SNICKERS FORD RETURNS TO MICHIGAN THIS WEEKEND

CHARLOTTE, NC (August 15, 2007) – The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series travels to Michigan International Speedway this weekend for the 3M Performance 400. Ricky Rudd and his #88 Snickers® Ford return to Michigan for the second time this season with the goal of helping to further develop the Yates/Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing intermediate track program. This weekend’s racing action also marks a return to the standard chassis style as the Car of Tomorrow takes a weekend off from competition before returning to competition at Bristol next weekend.

Quoting Snickers Driver, Ricky Rudd:
Traveling to Michigan this weekend, what are you looking forward to?

“I really enjoy racing at Michigan a lot. This speedway is one of my favorites to run at simply because it’s such a wide track and you have multiple lines to run on which means that you don’t get stuck having to run the same line as everyone else. When we were here in June I felt that we had a pretty good car on race day but we just got caught up in traffic and ran out of time to work our way up to the front. Our team has really made some great strides with our intermediate track program this year and I feel like we’ve made a lot of advancements with those cars. We’ll see how the weekend shapes up at Michigan.”

• NOTES OF INTEREST:

* Brian Dantinne, Car Chief on the #88 crew, is a graduate of Stephenson High School in Stephenson, Michigan and is originally from Wallace, Michigan * Paul Jamison, Tire Specialist on the #88 crew, is originally from Middleville, Michigan. Jamison is a member of the Michigan Motorsports Hall of Fame as the 1989 Quarter Midget Champion * Stephen Ponatowski, Front Tire Changer on the #88 crew, is a 1993 graduate of Holly High in Ortonville, Michigan * Rudd will make his 60th start at Michigan this weekend, which is the most all-time career starts of all NEXTEL Cup Series drivers * Rudd has an average starting position of 15.7, and an average finish of 18.6 at Michigan * Rudd has completed 10,408 of 11,756 laps at Michigan (88.5 percent) and has led 347 laps * Rudd’s best start at Michigan was from the second position which he accomplished five times * Rudd’s has one victory at Michigan which occurred in the Miller Genuine Draft 400 of June 1993

• ABOUT MARS US:

Mars US is the United States food, snack and pet care operations of Mars, Incorporated, one of the world's leading food manufacturers. With more than $7 billion in annual sales in the U.S., the combined food, snack and pet care segments are a symbol of excellence for quality brands. Headquartered in Hackettstown, New Jersey, Mars US employs more than 9,000 associates in the United States, with 52 facilities nationwide. The company owns some of the world's favorite brands, including M&M'S® Brand, SNICKERS® Brand, UNCLE BEN'S® Brand, PEDIGREE® Brand Food for Dogs, and WHISKAS® Brand Food for Cats.

• CHASSIS #79

Chassis #79 is the car the #88 Snickers Racing team will be running this weekend for the 3M Performance 400. This is the same standard chassis the team raced earlier in the season at Chicago for the USG Sheetrock 400 as well as at Charlotte for the Coca-Cola 600 where the team had their best finish of the 2007 NASCAR season (seventh place).