TALLADEGA, Ala. (Oct. 23, 2016) – Trevor Bayne, driver of the No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Fusion, took the final restart of the afternoon from the 18th position and battled five-wide before recording a 17th-place finish in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) event at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday afternoon.
“We just couldn’t get any help when we needed it,” said Bayne after the race. “I was doing all I can to move forward but we just needed some drafting help. Our AdvoCare Ford felt good today but we just didn’t get a chance to go race for the win there in the end.”
Bayne started the day from the 11th position after advancing to the final round of qualifying on Saturday afternoon. In the early stages of the 188-Lap event, Bayne drafted his way up into the top 10 and up to seventh while running on the inside of several rows of three-wide racing. The driver of the AdvoCare Ford maintained his track position through the first round of green flag pit stops before choosing to fall to the rear of the lead pack in the hopes of avoiding any potential problems.
The Knoxville, Tenn. native remained true to this strategy throughout much of the middle portion of the event, patiently riding around at the tail-end of the pack. Then, Bayne started to march forward after a Lap 149 restart, improving 10 positions to 15th before the caution came out once again just one lap later.
The Roush Fenway Racing driver’s charge didn’t stop there as Bayne utilized a Lap 153 restart to rejoin the top-10 before getting shuffled toward the back after getting forced four-wide through the tri-oval. The driver of the AdvoCare Ford continued to race three-wide before narrowly avoiding a Lap 181 incident in Turn 3. Bayne slid his tires trying to avoid the incident and as a result was forced to come to pit road for four fresh tires.
In the closing stages Bayne took the restart for NASCAR’s version of overtime from the 18th position and was as many as five-abreast as the field took the white flag.
In the end, Bayne took the checkered flag in the 17th position.
Next up for the NSCS in Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, Oct. 30.
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NEXT UP:
.526-Mile Martinsville Speedway
Martinsville, Virginia
Sunday, October 30, 2016
1:00 p.m. ET on NBCSN and MRN
RACE SUMMARY
Trevor Bayne
Started: 11th
Finished: 17th
Complete Race Results:
www.roushfenway.com
