Toyota Racing – Trevor Bayne
NASCAR Xfinity Series Quotes
FONTANA, Calif. (February 23, 2022) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Trevor Bayne was made available to media prior to the Auto Club Speedway race this Wednesday:
TREVOR BAYNE, No. 18 Devotion Nutrition Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
What have you done to prepare since you have been out of the seat?
“It’s about like it was when I had my first opportunity. You used to be able to go and test and practice and do all of those things. Fortunately, I have some experience to lean on having been to Auto Club before. It’s been four years since I’ve been there, and then technology has changed a lot since my last time getting started in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. It looks a little bit different this time. For me it’s a lot about watching in-car video of Kyle Busch when he ran there. We have a tool called SMT and its just data. You can watch – almost like a video game – all of the throttle and steering traces from every car in the race, so a lot of studying that data and some simulator work at TRD. They have a really good simulator system there that’s accessible to their Truck, Xfinity and Cup drivers – but it’s not the real thing. I know that. It’s going to be just a little bit of getting used to how fast it is again and getting used to some things. The handling will be different, but the tools that are available, I’ve been using, and you can see where I’m sitting – I’m in my gym right now. As soon as we get done, I will be getting my workout in today to try to just physically be ready to go.”
Can you give a sense of the impact of winning the Daytona 500 early in your career?
“I think the difference between Austin (Cindric) and I is they are already planning on a full schedule. When I won at Daytona, it was like holy smokes – how can we run more races? We just started throwing things at it. We went to Phoenix kind of unprepared, and it was really just piecemealed together for the rest of the season. Austin’s got a championship contending team behind him now. I think they are a little bit more prepared than we were. I don’t think we expected that being a part-time team and me being so young. Penske expects to win. I think they’ve got that infrastructure there to kind of carry that through and build on this momentum, which is huge for Austin, but Austin has had a lot off success already. He’s won championships. He’s won a lot of races. I know that he was probably pretty upset leaving Phoenix in second place, so for him to come out of Daytona and just to carry that momentum right into the Cup Series, I really think he’s in a great situation right now. He’s with a fast team with new cars. Everybody’s kind of on the same learning level now, where everybody has to reset and relearn. He’s got a sports car history, so it kind of drives like this with the steering rack and the independent suspension in the rear. I really think that he’s not at a disadvantage at all being a rookie. The thing I would tell Austin is just to enjoy where you are at right now. I think as race car drivers, as competitors, we are already looking to that next thing. It’s Wednesday, so he’s probably already thinking about the next win, which is great and that’s what you want to do, but you also need to enjoy the moment a little bit because you don’t know when or if you are going to get that opportunity again. Be hungry to win, but also enjoy where you are at.”
Has Austin’s win helped you remember certain parts of your win?
“Just seeing the pure excitement, which anybody that wins at Daytona is going to have that level of excitement, whether it’s Kyle Busch or Austin Cindric, but to see somebody so young coming in, doesn’t know what he doesn’t know, they don’t understand how hard it is to win these races – same as me when I was in that race, and just watching him in victory lane, watching him on doing the interviews, it took me right back to that feeling of what is even happening right now. I’m sure he felt that. There’s really no way to put it into words or explain to anyone else who hasn’t experienced that of how much that feeling is of this has to be a dream. This can’t be real. I don’t know. Your heartrate is up. You’re so excited in Victory Lane. You’re looking around – there’s nothing like it. It really did put that same emotion kind of right back into me when I watched him on TV winning and I don’t know how else to say it – pure celebration and enjoyment when you see a young guy like that win.”
How did you get the opportunity to drive for Joe Gibbs Racing this season?
