Wednesday
Trevor Bayne / Roush Fenway Racing Texas Motor Speedway Preview
Press Release
O’Reilly Challenge
Sat., Nov. 6, 2010
12:55 p.m. EDT
ESPN 2 TV, PRN, Sirius 128
Trevor Bayne, No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford Fusion
Bayne in 2010
Starts: 32
Top 5s: 5
Top 10s: 10
Top 15s: 18
Poles: 3
Avg Start: 13.7
Avg. Finish: 16.5
High Finish: 3 (twice)
After a weekend off, Trevor Bayne returns to action this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway for one of the biggest weekends of his young NASCAR career. Bayne will make his third start at Texas Motor Speedway in the Nationwide Series, before making his Sprint Cup debut on Sunday.
Bayne at Texas
This will mark Bayne’s third start in the Nationwide Series at Texas Motor Speedway and his first for Roush Fenway at the track. In two previous starts at Texas, Bayne has qualified and finished inside the top 15 on both occasions. Earlier this year, Bayne qualified 14th and finished 14th at Texas. Bayne has completed all 400 laps attempted at the 1.5-mile track known for high speeds.
Starts: 2
Top 15s: 2
Poles: -
Avg Start: 12.5
Highest Finish: 13
Avg. Finish: 13.5
Double Duty Debut
In addition to his duties in the No. 17 Roush Fenway Ford this weekend, Bayne will make his Sprint Cup debut this weekend, driving the historic Wood Brothers’ No. 21 Ford. Bayne will be the fourth driver in NASCAR history to make his Sprint Cup debut at Texas. Adam Petty (2000), Jay Sauter (2002) and Brad Keselowski (2008) all made their Sprint Cup debuts at Texas.
Bayne on the 1.5-mile ovals
This will be Bayne’s ninth start on a 1.5-mile oval in the Nationwide Series. In his first eight races on 1.5-mile tracks, he has averaged a 14.8 start and a 17.5 finish, while turning in one top-10 finish and logging just under 2,400 miles.
On Texas:
“I think Texas is a great track. It has been a difficult track for me however. The way the banking rolls into turn one has always gotten my car really free there. Then we tend to get tight in the center, so that can make for quite a challenge. Hopefully we won’t have that problem with my Roush Fenway Ford this weekend. I like the track, but I just have a lot to learn on the 1.5-mile tracks in general.
“It’s going to be a big weekend all around. We are making our first start at Texas for Roush Fenway and of course Roush Fenway has been really strong at Texas over the years. In addition, I’ll be making my first Sprint Cup start on Sunday, which is something that I have dreamed about since I was five-years old. I have to thank the Wood Brothers for giving me a chance to drive their car and it means a lot to me to get to be a part of the history of the No. 21 Ford.”
Crew Chief Ricky Viers:
“I’ve always enjoyed racing in Texas. We will be preparing chassis No. 372 which Trevor drove a few weeks ago at California and it was also the car Matt drove to a fifth-place finish in Atlanta. Our goal with Trevor and this No. 17 team over the next three races is not necessarily worrying about how the points shake out, but instead trying to do whatever we can to get to victory lane.”
Texas Chassis Selection
Crew chief Rick Viers has selected RK-372 for this weekend in Texas. Bayne drove the car to an 11th-place finish three weeks ago in California. Matt Kenseth used the car in a fifth-place finish earlier this season in Atlanta.
- Roush Fenway Racing Press Release
Article Tags: Adam Petty, Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Brad Keselowski, Jay Sauter, Matt Kenseth, NASCAR Nationwide Series, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NNS, No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford Fusion, NSCS, O’Reilly Challenge, RFR, Ricky Viers, Roush Fenway Racing, Trevor Bayne, WBR, Wood Brothers Racing
