Phase 2 Of Rebuilding Roush Fenway Racing

I have followed the ups and downs of Roush Fenway Racing since their first race in NASCAR in 1988, and the last few years have definitely been some of the roughest and toughest years that I have witnessed.  But if you know Jack Roush he isn't giving up the ship anytime soon and he is working to get his team back in order.

People have probably already read all the announcements that took place a little bit before Christmas time about all the restructuring that has taken place at Roush Fenway Racing in the off-season.  There were a an estimated 25-30 people let go, however, quite a few new employees were brought in to replace them.

Last season Jack Roush began with the first phase of rebuilding his team.  He brought in Kevin Kidd from Joe Gibbs Racing as his Sprint Cup Series director and Mark McArdle as head of engineering in 2014.  It was early in 2015 that Kidd said that this was going to take more than one season to bring RFR back to its full potential and make it a championship contending race team once again.  He made the statement that "Rome wasn't built in a day and we're in the process of building Rome back"

Phase 2 happened a couple of weeks ago.  Roush Fenway announced the hiring of Kurt Romberg as the head of Aerodynamics, Dr. Kent Day as the Manager of Simulation, and Vojin Jaksic as the research and development/special projects manager.  

With these changes, Roush Fenway will go into 2015 with some newly added confidence and information.  As well there is a new alliance formed between Roush and Front Row Motorsports that has added Roush driver Chris Buescher to its lineup.  I compare that a lot to the deal that Roush had with the Wood Brothers except this seems like it might be heading to a full-time deal.  I've talked to several different guys that work at RFR and they believe the atmosphere at the organization has taken a complete turn for the better.

It was near the end of the 2007 season that Robbie Reiser took on the general manager position at Roush Fenway Racing and in my mind I wonder if it were too much for one man to handle.  Now with Kevin Kidd being the Sprint Cup director he has been able to bring in some newer faces with more experience and a know how to fix some of the issues that are part of this teams problems.

An insider told me that there was a lot of people let go because they felt they were there just for a job, not to get RFR back up to standards. Maybe it took Reiser having a second set of eyes with Kidd to see some of the main issues with Roush Fenway Racing's personnel and they let loose some people they felt were just dead weight with the organization.  Anytime you are able to hire people away from Hendrick that is a win in my opinion.

Bayne and Osborne remain paired for 2016

Roush Fenway Racing announced its crew chief line up for its 2016 drivers on Wednesday night when Brian Pattie was on Sirius Radio with Claire B Lang.  Pattie will take over as crew chief for Greg Biffle while for the second year in a row Trevor Bayne will work with veteran Bob Osborne and Ricky Stenhouse Stenhouse will once again be paired with engineer Nick Sandler.

This will be the second season for Bayne and Osborne to work together in the Sprint Cup Series after last season where they finished 29th in the standings with just 2 top-ten finishes on the season.  Instead of making a change at the crew chief lineup with Bayne and Stenhouse, it was probably best to let them work with their respectable crew chiefs for another season until the cars at Roush Fenway Racing were fixed.

Roush Fenway makes announcement of new employees

There are a lot of improvements needed for 2016

Roush Fenway Racing announced after the season ended about the restructuring of their outfit for the upcoming season.  Today the team announced where the three new hired positions will be placed for the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.

Kurt Romberg, Dr. Kent Day, and Vojin Jaksic will each take on high level positions within Roush Fenway Racing for 2016.

"It takes great talent to win in this sport and we are very pleased with the additions we have made on the competition front," said car owner Jack Roush.  "We recognize the importance of putting the appropriate personnel into place, as we continue our relentless pursuit to put the best and most competitive race teams on the track."

Kurt Romberg comes from Hendrick Motorsports where he spent 15 years as the head man of aerodynamics for the powerhouse organization.  He worked with General Motors and Petty Enterprises before taking on the role of chief aerodynamicist at HMS.

Dr. Kent Day will become the Manager of Simulation.  Day, who holds, a PH.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Clemson University, brings over two decades of experience to RFR.  He has held technical director positions with Team Penske and Richard Childress Racing, and most recently served in vehicle dynamics at Michael Waltrip Racing.

Jaksic will return to RFR as the research and development/special projects manager after serving in similar positions with MWR and Joe Gibbs Racing.  Jaksic previously had worked at RFR from 2005 until 2011.

The three additions to the organization are part of a strategic plan to expand organizational capabilities and follows the hiring of veterans Mark McArdle and Kevin Kidd from last season.

McArdle is the leader of engineering while Kevin Kidd remains the Sprint Cup Series director.  It was earlier in 2015 that Kevin Kidd made a statement to Motorsport.com that he felt this was going to be a multi-year plan to rebuild Roush Fenway Racing.

"Rome was not built in a day and we're in the process of building Rome back up," Kidd stated.  "It's going to take time.  That's the simple truth.  I had some perspective on it this week like when you look at other organizations that are down and trying to build back up - Ganassi comes to mind.  Penske, maybe less so but maybe a few years back.  It's a solid two to three year process of trying to get back to full form and ultimate competitive level.  I'll stop short of saying it will take two to three years, but it's going to take time.

"When you look at where we're trying to go with this, we're trying to change the culture of Roush Fenway Racing, how we've done business in the past and how we'll do business in the future.  Ultimately, that change, more so than nuts and bolts of race cars, but the change of our working philosophies, that's what will get us back to a competitive level -- and that takes time."

2015 Year In Review

Trevor Bayne and Bob Osborne will work together a 2nd season in 2016
Photo Credit:  Jerry Markland

Crew Chief:  Bob Osborne

Team:  Roush Fenway/AdvoCare No. 6 
Points:  29th
Wins:  0
Top-5s:  0
Top-10s:  2
Laps Led:  0

It was a very tough season altogether for Trevor Bayne and his No. 6 AdvoCare Ford team in 2015 as they only scored two top-ten finishes during the season.  The rough start began at Daytona and couldn't throughout the entire season as Roush Fenway Racing continued to struggle to find speed in its Fords during the season.

