CORNELIUS, N.C. — Every time Trevor Bayne climbs into the No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota he wonders if this will be the weekend he notches his first NASCAR Nationwide Series victory. He’s been getting closer and closer. The 19-year-old, Knoxville, Tenn., finished a career-best third in the series’ most recent race in Richmond. He’s scored the fifth most points of any driver and most points of a Nationwide Series only driver in the last 10 races. This weekend the Diamond-Waltrip Racing driver races at Dover International Speedway. Bayne is seventh in the standings with only eight races left in the 2010 season.
TREVOR BAYNE QUOTES
SEVENTH PLACE IN STANDINGS: “It’s cool to work our way up to seventh after the rough start we had in February. We’ve had a lot of ups and downs. We started the season off with a 41st-place finish at Daytona and just struggled until about May. Before that we struggled to get the finishes we deserved. Now, I think we’ve figured out how to run in the top five each week and finish. Our next step is to figure out that little bit extra to win a race. Hopefully, we’ll do that this weekend in Dover and get us closer to the top five in the standings.”
BAYNE ON DOVER: “I like racing at Dover a lot. I don’t have a ton of experience there but I do have some track time. I finished 29th there in May and I ran an East race there once. For us to be successful this weekend we have to be able to get to the throttle hard and fast up off the corners. I remember in the East Series cars we were almost wide open during qualifying and the Nationwide cars aren’t that far off. One thing Martin (Truex Jr.) told me was to make sure you get to the throttle wide open. If you have to get to the gas easy and wait on the car a little off the corners you will get your butt kicked at Dover.”
NOTES OF INTEREST
· Bayne will participate in an autograph session on Saturday from 8:30-9:30 a.m. at the Dover International Speedway FanZone.
· Gary and Blake Bechtel along with Michael Waltrip Racing own Diamond-Waltrip Racing that fields Toyota Camrys out of the MWR shop in Cornelius, N.C. The Bechtels have owned cars in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series since 1990. The Morgan Hill, California residents’ teams have visited victory lane 10 times in the Nationwide Series.
· Bayne owns only one Nationwide Series start on the one-mile concrete oval in Dover. On May 15, he started 23rd and raced well before a late race incident left him with a 29th-place finish. Bayne started third and finished 21st in the Sept. 19, 2008 NASCAR K&N Pro Cup East Series race at Dover.
· Bayne is the second highest series-only regular in the driver point standings.
· Only Bayne, Michael Waltrip, Jeff Gordon, and Sam Ard have notched three consecutive Nationwide poles. Bayne won poles at St. Louis, Indianapolis and Iowa in July.
· Bayne owns 42 NNS starts. He has four poles (Indianapolis –2009, 2010, Gateway—2010 and Iowa 2010), five top-fives and 10 top-10s and has led 129 laps. His best finish (third) came at Gateway International Raceway on July 17 and at Richmond International Raceway on September 10.
