A fast race track and a loose race car proved to be a bad combination for Trevor Bayne and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion during qualifying for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 on the newly repaved Kansas Speedway.
After posting the 13th-fastest time in Friday’s practice session with a best lap of 189.573 miles per hour, Bayne slid to 32nd in qualifying with a lap at 188.055 mph.
Still, like every other driver in the field, Bayne easily eclipsed the old Kansas track record of 180.856 mph set by Matt Kenseth in October, 2005.
“It was too loose,” Bayne said. “I couldn’t hustle it. In practice we were kind of back and forth.”
Bayne and the Wood Brothers crew were hopeful of a strong qualifying run, but with no guaranteed starting spot because of the team’s limited schedule, Bayne had to leave a little on the table during his official run on the clock.
“I knew I could have gotten a little more out of it, but the car was just so free I couldn’t hustle it like I wanted to,” he said.
The Hollywood Casino 400, the third straight Sprint Cup race for Bayne and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team, is scheduled to start just after 2 p.m. on Sunday with TV coverage on ESPN.