The bright spot came at Michigan in June when Bayne scored his first top-ten finish, a ninth place finish at team owner Jack Roush's home track.  Bayne would then score a top-ten at Daytona in July finishing 9th once again.  When NASCAR first brought in the low down-force package at Kentucky Speedway, Bayne and teammate Ricky Stenhouse were competitive on the 1.5 mile oval and Bayne finished 13th.  His best finish the remainder of the year came at Bristol when he finished 15th.
Biggest Race of the Year:  Michigan
Trevor Bayne ran his most competitive race of the season at the two-mile Michigan Speedway in June.  Bayne finished 9th in the rain shortened event and scored his first top-ten in the Sprint Cup Series since 2012.
What To Look Forward to in 2016:
Roush Fenway Racing completely restructured itself right after the season ended and there were a lot of new employees hired.  It appears that Bayne and crew chief Bob Osborne will work together for a second term next season in the Sprint Cup Series.  Osborne is the 6th winningest crew chief in the Sprint Cup Series garage so the outlook might be better in their second year together.  AdvoCare will be back on board for their second season with the No. 6 Roush Fenway team as well.

NASCAR will be running the low downforce package next season and that seemed to be one the strongest points of Bayne's season was when the series ran at Kentucky with its low downforce package at the 1.5 mile Kentucky Speedway.  Bayne ran in the top-ten for most of the night until he faded back to 13th later that night.  So the outlook is better for 2016.  Also Ford will have a new body on its 2016 Ford Fusion to compete in the Sprint Cup Series as well that should help with some of the issues that Roush Fenway has faced since the Gen-6 car was introduced.
Baby Bayne Was Born:  

Trevor and Ashton Bayne had a beautiful baby girl Elizabeth(Ellie) Kate Bayne who was born last Thursday.  You can't get a better Christmas than having your child born.  Little Ellie came close to sharing a birthday with her grandfather Rocky Bayne.

It appears that Trevor and Ashton haven't been getting much sleep since the arrival of their little daughter last week as Trevor posted this picture on instagram earlier this week.

We wish them nothing but the best in raising their daughter!

Trevor Bayne's Biggest Moments of 2015

Trevor and Ashton revealed on instagram they were having girl 

No. 1 Finding out he'll be a father.  There are very few moments that can top finding out you'll be a dad and having a little girl on the way.  Trevor and Ashton Bayne broke the news the public that they would be expecting a child in December on June 4th of this year on twitter and instagram.  Bayne later revealed how Ashton broke the news to him.

"I was shocked," Bayne said during the race week in June at Pocono.  "I was at the Richmond test, and normally if I'm gone she'll sleep in a little bit, but I got a call at 7 in the morning.

Bayne celebrates his win at Pocono in ARCA in June.

"I was like, 'What's going on?  Is the house on fire?'  And she says, 'Babe, I'm pregnant.'  It was hard to keep that a secret at the test that day, but I was just really excited and pacing around the hotel room on the phone with her, so it was cool."

No. 2 Winning ARCA Pocono Race.  Trevor Bayne dominated the June 6th ARCA race at Pocono Raceway.  He drove a No. 22 AdvoCare Ford Fusion owned by Cunningham Motorsports in the event and led 42 laps of the 80 lap event and won in his first start in the ARCA Series.  His margin of victory was 4.5 seconds over second place Grant Enfinger.

Trevor Bayne finished ninth at Michigan in June

No. 3 First Top-Ten at Michigan in June.
Trevor Bayne started 20th in June at Michigan and with a little bit of strategy and bad weather, crew chief Bob Osborne was able to to get Bayne up inside the top-ten late in the event before the rain finally set in on the track.

Bayne ended up finishing ninth in the event and it was the first top-ten for Bayne in almost 3 years in the Sprint Cup Series.  He was the highest finishing RFR driver that afternoon as well.

No. 4 Finishing Top-15 in front of the Home Crowd at Bristol.   Trevor Bayne surged late in
the Irwin Tools Night Race.  He started in 22nd
during the Saturday night event at Bristol.  He had to battle back late in the race for track position on the half mile mile venue.  Caught with a speeding penalty on lap 430, that sent him to the tail end of the longest line, it didn't stop him.  He battled back to finish 15th in front of his home town crowd at Bristol.

It was his best career finish on a short track in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Roush's restructuring was a given

With the last three seasons that Roush Fenway Racing has had on the Sprint Cup side, it was a definite given that there were major changes needed to be made within the organization to get things back to being a winning organization.

Based on what I have seen from twitter and a few articles, the organization finally hired outside of the company and went into other companies backyards and grabbed engineers.  With Michael Waltrip Racing falling out at the end of the season that was one of the places I had a feeling RFR would go and get some new help from.  The team hired Kent Day who will now oversee the simulation program at Roush.  They also have hired crew chief Brian Pattie who worked with Clint Bowyer at MWR as Greg Biffle's crew chief.

Romberg brings years of aerodynamic experience from Hendrick

Roush Fenway also went to Hendrick Motorsports and grabbed Kurt Romberg away.  He was the chief aerodynamicist at HMS for 15 years, he worked with General Motors and Petty Enterprises prior to joining Hendrick.  In the past, Roush has been a program that graduated crew members up from the next level, including engineers instead of hiring away from other organizations.  So when I heard that they had done this it was very good news to see.


The infostructure at Roush Fenway the last few years hasn't been at it's best.  It was time to clean house and start with a clean slate in my opinion.  The same issues have been a burden on this team since the 2012 season and there were no signs of it getting any better this past season either.  So when you are put in this position you have to clean up some of the mess.

Ford is bringing in a new body for its Ford Fusion next season and from all the details that I've been told, it will be a much better race car than the one the last couple of seasons.  That might be one of the keys to hiring Romberg because since Ford brought the Fusion in, Roush has struggled highly. It also might be key that the low downforce package will put into place at the majority of the tracks on the schedule in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

This will be Trevor Bayne's second season full-time with Roush Fenway Racing in the Sprint Cup

Stenhouse (left) and Bayne there were 5 top-tens in 2015

Series when 2016 gets here, while I was disappointed in how Bob Osborne handled some of the situations this season; I think it is best that a driver and crew chief get a hold of one another for two seasons.  In my opinion that has been one of the biggest issues for fellow Roush Fenway driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr., he hasn't been able have a steady coach up on the box his first three seasons until he worked with Nick Sandler this past season.  I listened to Trevor Bayne's radio for much of this season and when the same issues come up every weekend with the race cars handling characteristics then there lies a problem with how the chassis is being setup and simulated.

