DOVER, Del. (May 15, 2016) – Trevor Bayne, driver of the No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Fusion, narrowly avoided an 18-car incident on the front straightaway and overcame repairs to a damaged right-rear fender to record a 10th-place finish in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) event at Dover International Speedway on Sunday afternoon.
“The shoe was on the right foot today,” said Bayne after the race. “It is nice to get a finish like that after not having a great weekend. We were really tight all day. That last run we were pretty fast at the end of it. We will learn from it, come back next time and count our blessings here and take a top-10 happily with our AdvoCare Ford Fusion.”
Bayne began the 400-Lap event from the 25th position after qualifying was rained out on Friday, forcing NASCAR to set the field based off of practice speeds, per the rulebook. From the drop of the green-flag, Bayne reported to crew chief Matt Puccia that the AdvoCare Ford was very tight, especially at the two/thirds mark of the corner. This tight-handling condition persisted throughout much of the first half of the race and ultimately cost the Roush Fenway Racing driver a lap to the race leaders.
A timely caution on Lap 142 gave the Knoxville, Tenn. native the break he needed as he was awarded the free pass back onto the lead lap. Once back on the lead lap Bayne started moving forward, working his way up to as high as 17th before a flurry of cautions came out just passed the 300-Lap mark that shuffled up the running order.
Then on a Lap 354 restart, Bayne artfully maneuvered his way through an 18-car incident at the start/finish line, only sustaining mild damage to the right-rear of his AdvoCare Ford. After surveying the damage during a lengthy red-flag, crew chief Puccia called Bayne to pit road in order to make repairs.
Bayne returned to the track in the 12th position following the repairs but was able to utilize a Lap 359 restart to race his way into the top 10.
In the closing stages, Bayne battled with Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr. before taking the checkered flag in the 10th position, his second top-10 in the last three races and his third top-10 of 2016.
With the result, Bayne now trails 16th in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship standings by 11 points.
Next up for the NSCS is Charlotte Motor Speedway for NASCAR’s Sprint Showdown and Sprint All-Star Race on Friday, May 20 and Saturday, May 21.
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NEXT UP:
1.5-Mile Charlotte Motor Speedway
Concord, North Carolina
Friday, May 20, 2016
7:00 p.m. ET on FS1 and MRN
RACE SUMMARY
Trevor Bayne
Started: 25th
Finished: 10th
Complete Race Results:
www.roushfenway.com
