LONG POND, Pa. (Aug. 2, 2015) – Trevor Bayne, driver of the No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Fusion, was battling for a top-20 position before striking a piece of debris entering Turn One on Sunday afternoon in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) event at Pocono Raceway, ending the Roush Fenway Racing driver’s afternoon just past the halfway point of the event.
“You don’t see that every day,” said Bayne after the race. “I was going into Turn One wide open on the front stretch and the No. 7 car was in front of me and at the last second he darted and a tail pipe bounced up and went through the radiator. So we lost water pressure and oil pressure and may have lost a Roush Yates engine here.
“It is really unfortunate because I felt we were getting our car better,” Bayne continued. “We’ve had a rough month and I feel like we are getting back on track with this No. 6 AdvoCare Ford and we probably had a top-20 car going so it is unfortunate but you will have that sometimes and today just wasn’t our day.”
Bayne began the 160-Lap event from the 23rd position after advancing to the second round of knockout qualifying on Friday afternoon. From the drop of the green flag, Bayne reported to crew chief Bob Osborne that the AdvoCare Ford was loose. Utilizing a Lap 4 caution period, Osborne called Bayne to pit road for a chassis adjustment.
Returning to the track in the 36th position, Bayne maintained his track position until a strategy call by Osborne during the competition caution on Lap 15 for fuel only moved Bayne back into the top 25. On the ensuing restart, Bayne ran over a piece of debris, causing the left-rear tire to go flat. An opportune caution on the same lap allowed the Roush Fenway Racing driver to hit pit road without losing a lap.
Despite the early setback, the Knoxville, Tenn. native raced his way back up to the 21st position following a Lap 33 restart. Bayne would ultimately move up to as high as the 12th position before hitting pit road for the first round of green flag pit stops on Lap 58. Bayne returned to the track in the 32nd position but was able to improve 10 positions after staying out during a Lap 65 caution.
After narrowly avoiding a spinning No. 41 car on the ensuing restart, Bayne drove his way into the top 20. Then, while maintaining his track position just past the halfway point, Bayne sustained damage to the nose of the AdvoCare Ford after hitting a piece of debris heading into the first corner. This debris proved catastrophic as it punctured a hole in the radiator of the car, ending Bayne’s afternoon early.
In the end, Bayne was scored with a 40th-place finish.
Next up for the NSCS is Watkins Glen International on Sunday, Aug. 9.
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NEXT UP:
2.45-Mile Watkins Glen International
Watkins Glen, New York
Sunday, Aug. 9, 2015
1:00 p.m. ET on NBCSN and MRN
RACE SUMMARY
Trevor Bayne
Started: 23rd
Finished: 40th
Complete Race Results:
www.roushfenway.com
