GASTONIA, NC -- Drivers Matt Kenseth, Reed Sorenson and Mike Skinner won the WIX Filters Lap Leader Awards during the Nov. 4-6, 2005 NASCAR racing weekend.

Kenseth’s WIX Filters Lap Leader Award win in racing at Texas Motor Speedway was his fourth award of the 2005 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series season.

For his performance at Texas Motor Speedway, Sorenson took home the WIX Filters Lap Leader Award for the fifth time in the Busch Series this year.

In the Craftsman Truck Series competition at Texas Motor Speedway, Skinner earned the WIX Filters Lap Leader Award for the sixth time this season. The Craftsman Truck Series features a tight race for the year-end WIX Filters Lap Leader Award, and Skinner's win this weekend edges him closer to victory. Skinner, who is two points ahead of Todd Bodine in the Lap Leader standings, must win just one more Lap Leader award to claim the overall Lap Leader title.

The WIX Filters Lap Leader Award is presented to the driver who leads the most laps during each race in NASCAR’s NEXTEL Cup, Busch and Craftsman Truck racing series. The award includes a cash prize presented to the winning driver during a ceremony before the next race and an end-of-year payout and trophy for the driver who earns the most WIX Filters Lap Leader awards over the course of the entire season. Cash awards for the end-of-year honor are: $75,000 for the NEXTEL Cup Series; $20,000 for the Busch Series; and, $10,000 for the Craftsman Truck Series.

In order to be eligible for the WIX Filters Lap Leader Award for a single event, drivers and teams in each series must run the WIX Filters decal on the front fender and use WIX oil or air filters in their vehicles. Additionally, for any year-end payout, teams must run the decal on the front fender for every race they participate in, with an allowance for one race, and they must always use WIX oil or air filters.

New for 2005, WIX has introduced the WIX Filters Lap Leader Award contest, enabling fans to be a part of the action. The online contest encourages fans to pit their knowledge against one another and against celebrity prognosticator John Roberts, host of NASCAR This Morning and NASCAR Victory Lane, in a weekly competition to predict which drivers will win the WIX Filters Lap Leader Award in each race. Fans who participate in the online contest will compete for prizes including an all-expenses-paid trip to Las Vegas Speedway for the 2006 NEXTEL Cup race.

Fans can sign up for the contest, make picks and try to beat Roberts by visiting wixlapleader.com. Detailed contest rules and prize information are provided on the Web site.

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