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Kenseth Brings Home Top-Five Finish

[HAMPTON, Ga.] - [September 4, 2010] - Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 16 World Financial Group Ford Fusion traveled to Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend for double-duty racing. For the third time this season, Kenseth competed in both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series events. This weekend’s Nationwide start came in the No. 16 machine with crew chief Rick Viers at the helm. Kenseth qualified 18th and despite tight-handling conditions throughout Saturday night’s race, the World Financial Group Ford drove off with a top-five finish at Atlanta under the lights.

NASCAR’s Nationwide Series had only Saturday to practice, qualify, and race. Kenseth and his team had two practice sessions early on Saturday morning before the afternoon’s qualifying run. Kenseth posted a fast lap time of 31.325 seconds during qualifying which found him starting from the 18th position Saturday for the Great Clips 300.

The field took the green flag at 7:18 p.m. EST to start the 195-lap event and within the opening laps of the race, Kenseth drove his way up to 13th. Kenseth called in over team radio communications that the No. 16 World Financial Group Ford was “a bit too tight in the center and getting tighter as the opening run goes on.” Viers made the necessary notes and formulated what changes the team would make on the first pit stop of the evening.

By lap 28 Kenseth had broken into the top ten and sat in ninth even though the No. 16 Ford was still tight off the turns. The first caution of the night came for debris on lap 42 and Viers called his driver down pit road for four tires, fuel, along with an air pressure and track bar adjustment.

Kenseth radioed in to his team after the restart that even though the World Financial Group Ford was still too tight, he felt as though improvements were being made thanks to the adjustments on the first stop of the night. Kenseth maintained his position within the top ten before the second caution of the night found Viers making the call to stay out. The car’s tight handling condition continued as the sun began to sink behind the grandstands and Kenseth also told his team that the front end needed help in order to turn a little better.

Green flag stops began to cycle through the field around lap 100 and Kenseth came in for service on lap 108. The World Financial Group pit crew only made air pressure adjustments during the four-tire stop. Tightness returned to the car when Kenseth got stuck in traffic, but once again he reported back to his team that the adjustments were helping to improve the car.

One final caution on Saturday night allowed the No. 16 team to make a change to the track bar and air pressure settings before the final restart. Kenseth restarted eighth but in a restart that found cars going three-wide for position, Kenseth benefitted and shot his way up to fifth, where he finished the event.

We just had a tight-handling race car tonight,” commented Kenseth following the race. “We started out the race just a bit too tight in the center and exit of the turns, but the crew made changes all night to help alleviate that. I really feel that our last run of the night we had our World Financial Group Ford working the best it had all evening. I just got tighter in the dirty air of traffic late in the race, but the crew made adjustments that help get us where we needed to be at the end.”

Jamie McMurray won Saturday night’s Great Clips 300 at Atlanta Motor Speedway follow by runner-up, Kyle Busch, and third-place went to Roush Fenway Racing’s Carl Edwards.

About World Financial Group, Inc.
World Financial Group, Inc. (WFG) is a financial services marketing company whose affiliates offer life insurance and a broad array of financial products and services. WFG's independent associates strive to help individuals and families often overlooked by the financial services industry to plan for their financial futures, advocating the power of choice for clients through agreements with several of the financial and insurance industries’ leading companies.

World Financial Group, Inc. is an AEGON company. AEGON N.V. is an international life insurance, pension and investment group based in The Hague, The Netherlands, with businesses in more than 20 markets in the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit WFG's website at www.worldfinancialgroup.com

About Roush Fenway Racing
Roush Fenway Racing is NASCAR's largest team operating eight motorsports teams. Four in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with drivers Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and David Ragan; and four in the Nationwide Series with Edwards, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Brian Ickler, Colin Braun, and Paul Menard. For more information on any of the Roush Fenway Racing teams, log onto www.RoushFenway.com

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