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[/media-credit]May 28, 2012
NASCAR’s longest race seemed even longer than usual for Trevor Bayne and the crew of his No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane DAV Ford Fusion, as they spent the majority of the night hoping for much needed cautions, ones that proved to be few and far between.
Bayne started a promising 13th in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but dropped back at the start of the race and never really recovered. Despite his team’s effort during pit stops to improve his car, Bayne finished 24th, three laps behind race winner Kasey Kahne.
“We just struggled all night,” team co-owner Eddie Wood said. “We made a lot of adjustments on pit stops, but we never got the car to suit Trevor.”
“The way the cautions played out, with leaders staying on the track, we weren’t able to take advantage of the wave-around rule to get back on the lead lap.”
Bayne and his Wood Brothers team had high hopes for the Memorial Day weekend classic as they were running a special paint scheme on the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion to raise awareness for the Disabled American Veterans in a continuation of a relationship between Ford Motor Company and the DAV that began in 1922. During that time, Henry Ford organized a cross-country caravan of 50 Model T Fords to take disabled veterans to their convention in San Francisco.
The use of the No. 21 Ford Fusion to highlight the work of the DAV was part of the “NASCAR Unites – An American Salute” program that began at Charlotte and continues through the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway on Independence Day weekend.
Bayne and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane crew return to the Sprint Cup Series in three weeks for the Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