“I fought for another opportunity for the last three years as most of you guys know. I did not want to be done in the race car. I still wanted to drive. I still wanted to be at the track, I just didn’t have the right opportunity. I didn’t have a chance to go and drive for another team where I felt like we could win or really any chance for that matter. I came back home and started a coffee business and really in a way tried to run from racing. I felt a little burnt out in 2018, so I just said, ‘we’re going to do something different.’ Every time I would turn on a race or something like that – that draw back into racing was so strong. In 2020, I had the opportunity to drive a truck for a few races and kind of help out Niece Motorsports, and that was fine, but it didn’t feel like another rebuilding – another shot to get back at it like I was before. Last year, I built a dirt late model. I ran five or six races. I came to Charlotte and ran the big race there. I ran fourth or fifth, so I’ve been in a race car, but I still miss it. But this opportunity feels different. It really didn’t come around till about mid-December. I was in a conversation with the owners of Devotion Nutrition. I’ve been talking to my dad, and we were all just talking about what would it take to get back in a race car and go racing. I called Steve DeSouza. I’ve known him for a long time, and said, ‘hey Steve, is there any opportunity at Joe Gibbs Racing because I know you have the best Xfinity program and I want to come back to win. I want to come back and make a statement and show what I can do as a driver, and if I can’t get it done, I want to know that I was in the best ride possible, and it just didn’t work out.’ We started having those initial conversations around December. Devotion – Dana (Lynn Kaye) is her name that owns Devotion Nutrition – and Mickey is her mom, so they are a female owned company, made in the USA. They have nutritional products, proteins, sleep recovery, all kinds of great products that I have been using to get me back in shape to go race. We took them to Joe Gibbs Racing. We had the first talks. Coach (Joe Gibbs) came into the office and talked with us for a while, and really for them, this is a huge risk because they are a small business, so spending what they are spending to go racing is a huge risk, but they believe in me and want to give me another shot to go back and do it. I think the fit for me at Joe Gibbs Racing as a Christian with Coach’s background and his ministry aspect. I think the competitive nature, just the whole thing, it really feels like one of those best opportunities I’ve ever had outside of getting in that Wood Brothers car in Daytona. To me, this feels like the reset. I don’t know what comes of this. I don’t know if I end up back in a Cup car full-time or a Xfinity car contending for championships. That’s what I would love to see happen, but I feel like in seven races, I need to go win three to five races if I’m going to have a shot at a comeback. That’s my goal. That’s what I told Jason Ratcliff (crew chief). We’ve got seven – let’s go win five. Maybe it only takes one or two, I don’t know, but to have a shot in the 18 car, that’s my goal.”
Does this whole thing, joining Toyota again, make you feel like a kid again?
“This whole thing makes me feel like a kid again. I think if I had got this chance in 2019, right after being in the Cup car, it would be like Matt D (DiBenedetto) going back to Truck racing. It’s like I’m excited to be here, but I would like to be in the Cup car, but for me this feels like first shot all over again. I feel like I’m going to Michael Waltrip Racing. I’ve got that same giddiness and fresh perspective that this is my first show all over again. It’s really similar. It’s with Toyota like you said. It’s seven races, which is where I started out at MWR. It was five to seven races, and we ran really good, so Michael (Waltrip) let me have more races, and I ended up doing 12 or 13. This really feels like that first shot again, which is so cool because my perspective and appreciation for that is right back to where I was when I was 18.”
How has it been getting to know your teammates and crew chief?
“I’m really excited about the whole group. Brandon Jones has done a good job. He’s learning a ton. Every year, he seems to mature as a driver. Ty Gibbs comes out swinging. He wins his first Xfinity race, so working with those two guys is going to be a lot of fun. Hopefully I can bring something to the table to help them with some experience. Maybe not so much in the driving, but just in life and how to handle things. Brandon has, but Ty has never been to Auto Club. Even though I’m just now getting there, and it’s like my first show, I feel a little like the veteran guy in that way. But both of those guys have unbelievable talent. As far as crew chief is concerned, Jason Ratcliff and I have known each other for a very long time and if I had to say I had to pick a crew chief to go race, it would have been Jason Ratcliff. We’ve gone on hunting trips together. We’ve just got a really good relationship, and he can get it done. I believe in him as a crew chief making the calls. When I heard about resin going down on the racetrack at California, it kind of freaked me out and then I remembered Jason is my crew chief and that I’m at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) and they will have it all figured out by time we get there.”
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