Trevor Bayne, driver of the No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Fusion, won the first segment of Saturday morning’s Sprint Showdown to earn a position in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) All-Star event on Saturday evening where he ran inside the top 10 for much of the final two segments before recording a seventh-place finish.
“We learned a lot tonight that will help us for next weekend in the 600,” said Bayne after the race. “Our car was really fast all day long and I’m really happy we got to be a part of this race after winning the Showdown. In that last segment we were able to race into the top five before the aggression really ramped up but we’re happy to come home seventh with this AdvoCare Ford and I’m really proud of all of my guys for their work throughout the day.”
Bayne started the day from the fifth position in the Sprint Showdown but utilized a three-wide move on the final restart to hold off Chase Elliott in a photo finish and score the victory, securing his place in the All-Star Race. Bayne would then take the green-flag for the three segment event – consisting of two 50-Lap segments and one 13-Lap segment – from the 15th position after rain cancelled qualifying, forcing NASCAR to set the field via the rulebook.
Throughout the first 50-Lap segment Bayne battled a tight-handling condition through the center of the corner that made it difficult for the AdvoCare Ford to race in traffic. Crew chief Matt Puccia then used a mandatory green-flag pit stop on Lap 26 to bring the Roush Fenway driver to pit road for four tires and a chassis adjustment. However, an inopportune caution on Lap 45 trapped Bayne a lap down as some of the race leaders had not yet made their pit stop.
However, being a lap down did not deter Bayne as he was able to earn the free-pass back onto the lead lap when the caution came out on Lap 14 of the second segment. Once back on the lead lap Bayne charged forward, racing his way up to the sixth position before the finish of the second segment.
The Knoxville, Tenn. native took the restart for the final 13-Lap segment from the ninth position after making a mandatory four-tire pit stop between segments two and three and wasted little time moving forward. The driver of the AdvoCare Ford route and gouged his way up to as high as the fourth position, battling with fellow Ford Performance driver Brad Keselowski.
In the closing stages, Bayne would race hard with Kurt Busch before taking the checkered flag in the seventh position.
RFR PR