Bayne continuously had an issue with a race car that was tight in the center and loose off.  If you've been around racing long enough you know that it is a bad situation for a driver to have to have inside the car.  So with all of the new hires that came in at Roush that have been announced it is hope that they just might be able to fix some of the issues that the drivers have been faced with the last three seasons.

A year later the question still lingers on

It's been a year since Trevor Bayne made his last start for the Wood Brothers organization and fans are still commenting on him not being in the 21 car.  Bayne was picked up by Jack Roush in September of 2010 when the Micheal Waltrip Racing team let him go because of lack of sponsorship.
Roush started a new program in the Xfinity Series to finish off the rest of the year and Bayne made one start with the Wood Brothers in 2010 at Texas.  Bayne was really only meant to be a one or two year loan to the Wood Brothers from Roush Fenway but instead the endeavor turned out to go a lot longer than expected until Roush could find the right sponsor for Bayne.  Now with the rumors of the Wood Brothers going full-time I am reading many comments on why they did not do it when he was racing for the organization.

Bayne was backed by Roush when he ran for the Wood Brothers.  The chassis's were the same as the RFR team were racing on the Sprint Cup side and Roush didn't have the funding to run the car full-time while Bayne was there.  He was meant to be a loaner for the organization until Jack Roush could find a slot in his organization to put Trevor Bayne in a car full-time and that happened last year when AdvoCare stepped up to the plate to sponsor Bayne in a multi-year agreement with the driver and team.  I've seen so many comparisons between Trevor Bayne and Ryan Blaney in the 21 car, but you really can't compare them when you look at the equipment that the two drivers have and had while they were in the car.

Blaney is running cars that on any given weekend are capable of winning, while Trevor Bayne was in struggling equipment from 2012 forward.  Roush just didn't put it all together to bring the Woods back to full-time material.  That was not the goal at the time when Bayne was put in the 21 car because at the time, Roush couldn't get sponsorship on the Xfinity side for Bayne, and at the time his teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr wasn't fully sponsored either. So Bayne was put with the the Wood Brothers and that is where he raced for five years until the deal with AdvoCare came into place last May.

I see a lot of wishful fans that post things about "That should be Trevor in the 21 car now."  Well the fact of the matter is, Jack Roush had a plan from the get go with Bayne and he has followed through with it.  Bayne got one of the most prestigious cars in NASCAR when he took over the 6 car.  Mark Martin gave praise to team for putting Bayne behind the wheel of the No. 6 car and this was just his first full season in the car and it has been a learning curve of course.

Homestead Pre-Race Notes

Homestead marks the final race of the 2015 season and Trevor Bayne looks to finish it on a high note in his No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Fusion after finishing 34th last weekend in Phoenix.  This will be the fifth time that Bayne has started at Homestead-Miami Speedway in his Sprint Cup Series career when the green flag drops this weekend at the 1.5 mile track in South Florida.
Quoting Trevor Bayne:
"Homestead is my favorite track on the schedule.  You can make up some time around the outside there.  It's just a lot of fun to race on.  I'm excited to get there this weekend and this 2015 season on a strong note for everyone back at the shop and on this AdvoCare team."
Notes of Interest:

• Trevor Bayne's made four previous starts at Homestead with a career best finish being a 23rd in 2012.  Bayne has an average start of 20.8 and an average finish of 32.5.  
• Bayne also has four career starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the 1.5 mile track.  He has two top-fives and two top-tens, along with two 11th place finishes.  He has an average start of 9.8 and an average finish of 8.0, while leading 5 laps at the track.
• Trevor Bayne will make his 94th career start at Homestead.  He has 1 win, 1 top-five and 5 top-ten finishes.  He has an average start of 23.0 and an average finish of 26.0.  

Phoenix Pre-Race Notes

After blowing a tire last weekend at Texas and finishing 39th, Trevor Bayne is coming to Phoenix International Raceway to make his third career start at the low-banked tri-oval venue in Avondale, Arizona.  His 28th place effort earlier this year at the track is his best of the two efforts.  Bayne competed in 10 NASCAR Xfinity Series events at the track with one top-five finish and six top-ten finishes.  Bayne's crew chief Bob Osborne has won at Phoenix once in his career, this race during the 2010 season.
Quoting Trevor Bayne:
"Phoenix is a fun track to race on.  Hopefully we can have a solid run there this weekend with this AdvoCare team and for everyone back at the shop.  We're all ready to go for our last west coast race of the season and look to finish on a strong note."
Notes of Interest:

• Trevor Bayne has made two starts at Phoenix in Sprint Cup, he has an average start of 34.5 and an average finish of 34.0.  His best was 28th earlier this season at in the No. 6 AdvoCare Ford.
• In 10 NASCAR Xfinity races, Bayne recorded 1 top-five (4th in 2013) and 6 top-tens that all came in consecutive events from November 2011 to November of 2014.  Bayne had an average start of 12.5 and an average finish of 13.1
• This is the next to last race for the Sprint Cup Series on the 2015 schedule with Homestead being the season finale.

Scott's Pit Box: NASCAR needs more drivers with integrity and dignity

As a long time fan of NASCAR since the 1980s, I was very disgusted to see Matt Kenseth pile drive Joey Logano in the wall at Martinsville Speedway last week.  I have been a fan of this sport since I was probably four years old, and the last two weeks I have witnessed two races bring a black eye on this sport have grown up with.

I never can remember Mark Martin retaliating on someone

As a long-time fan of Mark Martin I never once witnessed Mark take someone out intentionally with anger. In the last few years this sport has changed into more of an entertainment business than it is a sport.  It just isn't true racing anymore, when guys go out and they take each other out whenever they want to go.  I know a lot of people are not going to agree with me, but this is fact, I know something that did not happen; Mark Martin didn't do this and who did Kenseth get mentored by?  Yeah that's right Mark Martin.

