An early run-in with the wall at Las Vegas Motor Speedway could not stop Roush Fenway’s Trevor Bayne from picking off one driver after the next to finish fourth in Saturday’s 300-mile Nationwide Series race at the 1-5 mile track. The No.6 WFG (World Financial Group) Ford Mustang held the top spot for 21 laps early, before being forced into the wall by the No.32 car. The problems turned out to be mostly cosmetic, letting the No.6 crew make fast repairs and keep Bayne on the lead lap. Despite dropping from first place to 24th, Bayne spent the next 100 laps picking apart the field before moving onto the top-five finish for the second week in a row.
“This should have been a 12th-place day after we wrecked, and we finished fourth,” Bayne said after climbing out of the car. “ “We had a lot of ups and downs today but we fought back every single time.”
Coming into this week, Bayne ranked as the strongest passer, and one of the strongest closers at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Saturday, he proved why, by ticking off 20 passes after the early incident.
In addition to methodical driving and passing, Bayne was sitting in one of the fastest cars on the track. He routinely posted the fastest lap times in the field, at one point telling crew chief Mike Kelley, “This is a good race car. It’s one of the first times in a while I had to think about what to ask the crew chief to fix for me.” In the end, Bayne and the No.6 WFG Ford Mustang did not have enough laps left in the race to pull back into first place, leaving Sam Hornish, Jr. to take win.
The climb back from running deep in the pack helped Bayne slide up another three spots in the NASCAR Nationwide Series standings and into the top 10. Bayne now holds the eighth spot; 32 points behind the leader. This finish is Bayne’s second top-five of the season. It also gives him back-to-back fourth-place finishes in the Sam’s Town 300 at LVMS.
Bayne and the No.6 team roll into his home track in Bristol Tennessee next Saturday, where he had a strong showing last year. In the spring race, Bayne led 64 laps of the race; in the fall, he earned the pole at Bristol.
RFR PR
