After suffering injuries in an October plane crash, Hendrick Motorsports team owner Rick Hendrick was at home resting during the Sprint Cup Series season finale in Homestead.
It wasn’t just 20-year-old Bayne who was dreaming as the start of the 2011 started with his win in one of the biggest races of the year. Bayne, who celebrated his birthday the day before, won the event in his second career Cup start. It was a sign of things to come in the NSCS.
The 2011 season of NASCAR started out with a bang when rookie Trevor Bayne won the Daytona 500. It ended with an electrifying duel between Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards for the championship. Sandwiched in between was one of the most competitive seasons in recent history.
In late January of this year NASCAR officials announced a new championship points procedure based on a 43 to 1 concept. In other words the winner of a Sprint Cup race received 43 points with a one point descending deficit from second, 42 points, all the way to one point for the driver who finished 43d.
The season started with a photo finish between Clint Bowyer and Tony Stewart with the margin of victory being 0.007 seconds. But Stewart says he knew that he had won before NASCAR relayed the official timing.
While there have been many drivers in the No. 80 car, including Dave Blaney, Joe Ruttman, Mike Bliss, Randy LaJoie, Carl Long, Ted Christopher, Mario Gosselin, Andy Hillenburg and Aric Almirola.
The recent announcement from Penske Racing that said that Kurt Busch would no longer be the driver of their #22 Dodge, in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, effective immediately caught many observers a little off guard.
Hendrick Motorsports has piled up 135 victories including 20 in the Next Gen era. The organization leads the field in postseason wins (62) and has won at least one race in The Chase/Playoffs in 22 of 23 seasons.
Garrett Smithley is excited to announce a new partnership with ZONiE beverage which will be featured on the #0 Chevrolet for the remainder of the year.