The interesting thing is fans want to praise Kenseth for what he did on Sunday and think that NASCAR put too much on him with the two-race suspension.  In my opinion he should have gotten worse because he destroyed two very expensive race cars and when he drove Logano into the wall it became a safety concern.  Then you throw on top of that, Kenseth took out a championship contender while he was leading the race and possibly on his way to winning his fourth straight event.

You can put up races like Earnhardt and Labonte from 95 and 99, the few incidents that Jeff Gordon and Rusty Wallace had while racing for a win at Richmond but don't compare them to what happened this past weekend.  Here's why:  They were racing hard for a victory.  Kenseth was 9 laps down to the race leader and he deliberately took out Logano and that's what makes this so different.  It is dirty and cold.

This past weekend Trevor Bayne could have easily taken Kevin Harvick out for what he did in Talladega.  However, Bayne did something much different than Kenseth did to make things tougher on Harvick.  While struggling with a car laps down he held Harvick up and made it tougher for the other driver to pass.  Like a member of our group said we still have drivers left that have integrity left, Trevor Bayne being one of them.  One that doesn't use horrible foul language on the radio, blame others for wrecks, whine about the car they're giving, have constant negative interviews, and be ungrateful to his team.  Fans are getting what they want and it is sad.

The sport has a big black eye over its face right now.

When the past two weeks we've seen fans throwing beer cans over the wall at Talladega and Martinsville, that just shows what kind of state this sport is.  We've got a bunch of hillbilly drunks in that stands that want to throw beer cans at drivers then they don't need to be in the stands.  The same way with drivers wanting to play judge and jury on the race track.  The sport has taken a huge change since Bill France Jr., passed away and handed it over to his son.

As I stated before this has become more of an entertainment series than real racing.  Popularity matters more than standards and NASCAR needs to get that straightened out as they've now set a strict standard with what Kenseth did this past week.  Next season if Jimmy Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Danica Patrick or Carl Edwards wrecks someone the way Kenseth did on Sunday; they deserve the same punishment as the precedence has been set by the sport.  There shouldn't be any free ride if you are the most popular driver in the sport.

Texas Pre-Race Notes

This weekend will be Trevor Bayne's 11th trip to Texas Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series this weekend.  Bayne made his Sprint Cup Series debut at the track in 2010 with the Wood Brothers Racing team and finished 17th, which has been his career best finish at the venue three times.  Bayne looks to get his No. 6 AdvoCare Ford back in contention this weekend with the series returning to another 1.5 mile track.  He is coming off a miserable run at Martinsville where he finished 31st, five laps down to the race leaders at the half-mile paper-clip oval.
Quoting Trevor Bayne:
''Texas has always been a special track for me, this is where I made my first Cup start and where I got my first Xfinity Series win.  I always love racing here and am looking forward to this weekend.  It's in AdvoCare's backyard and hopefully we can give them a great show with our AdvoCare Ford Fusion.''
Notes of Interest

• Trevor Bayne has made 10 starts in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.  He has a three 17th place finishes as his best career finishes coming in 2010, and both 2011 events.  He has an average start of 19.4 and an average finish of 22.4.
• Trevor Bayne won his first career Xfinity Series race in November of 2011 at Texas Motor Speedway.
• In 9 career starts in the Xfinity Series events at the track, Bayne's win was his only top-five and top-ten at the track.  He has an average start of 9.3 and an average finish of 16.6

The past two weekends show why NASCAR is losing its integrity

First when a guy takes out another to deliberately cause a caution flag and end the event, so he can advance into the next round of the Chase and NASCAR says there is nothing wrong with it.  The following week, a guy five laps down to the race leader plays judge, jury, and executioner all in the same incident by taking out the race leader because he didn't like how a race finished two weeks ago.
NASCAR is losing its hold on what matters.  There is no integrity left in the sport, because NASCAR has let it slip away with this new generation.  I listened to Chocolate Myers this morning on Sirius Radio and I whole heartily agree with him.  What happened yesterday made me sick to be a NASCAR fan, I like Myers have been a part of this sport for my entire life and have seen just about every race since the mid 1980s.  When I see fans praise an idiot that is five laps down take out the race leader, you are just wrong.

Back in the 1990s, I was a Mark Martin fan.  I never once seen Mark Martin take his revenge out on someone on the track.  He wasn't that type of guy.  Like Myers said this morning I can't remember a time when Dale Earnhardt was five laps down and took a race leader out that was running for a championship.  There were a lot of races through the 1990s I seen Earnhardt take someone out while racing for the win, I seen Jeff Gordon and Rusty Wallace do it a few times around Richmond.  The fact is the integrity of this sport has been lost because we don't have patrons left that carry on what this sport really has stood for over the years.

These last two weeks I have really seen a black eye put on the sport that Big Bill France built.  When you have two guys that have deliberately made their minds up to be judge and jury and change the total outcome of how this championship is going to be played out, it is sickening.to me.  Who do I blame for this change in the sport, Brian France and Mike Helton for allowing this nonsense to go on and on.  I think NASCAR needs to set a standard now with Kenseth after taking Logano out on Sunday.  Here is why.

In November of 2011, NASCAR suspended Kyle Busch for taking Ron Hornaday out of a Camping World Truck Series event and deliberately changing the outcome of the Truck Series championship, now we're in a different series.  We're talking Sprint Cup and the fact is a standard is much higher in Sprint Cup than the two lower tier divisions of NASCAR; so I believe Kenseth needs to face a much harsher penalty.

Kenseth's fans want to argue that there is no difference in what happened Sunday than what happened in the race at Kansas.  If you think that you are out of your mind because there is a BIG BIG difference in the two situations.  When you are racing for the win and you block a guy, not once, not twice, but three times, you are asking to get punted.  That was racing for the win.  People say Logano did it to keep Kenseth out of the Chase, well the fact is, it is Logano's job to win races every given Sunday.  Kenseth's deal on Sunday was premeditated and that is the big difference.

Is it time Bayne shows a meaner side?

Bayne's car was just one of many demolished from Harvick's decision

There's just so much a driver can take until he learns to fight back, or in racing terms retaliate on the track.  We all can remember Joey Logano having his issues with Kevin Harvick and several other drivers before he learned not to take their crap on the track and he's grown into a winning race car driver.  I think that it is time that Trevor Bayne do the same thing with some of these drivers that he seems constantly have wrecking him, including Harvick.

