MASTERFOODS USA SWEEPS FRONT ROW FOR DAYTONA 500

DAYTONA BEACH, FL (February 11, 2007) – Sweet will definitely be one word to describe what NASCAR and chocolate fans alike will see when the green flag falls for the 49th running of the Daytona 500. NASCAR NEXTEL Cup qualifying on Sunday at Daytona International Speedway resulted in an all Masterfoods front row as the M&M’S® Ford, driven by David Gilliland, and the Snickers® Ford, driven by Ricky Rudd, clinched the first and second starting positions.

Masterfoods USA expanded their primary sponsorship in NASCAR to two teams for the 2007 season by signing on to sponsor the #38 and #88 entries for Robert Yates Racing. This year marks Masterfoods 14th season as a primary sponsor in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series, a partnership which was launched with the Snickers® Brand in 1990. M&M’S® Chocolate Candies has since served as the primary sponsor for Masterfoods over the past eight seasons.

Gilliland preceded Rudd in attempting his qualifying effort at the 2.5-mile superspeedway posting a fast lap speed of 186.320 mph compared to Rudd’s speed of 185.609 mph. Sunday marked Gilliland’s first attempt at qualifying for the Daytona 500 and Rudd’s 29th.

“The guys brought a great M&M’s Ford Fusion here this weekend,” said Gilliland following his pole winning run. “How about Mars, Incorporated?  A Snickers and M&M’S front row for the Daytona 500. That’s awesome. We’re just glad we could step up today like they stepped up to sponsor our team and hopefully this will be a great start to a great relationship.”

Joining in Gilliland’s excitement was his teammate Ricky Rudd, who after a year hiatus from the NEXTEL Cup Series, returned in 2007 to join Robert Yates Racing as driver of the Snickers® Ford.

“It feels really good,” said Rudd following his second place qualifying run. “I’ve got a great team. I like what I see with what’s going on with our two teams. It’s just a very low pressure deal and everybody believes in each other. Butch Hylton (crew chief, Snickers Ford) and Todd Parrott and all the guys have been working together really well. We’re two teams, but, really, we act as if we’re one team and that’s just a neat situation to be in.”

Following qualifying it was no surprise that the two biggest smiles were on the faces of Rudd and Gilliland but what could be surprising is how such competitive figures were more excited for the other than they were for themselves.

“He’s been a great teammate,” Gilliland said of Rudd. “We’ve really been helping each other and I think today being on the front row just shows how closely and how good these teams are working together right now.”

“This is the first time really in my career I’ve had the opportunity to work with somebody as talented as David,” Rudd said. “He’s (David’s) just got a tremendous talent to relate what the race car is doing.  He keeps talking about me helping him, but he helps me as well.  We go out there and we’ve got two heads in the driver’s seat working together.”

The Robert Yates Racing teammates clinched the front row following a very successful day of practice on Saturday. Rudd held the fastest position in both practice sessions while Gilliland was in second and third respectively for the two sessions. This marks the second time that Yates teammates have sat on the front row for the season-opening Daytona 500.

The format for qualifying for the Daytona 500 is different than any other race on the 36 race NASCAR NEXTEL Cup schedule. Only the top two qualifiers are locked into their position by the times they post in the qualifying session with the remainder of the field having their starting positions determined by the finishing order of the Gatorade Duel qualifying races scheduled for Thursday, February 15. This means that only Gilliland and Rudd have locked themselves into their starting positions by claiming the front row for Sunday’s race with the speeds they posted in today’s qualifying session.

Coverage of the Daytona 500 is scheduled for the FOX Television Network beginning at 2:00 p.m. EDT on Sunday, February 18th with the green flag scheduled to drop at 3:15 p.m. Radio coverage will be provided by Motor Racing Network (MRN).