Trevor Bayne, driver of the No.6 AdvoCare Ford Mustang earned a third-place finish on Saturday evening in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) event at Iowa Speedway and won Nationwide Insurance’s ‘Dash 4 Cash’ after taking the green flag from the pole position.
“That was awesome,” said Bayne after the race. “It feels great to win Nationwide Insurance’s ‘Dash 4 Cash.’ Our car was awesome all day today and to see all the hard work that Chad (Norris) and the guys put in to this No.6 AdvoCare Ford Mustang pay off in the end makes this really special. Plus we got to help a fan win $100,000. It’s just a great way to end the day. Especially since we started off winning the pole this afternoon and we were able to get another top-five finish and close the gap some more on the guys in front of us in the points. We aren’t out of this yet and we’re ready to get to Watkins Glen next weekend and keep this momentum going.”
Bayne earned the seventh pole of his NNS career during Saturday afternoon’s qualifying session at Iowa Speedway and took the green flag for the 250-Lap event in first. After leading the first 31 laps, Bayne settled into the second position after battling side-by-side with Brad Keselowski following a Lap 30 restart. The driver of the No.6 AdvoCare Ford Mustang remained in second until a Lap 50 caution gave crew chief Chad Norris an opportunity to make adjustments to a car that was fighting a loose handling condition. After pitting for four tires and adjustments, Bayne would return to the track in seventh.
Once back under green, Bayne only needed one lap to rejoin the top-five, making his way back up to fourth on Lap 57. Bayne then worked his way to third seven laps later with a race car that as the night went on, became tighter through the center of the corner. Still inside the top three, Bayne utilized a Lap 108 caution to come down pit road for a chassis adjustment that ultimately helped the car turn better on the longer run. By Lap 137, Bayne was turning lap times as fast as the race leader.
Bayne maintained his position inside the top three until a Lap 189 restart saw him get shuffled back to fifth. Unable to improve his track position following the restart, Bayne remained in the fifth position until a caution on Lap 220 allowed crew chief Norris to use some pit strategy to get the driver of the AdvoCare Ford back up toward the front.
After pitting for right-side tires and a chassis adjustment, Bayne restarted the race in the third position with just three laps remaining. Bayne went on to race side-by-side with Michael McDowell for the final two laps of the event and earned his fourth top-five finish of the 2014 NNS season, taking the checkered flag in the third position.
Bayne’s third-place finish earned the No. 6 team the ‘Dash 4 Cash’ prize after finishing ahead of challengers Brian Scott, Ty Dillon and Regan Smith. The finish also gave one lucky fan, James Dennis, $100,000.
With the result, Bayne is now tied for fifth in the championship standings and trails championship leader Chase Elliott by 41 points as the NNS heads to Watkins Glen International.
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