In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Bayne had a run in with Austin Dillon at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2012 when he was running the No. 60 We Back Pat Ford Mustang.  Dillon wrecked Bayne while the two were battling for position, and at the end of the race Bayne showed some frustration toward Dillon.  The following year at Iowa while the two were battling for the win, I think had that incident not went on at Bristol, Trevor Bayne might have raced Dillon a little bit differently when they went for the race lead.  Bayne roughed Dillon up a bit to get around him for the lead, and that was the first time that I could remember him really showing that he would use his aggravation towards winning.

While the cars at Roush Fenway Racing don't seem to be competitive to compete with those of Harvick's, it might be time that Bayne gives Harvick a taste of his own medicine at one of these next few tracks even if it means keeping Harvick from making the final round in the Chase.  Bayne was on his way to probably a season best finish last weekend at Talladega.  Like I said earlier this week in my blog, all you have to do is watch Harvick's hand motion during the in car camera video and you can see him jolt his hands to the right when Bayne goes to the outside to make the pass for the position.

I guess in NASCAR's eyes it just didn't happen that way.  One of their major stars wrecks a young driver to stay in the Chase so to them it wasn't a matter of principle since Harvick has a major sponsor like Budweiser on his car.  I go back to a scene from the movie Days of Thunder  where Tim says "NASCAR don't see anything like that.  Harry responds "Oh I guess it ain't happening, then,  under the watchful eye of experts like you and NASCAR."  The fact is, it doesn't take a genius to see the hand motions of Harvick and know what he did.  He can defend himself, his crew chief can block fans like myself on twitter but there's going to be a question mark on Talladega no matter however you look at it.  Harvick wrecked Bayne.

He not only took Bayne out, he took away the chance for several drivers like Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Denny Hamlin to advance on by causing that wreck.  So I'm sure in the back of their heads their is a thought of a little bit of payback going on.  But maybe this will be a wake up call for Trevor Bayne to stop taking crap from people like Kevin Harvick on the race track.

Martinsville Pre-Race Notes

Trevor Bayne is coming off a 21st place finish at Talladega last weekend where he was taken out on the final lap of the race by Kevin Harvick while making a run for 8th position.  This weekend will be Bayne's third career start at the half-mile paper-clip in Martinsville, Va., he finished 18th there in the Spring event in the No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Fusion.
Quoting Trevor Bayne:
"Martinsville is a fun track to race on.  There's a lot of beating and banging that goes on and trouble can happen anywhere.  We can ran pretty well in the spring with the AdvoCare Ford and hopefully we can keep our nose clean and get an even better result on Sunday."
Notes of Interest

• Trevor Bayne has made two Sprint Cup Series starts at Martinsville, with a career best finish of 18th.  Bayne has an average start of 30.5 and an average finish of 26.5 at the track.
• In 90 starts so far in the Sprint Cup Series, Bayne has accumulated 1 win, 1 top-five, and 5 top-ten finishes in his career, while leading 29 laps.
• In 32 starts this season, Trevor Bayne has scored 2 top-ten finishes this season and sits 29th in the series standings.

Weekend Schedule
Friday, October 30
11:30 AM - 12:55 PM Sprint Cup Practice 1
4:20 PM Sprint Cup Series Qualifying
Saturday, October 31
9:00 - 9:55 AM Sprint Cup Practice 2
12:00 PM - 12:50 PM Sprint Cup Practice Happy Hour
Sunday, November 1
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What if it were Earnhardt, Gordon, Edwards or Johnson that Harvick wrecked?

I have had this floating around social media the last couple days because we all knew that NASCAR wasn't going to penalize Kevin Harvick for wrecking Trevor Bayne on Sunday.  So now the question is, had he wrecked someone with popularity such as Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, or Carl Edwards would NASCAR have done it differently.

I truly deep down think they would have done it much different.  Bayne gained some popularity when he won the 2011 Daytona 500 but he has been criticized lately for wrecking cars and a lot isn't of his doing, it is the car setup.  He isn't Jeff Gordon, he isn't Dale Jr, Carl Edwards, or Johnson so you really have to think if Harvick wrecked someone with more popularity and fans that NASCAR would have handled this much differently.  NASCAR has different standards for different drivers and they showed it this weekend.

I got into an argument on twitter with a Joey Logano fan that claimed Harvick was looking for someone to push him when Bayne wouldn't and that's why the steering wheel turned right.  That's the biggest bunch of horse manure I've ever seen.  Harvick knew his only chance of making the Chase was causing a caution flag and he did it when he turned the steering wheel right when Bayne went to make his move to get around him for the position on the track.  That is low down dirty racing if you ask me.

The sad part is, Harvick probably did it to Bayne because he knows he likely wouldn't retaliate later on down in the season because he's too clean.  If I were Bayne I'd wait until Harvick needed to win a race and bump him at Martinsville or Phoenix and claim something broke on the car.  But that's not how Trevor Bayne races.

The fact is NASCAR turned their heads because it was Bayne and not someone of importance in their eyes with popularity.

All you have to do is watch

Bayne and Osborne weren't all smiles at the end of the race

I didn't do a race recap this week, only because the finish is what matters this week.

Trevor Bayne finished 21st, however, he should have recorded a top-10 if it were not for a move by Kevin Harvick to take him out of the race and cause the big mess at the end of the race.  All you have to do is watch the video that NBC provided on their website and you can see Harvick turning the steering wheel right when Trevor Bayne went to make the pass around him on the outside.

Sunday was looking like one of Trevor Bayne's strongest races of the season.  He had been able to come from the back to the front on several occasions.  On the final restart, Bayne lined up 9th and the 4 team asked the 6 if they would push them.  Bayne's crew chief Bob Osborne responded " F -(Expletive) No we're not going to push them with a bad motor."

On the Restart, Bayne went to the outside to get around Harvick and as you can see in the video

 footage that Harvick turned right caused the huge wreck by turning Bayne.  To the right is a transcript of the radio conversation between Harvick's crew chief Rodney Childress, the spotter and Harvick.

