Trevor Bayne – Texas Advance
Team: No. 6 Performance Plus Ford Fusion
Crew Chief: Matt Puccia
Twitter: @Tbayne6, @Bayne6Team and @RoushFenway
O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 – Sunday, April 8 at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT on FS1
ADVANCE NOTES
Bayne at Texas Motor Speedway
· Bayne will make his 16th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) start at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. Texas marks the most run track on the cup circuit for Bayne, ahead of Daytona (15 starts), Michigan (14 starts) and Talladega (14 starts).
· Bayne’s Cup career began in Fort Worth back in 2010 when he made his debut with the Wood Brothers finishing 17th. Since, he’s led 16 laps and recorded eight top-20 finishes at Texas.
· Two of the past four races in Fort Worth have resulted in a top-15 result for Bayne (13th – Spring 2017 & 15th – Spring 2016). His average finish at the 1.44-mile track is 23.3, with an average start of 20th.
· Texas is the site of Bayne’s first victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, which came on November 5, 2011, after he started 10th and held off Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards for the win.
· In nine starts at Texas in the Xfinity Series, Bayne has one victory, an average starting position of 9.3 and 25 laps led. Bayne was the race leader in his most recent start at Texas in Nov. 2014 before a flat-tire ended his afternoon early.
Matt Puccia at Texas
· Puccia will call his 14th MENCS event at Texas on Sunday afternoon. In 13 previous races in the Lone Star State, Puccia has recorded one victory, three top-five finishes and five top-10 finishes.
· Puccia’s victory came in the April 2012 event with former Roush Fenway driver Greg Biffle. Biffle started from the third position and led 90 laps en route to the win.
Recapping Martinsville
Bayne and the No. 6 team carried a solid Ford Fusion into the postponed STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway, but the handling quickly got away and resulted in a 33rd-place result. Bayne started 27th before the car turned extremely loose, ultimately resulting in contact with the wall, which set the team back for the short remainder of the race.
QUOTE WORTHY
Bayne on racing at Texas:
“Going to Texas is always special for me for many reasons. I got my first Cup start there back in 2010, and a year later we rolled into victory lane for my first Xfinity win. We’re usually strong there, so we’re rejuvenated and ready to get our Performance Plus Ford Fusion out on the track this weekend.”
