Bayne Comes Home Seventh in Charlotte

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In: Xfinity Series News

Trevor Bayne, driver of the No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Mustang, recorded his third-consecutive top-10 finish in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) event on Friday evening at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, taking the checkered flag in the seventh position.

“We had a really fast No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Mustang tonight,” said Bayne after the race. “We had some good speed from the drop of the green flag and were able to make some moves early in the race. The track loosened up as the night progressed but we were able to get our car tightened up towards the end and come home with another top-10 finish. I want to thank Chad (Norris) and everyone for all of their work this weekend and we’re ready for Texas after these couple of off weekends.”

Bayne took the green flag at the 1.5-Mile oval from eighth after posting the quickest lap in the second round of knockout qualifying. Bayne would battle for position inside the top 10 throughout the opening quarter of the 200-Lap event before a caution during the first round of green flag pit stops saw the No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Mustang trapped one-lap down in 14th on Lap 71.

After taking the wave around on the ensuing restart, Bayne would quickly work his way back up to the 12th position before crew chief Chad Norris called the Roush Fenway Racing driver back to pit road during a Lap 74 caution for fuel only. Returning to the track in ninth, Bayne reported that the AdvoCare Ford was loose on the entry and exit of the corner, ultimately shuffling him back to the 14th position just prior to the caution coming out on Lap 114.

Crew chief Norris utilized this opportunity to make a chassis adjustment in the hopes of making the handling of the AdvoCare Ford tighter through the corners. Restarting in 13th, Bayne wasted little time working his way back forward, improving five positions in the three laps following the restart to eighth. Bayne would maintain his position inside the top 10 throughout the green flag run, moving up to as high as sixth before the final caution of the evening came out with 25 laps remaining. After pitting for four tires and adjustments during the caution period, Bayne would take the Lap 181 restart from the sixth position.

In the closing stages, Bayne would battle with Elliott Sadler and Roush Fenway teammate Chris Buescher for position as the handling of the AdvoCare Ford began to improve. In the end, Bayne took the checkered flag in the seventh position, scoring his 20th top-10 finish of the 2014 NNS season and the fifth-consecutive top-10 at Charlotte.

With the result, Bayne remains sixth in the championship standings and trails championship leader Chase Elliott by 98 points as the NNS heads to Texas Motor Speedway on Nov. 1.

RFR PR

Speedway Digest Staff
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