It appears that they were looking for a caution flag and Harvick wanted Bayne to push him.  However, Bob Osborne would have nothing of it on the 6 team channel.

The restart before, Harvick went to the high side and let the rest of the field go by, but it appeared on this one that he wasn't going to let them go. His remarks at the end of the race were very interesting.

"I wasn't running really well on the restarts." Harvick said. "Then at the end I was trying to get out of the way.  I don't know if I clipped the 6 of if he came across as I was coming up.  It was one of those days where everything went well until the very end until bottom fell out on those last couple of restarts when it cooled off. It has a broken exhaust pipe or something."

Bayne had a much different theory on the incident.

"That's a crappy way for Harvick to have to get in the Chase is to wreck somebody - what I believe to be on purpose - maybe it wasn't.  The restart before that he had the engine problems and got out of the way.  I think he realized if the caution came out he was gonna be fine, so so I go by and I get hooked in the left-rear.  Harvick is a really good driver.  I think he he knows the limits of his car and where it's at, so that's why I think it was intentional.  To me, we had a really good AdvoCare Ford Fusion.  I ran really good all day, was able to work my way toward the front.  I felt like we had a top-10 run, no doubt, and then you finish like that it ticks you off a little bit."

Don't judge Bayne or Blaney for what they did or are doing in the 21

I have been a a NASCAR fan for much of life, I've taken the walk through the NASCAR garage and know what goes on every Sunday morning to make sure that a team is prepared and ready to race.  It all starts with the driver and crew chief and the car.  So when you see fans putting up tweets on twitter comparing Trevor Bayne's statistics to Ryan Blaney's in the Wood Brothers car there is a little bit of a misconception there.

When Trevor Bayne raced for the Wood Brothers the chassis's were built at the Roush Fenway shop and then taken to the Wood Brothers shop to be worked on.  While now the cars are being built by Team Penske for Blaney, there's a totally different connection with the team that some fans just aren't putting together.  Who is to say that if Bayne were running the same cars that Blaney has that he wouldn't be putting up those kind of numbers, because at one point he was, and when Roush fell off, his numbers dwindled down with them.

The only thing that these two drivers have that are the same from this year to last year is the Roush-Yates engine under the hood of the car.  So when people go comparing these numbers of the two drivers, its very misleading to someone who doesn't know what really goes on with a team like the Wood Brothers that is supported team of another organization.  Even the crew chief is different from a year ago, Penske brought in someone of their own to work with Blaney.  Generally speaking when the move was made last year for Bayne to go full-time to Sprint Cup with Roush, Ford had a say in who went into the 21 car and it was Blaney.  Since he was part of the Penske organization, everything was changed around.

Roush Fenway is still struggling to find that right combination with their chassis setup, while Team Penske seems to be finding everything and visiting victor lane.  So the conception of this comparison is very misleading when you look at with all the facts laid out there.  But if you really want to get down to the grit of it all, Bayne's the one that has the Daytona 500 victory with the Wood Brothers.

Talladega Pre-Race Notes

Trevor Bayne will be making his 10th career start at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend when the Sprint Cup Series visits the 2.66 mile superspeedway in Talladega, AL.  Bayne is coming off a 18th place finish at Kansas in the No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Fusion after starting 19th.  Bayne finished 9th in the last restrictor plate race in July at Daytona International Speedway.  Earlier this season, Bayne was involved in a huge crash at Talladega after making contact with Kurt Busch and Paul Menard that took him out of the race in the Geico 500.
Quoting Trevor Bayne:
"This weekend will be crazy at Talladega.  With it being a Chase cutoff race lots of guys will be doing all they can to be up front.  I'm sure there will be plenty of three and four wide racing.  Hopefully we can avoid all of the chaos with this AdvoCare Ford and get a win for everyone here at Roush Fenway Racing."
Notes of Interest:

• Trevor Bayne has 9 career starts at Talladega Superspeedway.  He has 1 top-ten finish that came in the May 2012 event, he has an average start of 15.6 and an average finish of 29.3 at Talladega.  Bayne has led 16 laps in his career at the the track.
• Bayne made 4 starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Talladega, scoring 2 top-ten finishes, a career best of 6th in 2011.  He has an average start of 17.0 and average finish of 14.2 while leading 25 laps around the 2.66 mile track.
• Going into this weekend, Trevor Bayne has competed in all 31 races, scoring 2 top-ten finishes, and now sits 29th in the series standings.  

Kansas Race Recap

Trevor Bayne finished 18th in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on Sunday afternoon in his No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Fusion.   

Bayne started the weekend off by qualifying 19th on Friday afternoon, after advancing into second round of knockout qualifying.  Bayne took the green flag with the rest of the field and quickly began to slip back to 33rd with a very loose handling race car in 19 laps.  A caution at lap 31 when the 26 car pounded setup teams to come down pit road for adjustments, Bayne would leave in 30th position. 

 

Bayne would steadily work himself up as the race progressed through the run, but a battle with AJ Allmendinger brought some conflict.  Bayne had worked to pass the 47 car for over 15 laps, each time with Allmendinger blocking him.  Bayne eventually made the run around the 47 but the two cars made contact.  

Bayne would fall a lap down to the race leaders just passed the 100 lap mark of the race.  His No. 6 AdvoCare Ford went to the tight side.  However, even being one lap down to the race leaders he would progress through the running order.  He was in 19th at lap 171, and had moved to 16th by lap 225.  He would keep his track position in the top-20 throughout the latter stages of the race and was able to finish 18th after battling with teammate Greg Biffle late.

"Overall this was a good weekend for this AdvoCare team." Bayne said after the event.  "We came out out of the truck with good speed in practice and were able to put together a good afternoon.  Now it's on to Talladega. Hopefully we can get a win for everyone at Roush Fenway who works tirelessly on these cars each week."

Scott's Pit Box: 2016 Rules Package Unveiled

NASCAR has revealed that it will go with the lower down-force package that was ran at Kentucky and Darlington earlier this season for the 2016 season.

