Trevor Bayne and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane crew went into Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 hoping to put behind them a disappointing run at Michigan International Speedway back in June, when engine troubles ended their day just after the start.
Bayne and his No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion didn’t make it to the end of Sunday’s race unscathed, but the overall performance certainly was impressive.
Bayne started sixth, ran as high as fifth early on, and was in the top 10 for most of the race. With 18 laps remaining, troubles arose, by way of a cut down left front tire, leaving him 24th in the finishing order.
“We had a good car and our strategy was going to work out at the end, but we cut down a left-front tire,” team co-owner Eddie Wood said.
The tire ripped apart the front end of the Wood Brothers’ Ford Fusion and caused Bayne to brush the outside wall in Turn One.
The Motorcraft/Quick Lane crew made quick repairs, but the team’s hopes for a top-10 finish or better were no longer a possibility.
Wood said that despite the outcome, he was proud of his team and his young driver, who was making just his 27th start in NASCAR’s elite Sprint Cup Series.
“Trevor did a good job all day,” he said. “He was especially good getting in and out of the pits.”
Wood also was pleased to leave Michigan, the home track for the U.S. automakers, with a Ford Fusion in Victory Lane, despite meaning that his team no longer held a share of the record for all-time Cup victories there.
Greg Biffle’s victory gave his car owner, Jack Roush, 12 Michigan victories, breaking a tie with the Wood Brothers.
“Congratulations to Jack Roush,” Wood said. “If we had to lose that record – for now – to anyone, we’d rather it be to our great friend Jack, whom we’ve known since back in the 1970s.”
Next up for Bayne and the Wood Brothers is the Sept. 2 AdvoCare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where the Woods still hold the all-time record with 12 Cup victories.
