News Exciting But Disappointing Finish For Matt Merrell; Win-Tron Racing At Rockingham  “Strong Run Subdued By 23rd Place Finish At The Rock” ROCKINGHAM, North Carolina (November 5, 2008) - - Matt Merrell had high hopes of ending his inaugural USAR Hooter’s Pro Cup Season with a strong finish in Saturday’s Mark Brooks Memorial Black’s Tire American 200 presented by Food King at Rockingham Speedway but a late race upside down ride on the backstretch halted a strong run for the Win-Tron Racing team which eventually delivered a 23rd place finish in the final race of the 2008 season. The weekend started off strong for the rookie team after Merrell, the Portland, Texas native showed the strength of his No. 32 Merrell Lease Chevrolet Monte Carlo in practice which saw the team near the top of the charts. “The testing really paid off for us,” noted Merrell, a development driver for Win-Tron Racing. “We went back to the shop and made some changes after the open-test and the plus side of testing is showing in the practice rundown. The changes were the right ones. I’m really proud of this Win-Tron bunch. They are just awesome.” Known for qualifying exceptionally well throughout the season, Merrell was searching for his first career Awesome Awnings pole position Friday afternoon at Rockingham Speedway. After bolting to a lap of 24.002 seconds at 149.988 miles per hour the team was hoping the lap would stick but Merrell would be forced to settle for his fourth front-row start of the season after Woody Howard knocked the team from the top spot late in the session.  “We almost had it,” said Merrell. “I can’t take all the credit though. I have to hand it to everyone on the Win-Tron Racing team. These guys never give up and we were able to wrap up another front-row start. It’s disappointing that we were so close to a pole, but we have a strong car for the race and that’s the main ingredient.” For much of the race’s first quarter, Merrell kept his No. 32 in-toe with the leaders in the Mark Brooks Memorial Black’s Tire American 200 presented by Food King. Merrell’s race would be highlighted by taking control of the field on lap 62 and holding the top spot for five circuits before relinquishing the lead to Derek Kale. Holding strong with a fast racecar in the top-10, Merrell was beginning to set-up for the final thirty circuits of the race before trouble stuck the Win-Tron Racing team on lap 173 of the 200-lap event. As the cars roared off turn two, contact was made between Merrell and the No. 21 of Derrick Kelley with Merrell getting the worst end of the incident as his machine rode the wall and ended up on its roof. The car never rolled but it slid down the backstretch on its roof. Thankfully after coming to a stop, Merrell climbed from his car uninjured. With a bruised and battered racecar, the team was unable to make sufficient repairs for the race’s remaining 26 circuits.  The incident forced a disappointing 23rd place effort. “Not really sure what happened, all I can say though is this is the luck we’ve experienced this season. We’ve had good cars and the speed to be up front but bad luck has plagued our team a lot this year and today was another evidence of the same story,” sounded Merrell. He continued, “I absolutely hate it for my guys and our sponsors. This is not the way we wanted to end the season. We led some laps and ran up front and that’s positive but all the good is shaken by the incident on the backstretch. We’ll regroup and plan to make our announcement for the 2009 racing season in the near future. I just have to thank everyone again for sticking by our team.” Merrell finished the season 20th in the championship standings accumulating 492 points. Merrell secured third in the USAR Rookie-of-the-Year chase. In 12 starts this year, Win-Tron Racing collected a best finish of 10th at Iowa Speedway in October. The team’s season was highlighted by five top-five qualifying efforts including four second place runs. The team had five top-20 finishes in their freshman year of competition. Nate Thiesse of Win-Tron Racing commented on the Rockingham outing. “We were fast, just unfortunately couldn’t get to the end. We can only continue to be proud of all the hard work of not only Matt but this entire Win-Tron Racing team. Everyone knew we were here and that’s a factor we can build on for next year. It was a learning year for sure, but we wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. On behalf of our organization, I want to thank all of sponsors and the USAR officials for their support of our race team. We hope to be back here full time next year.” Merrell Lease Service and Win-Tron Driver Development held the sponsorship roles on the No. 32 Chevrolet Monte Carlo entry this past weekend.