Next year's base package will include a 3.5-inch rear spoiler (currently 6 inches), a 0.25 inch front leading splitter edge (currently 2 inches) and a 33-inch wide radiator pan (currently 38 inches; it was 28 inches at Darlington and Kentucky this season).  The results of the package at Kentucky provide much better racing and the drivers and fans felt that it put more of the car in the drivers hands.

The package will also allow Goodyear Tire Company to develop a tire that will go with the new package and produce more fall-off, which would in return could hopefully lead to more passing.  A softer tire, such as the one ran at Darlington, led drivers to saving their tires.  The package is planned to be ran at all tracks with the exception of the two restrictor plate venues Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway; each track will have its own tire combinations and drive train configurations, a flexibility NASCAR looked to produce the best possible racing for different venues.

The other changes that will go with the package include adjusted rear gear ratios to maintain a 9,000 RPM maximum engine speed, and a 1.38 third gear ratio for tracks smaller than 1.25 miles.  The two plate tracks will also have a few tweaks of their own.  Engine roller lifters will replace the current lifters (adding approximately 10 horse power), which in turn will reduce the size of the restictor plate to 29/32 inches to 57/64 inches.  NASCAR will also make the new digital dashboard mandatory on all the cars in the Sprint Cup Series entire schedule for 2016.  Safety enhancements include a new fire suppression activation system, right-hand side double NACA duct to better cool drivers at the tracks where a side window is used and enhanced safety belt restraint system.

Trevor Bayne Diehards: Kansas Pre-Race Notes

Coming off a 22nd place finish at Charlotte last weekend, Trevor Bayne and his No. 6 AdvoCare crew are looking to get a solid finish out west in Kansas.  This will be Trevor Bayne's third career start at the 1.5 mile oval, with his best career finish coming in 2012 being a 21st place effort in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford.  The race weekend will get kicked off Friday at 11:30 am.for the opening practice.
Quoting Trevor Bayne:
"Kansas is going to be fast this weekend, I'm looking forward to getting there and improving on our finish from the spring.  Hopefully we can put together a strong weekend with this AdvoCare Ford and bring home a solid finish."
Notes of Interest:

• Trevor Bayne has 4 starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Kansas Speedway.  He has 3 top-ten finishes, with a career best of 8th.  He has an average start of 17.2 and an average finish of 14.0 in the 4 starts in the lower tier division.  
• Trevor Bayne sits 29th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points standings with six races remaining on the schedule.
• Vote for Trevor Bayne in the NASCAR Most Popular Driver Award at www.mostpopulardriver.com 

Trevor Bayne Diehards: Charlotte Race Recap

Trevor Bayne was able to come back from a an early unscheduled green flag pit stop for a loose wheel in the Bank of America 500 to finish 22nd in the event at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Bayne started the Bank of America 500 in 33rd position on Sunday after the event had been postponed due to the rain hitting the Charlotte area.  Bayne worked himself up to the 30th position before competition caution flag at lap 25.  He reported to crew chief Bob Osborne that the car tight on the exit of the corners.  The team took on four tires and made some adjustments on the car.

Bayne restarted in 31st position, but wouldn't waste time moving forward.  He was in 27th before the caution flag came out out at lap 60.  He was in 24th for the restart but would quickly radio to Osborne he had a bad vibration in the right-front.  After giving it a few laps, Bayne came to pit road for an unscheduled pit stop on lap 71 to find that they had a loose wheel.  It trapped him a lap down to the race leaders, but luckily a quick caution came out to keep them only one lap down.

Bayne battled back through the late stages of the event, making his way to 22nd at the checkered flag.

"Our AdvoCare Ford was getting quicker as the race went on" said Bayne.  "We just had some bad luck that made us have to come back down pit road.  I want to thank everyone on my team for not giving up today, it's not exactly the finish we want but we'll move on and get ready to go in Kansas."

Trevor Bayne Diehards: Charlotte Pre-Race Notes

Trevor Bayne will be making his seventh career Sprint Cup Series start at Charlotte Motor Speedway
this weekend in the Bank of America 500.  Bayne competed in five Charlotte events for the Wood Brothers Racing team and made his debut with Roush Fenway earlier this season in the Coca-Cola 600.  The No. 6 AdvoCare team is coming off a 31st place finish at Dover most recently and look to improve on their 27th place finish in the May event at Charlotte.  Trevor Bayne will be sporting a new paint scheme this weekend for AdvoCare and the National Breast Cancer Foundation at Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend.

Notes of Interest:

• Trevor Bayne will be making his 88th career Sprint Cup Series start this weekend.  He has 1 win, 1 top-five, and five top-ten finishes, leading 29 laps in his career.  
• In 6 career starts at Charlotte, Trevor Bayne has yet to score a top-ten finish, his best career finish is a 16th in 2013.  He has an average start of 18.2 and an average finish of 23.3
• Trevor Bayne competed in 7 NASCAR Xfinity Series starts with 1 top-five, and 5 top-ten finishes, an average start of 12.9 and an average finish of 9.4, while leading 1 lap.
• Bayne has competed in all 29 events this season with 2 top-ten finishes and sits 29th in the series standings.
• Remember to Vote for Trevor Bayne in the NASCAR Most Popular Driver Award 

What's missing with the 6 team?

It seems to be an every week occurrence with the Roush Fenway No. 6 AdvoCare Ford to fall a lap down by the time the lap 40 mark comes around.  I gave Bob Osborne the first 3/4 of the season to see if the team would start making some turn around when they visited tracks for the second time around but now I am beginning to second guess the crew chief and his past record.

Osborne and Carl Edwards won races together but just like with Edwards in 2012, I am seeing those Bayne's car.

same calls made that were made in 2012.  The car isn't getting any better with adjustments, the same problem week after week, race after race.  "Tight in the center, loose off." With a racing background, I know that is one of the worst things any driver needs to have to run with.  And the fact is it doesn't seem as if Osborne and the engineers on his crew can figure out where the problem is at with

Oddly enough, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. found some speed in his car with crew chief Nick Sandler as of late and the 17 team finished 8th yesterday.  Bayne has had finishes this season that showed signs of improvement but there is just so much I look at and have to wonder if Osborne was the right choice for the job as his crew chief.  Next season there will be a new body each car manufacturer and if the rumors are true most races will be ran with the low downforce package.

