August 19, 2011
The multi-colored Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Ford Fusion will have a solid starting spot for Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”250″]
[/media-credit]Trevor Bayne ran a lap at 187.859 miles per hour to earn the 20th starting position in the Wood Brothers’ No. 21 Ford Fusion which is carrying the special paint scheme to raise awareness and funds for the JDRF, which is the charity of choice for the team’s regular sponsors, Ford’s Customer Service Division and its Motorcraft and Quick Lane brands.
Bayne was pleased with his run against the clock, which was about a mile per hour faster than his best lap of 187.037 mph in practice.
“That was a pretty good qualifying run,” he said. “It could be a good weekend for us. I am so excited to be driving this race car designed by seven-year-old Katie Hahn. She designed it herself, and we got to make her dreams come true by putting it on the real race car and bringing it out to the race.
“It is an awesome weekend for us. I think we will have something come Sunday. It was better for qualifying this time than last time, and I think we can learn for the race trim set up with that.”
Crew chief Donnie Wingo said he started with basically the same chassis set-up that he used in the first Michigan race back in June then tuned on it during practice.
“We went off what we had here last time,” he said. “Maybe we should have adjusted it a little more for qualifying, but we wanted to make sure Trevor knew what he had when he went out to qualify.”
A conservative approach to qualifying is a must for the No. 21 team as they’re not among the top 35 in car owner points, the group that is assured of starting spots for races. A mistake by Bayne or the Motorcraft/Quick Lane crew during qualifying and the team doesn’t race on Sunday.
Now the focus is on getting the car tuned for the 400-mile run on Sunday. Wingo said the car was a little too free the last time at Michigan, so he’ll be adjusting for that.
He’ll also work with Bayne to make sure he gets all the speed he can out of the car all the way through the corners so he can put his powerful Ford FR 9 engine to work on Michigan’s long straightaways.
“We need to make sure we get a complete corner,” he said.
But for the JDRF Motorcraft/Quick Lane team, the most important thing from Friday is that they’ll be racing on Sunday.
“We’re here, and we’re in,” said team co-owner Eddie Wood.
Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 is scheduled to get the green flag just after 1 p.m. with TV coverage on ESPN.
