody's rear bumper if I was going to run up to the front, and even though you don't know if it’s going to work out.”

Keselowski pushed Carl Edwards past race leader Ryan Newman and Dale Earnhardt Jr. and into the lead on lap 187 of the 188-lap race, clearing the pack of the cars and setting up a two-car shootout for the win. As the two entered the tri-oval on the final lap, Keselowski darted to the outside of Edwards then held his line as Edwards blocked. The two cars made contact, sending Edwards’ car into a spin and then airborne and into the track’s catchfence. Edwards was not injured in the accident.

“Ryan was doing the same thing he was doing yesterday in the Nationwide race where he was not running wide open. He was just trying to hold Dale back there and broke their momentum for a lap or two and by the time they saw me coming it was too late. Carl and I are were coming with a full head of steam and there was no stopping us. I'm sure he probably regrets that now, but I certainly don't.

“I got under him [Edwards], barely, but enough to have position on him. And it was up to him on whether he wanted to run me down or not, and he did, and I was not going to allow myself to be in that same spot as Regan [Smith] was last year and I just held my ground. I was here to win and I've got no other reason to be here than to win and put these guys in victory lane.”

The victory was the first for Keselowski in just his fifth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start. He won in his first race at Talladega and scored his first victory and first top-10 finish of the 2009 season.

Keselowski officially crossed the finish line .175 seconds ahead of second-place Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the only lap he led all day was the last one. There were 57 lead changes among 25 drivers in a race that took 3 hours, 23 minutes and 20 seconds to complete. There were nine cautions for 33 laps dropping the average speed of the event to 147.565 mph.

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.