JOLIET, Ill. (September 13, 2014) – Trevor Bayne, driver of the No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Mustang, improved 12 positions in the final 40 laps of Saturday afternoon’s NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) event at Chicagoland Speedway to score his fifth top-five finish of the 2014 season, crossing the finish line for the final time in the fifth position.
“I am proud of my team,” said Bayne after the race. “Top five finishes are what we need here at the end of the season with our No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Mustang. Today, we were really tight early in the race but Chad (Norris) and the guys worked really hard and were able to free it up all day long. My pit crew did a good job as well giving me track position and our restarts were really good to get spots back. Hopefully results like this will lead us to victory lane soon. But this was a really good run for us and gives us a lot of momentum heading into next week in Kentucky.”
Bayne began the 200-Lap event from the 14th position but wasted little time moving forward, improving three positions in the opening lap. Reporting a tight condition early, Bayne worked his way into the top 10 for the first time on Lap 32 after moving to the outside line. The driver of the No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Mustang maintained his position inside the top 10 until the tight handling conditioned worsened, shuffling Bayne back to 15th just prior to a Lap 92 caution.
Bayne was able to work his way back into the top 10 on the ensuing restart after making it three-wide off of the second corner, ultimately taking the eighth position. The Roush Fenway Racing driver remained in eighth until a Lap 134 caution saw Bayne improve to sixth after pitting for four tires and a chassis adjustment.
Restarting sixth, Bayne kept his AdvoCare Ford inside the top 10 until a caution on Lap 151 saw crew chief Chad Norris make a strategy call to bring Bayne back to pit road for a new set of tires. Returning to the track in 17th, Bayne was quickly able to work his way back into the top 15 after narrowly missing the sideways cars of Dylan Kwasniewski and Brendon Gaughan after the two made contact directly in front of him.
With the handling improving in the closing stages, Bayne’s fresher tires began to come into play as he was able to quickly work his way back up to seventh following a Lap 173 restart. Bayne was then able to work his way around both Ty Dillon and Elliott Sadler in the final laps and earn a fifth-place finish.
With the result, Bayne remains sixth in the championship standings and trails championship leader Chase Elliott by 80 points as the NNS heads to Kentucky Speedway next weekend.
NEXT UP:
VISITMYRTLEBEACH.COM 300
1.5-mile Kentucky Speedway
Sparta, Ky.
Saturday, September 20, 2014
7:30 p.m. ET on ESPNNEWS and PRN
RACE SUMMARY
Trevor Bayne
Started: 14th
Finished: Fifth
Complete Race Results:
www.roushfenway.com
POINTS SUMMARY – Trevor Bayne:
2014: Currently sixth in the championship standings
Total Points: 871
Points Behind First: -80
Points Ahead of 10th: +174
2014 SEASON SUMMARY
Trevor Bayne
Starts Wins Top-Fives Top-10s Poles
26 0 5 17 1