With major changes going on in the NASCAR world, possibly Roush needs to look at hiring engineers outside of their own team.  MWR is shutting down operation at the end of the season which leaves a lot of employees without jobs, so if possible Roush could hire from there.  I look at how Jack Roush is with people like Osborne and he likes to keep them there, I've always called them high-profile employees.  I don't see them making a crew chief switch so, the only other major switch would be with the engineers on the team.

When a team is struggling to find solutions to their issues and there doesn't seem to be any resolution to the problem then there lies an issue with leadership.  It has been over a year since Roush Fenway Racing visited victory lane and 2-plus years since one of their current drivers has made it to victory lane.

Trevor Bayne Diehards: Dover Pre-Race Notes

Trevor Bayne looks to improve on his first trip at the 'Monster Mile' earlier this season when the concrete track took a tole on his No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Fusion.  This will only be Bayne's second start at the track in the Sprint Cup Series at Dover International Speedway, and it's hard not to improve on a 43rd place finish that the team had back in May.  Bayne improved on his first start at New Hampshire last weekend when the series ran its second event at the 1.058 mile oval, now he looks to improve at Dover.
Quoting Trevor Bayne:  
"Dover is a fast, high-banked track that is really fun to race on.  It's a place that we had some success in the Xfinity Series and hopefully we can get a solid run there this Sunday with our AdvoCare Ford."
Notes of Interest

• Trevor Bayne owns 7 career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at the Monster Mile, he has 2 top-fives, 6 top-tens, an average start of 12.6 and an average finish of 9.3.  Bayne's best finish came in 2014 when he finished 2nd at the track in the AdvoCare Ford Mustang.
• This weekend Trevor Bayne will make his 87th career Sprint Cup Series start when the green flag drops this weekend at Dover.  He has 1 win, 1 top-five, 5 top-tens and led 29 laps in his career.
• Going into this weekend, Trevor Bayne sits 29th in the Sprint Cup Series points standings
• Remember to vote for Trevor Bayne in the NASCAR Most Popular Driver Award

Weekend Race Schedule

• Friday, October 2 - First Practice 11:00 AM - 12:20 PM
• Friday, October 2 - Coors Light Pole Qualifying 3:45 PM
• Saturday, October 3 - Second Practice 11:00 AM - 11:55 AM
• Saturday, October 3 - Final Practice 2:00 PM - 2:50 PM
• Sunday, October 4 - AAA 400 2:30 PM

Trevor Bayne Diehards: Loudon Race Recap

Trevor Bayne posted a 16th place finish Sunday afternoon at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire.  The finish was Bayne's best finish since finishing 15th at Bristol four races before.

Bayne started the event in 33rd position and would make a run forward before the first caution flag fell.  He worked himself up to the 25th position where he would be when the caution flag fell on lap 43 to give crew chief Bob Osborne a chance to bring Bayne into the pits and work on the car.  The team took four tires, made a chassis adjustment to help with a loose handling condition on entry and a tight handling condition through the center of the turn.

The race resumed on lap 44, however, it didn't last long as fluid was laid down on the track to bring out the caution flag again on lap 48.  Osborne took the chance to gain some track position and left Bayne on the track and moved up to 20th position.  With the worn out tires, however, Bayne slipped back to 27th.  Bayne would fall a lap down to the leaders on lap 107, but luckily a caution flag fell at lap 120 to give Bayne the lucky dog position.

Bayne and the team worked to get the No. 6 AdvoCare Ford right through the next 100 laps of the event.  He made his way into the top-20 at lap 165, and fought his way up to 18th before the team brought him to pit road under caution on lap 191.  He returned to the track running 21st and was able to hold his ground inside the top-20 until another yellow on lap 205.  The team used some strategy to gain some track position once again and put themselves 7th on the board.

The race restarted on lap 210, and Bayne quickly went to work trying to hold off other competitors on fresher rubber.  The biggest question was whether a few could make it on fuel.  In the final stages of the event, Bayne gained several positions when race leader Kevin Harvick ran out of fuel, along with Kurt Busch and put them in 16th position.

"That was a pretty good run for the AdvoCare Ford," said Bayne afterward.  "We were really able to make gains during each run and were able to get our car to handle pretty well.  I'm happy it was a solid finish and we'll look to gain on this going into next weekend in Dover."

Trevor Bayne Diehards: Keyscaper Product September

Keyscaper's 6600 mAh Power Bank will keep you going on that trip to the race track.  With Trevor Bayne's No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Fusion printed on the front of the power bank and an indicator for the charge left on the power bank it is a great addition to any fans lineup.

The power bank will charge your favorite device and give it the charge it needs on the go at the race track.  For $59.99 it will give you a great charge and is officially licensed.

It will charge your your iPhone, iPad, or Andriod Smart Phone or tablet on the go.  Visit Keyscaper's website to find out more.

Trevor Bayne Diehards: New Hampshire Pre-Race Notes

No. 6 AdvoCare Ford driver Trevor Bayne races into Loudon, New Hampshire this weekend for the second time in his career.   Bayne is looking to improve on his first start the 1.058 mile oval earlier this season when he finished 32nd in the AdvoCare Ford.  In four career starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Bayne has 1 top-five and 3 top-ten finishes at the track, while leading 58 circuits around the track.

Quoting Trevor Bayne:

"I'm looking forward to heading back to New Hampshire again this weekend with the AdvoCare Ford.  New Hampshire is a fun track to race on and hopefully we can improve on where we were the first time around and get a solid run on Sunday."

Notes of Interest:

• Trevor Bayne will be making his 86th career Sprint Cup Series start this weekend 
• Bayne has recorded 1 win, 1 top-five, and five top-ten finishes throughout the first 85 starts of his career.
• Going into this weekend's race at NHMS, Bayne is 29th in the series standings, five points behind teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Trevor Bayne Diehards: Chicago Pre-Race Notes

Trevor Bayne goes into his third start at Chicagoland Speedway this weekend in the No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Fusion for Roush Fenway Racing.  Bayne has a 20th and 23rd place finish in his two previous starts in the Sprint Cup Series at the track that were behind the wheel of the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford.  Bayne is coming off a 23rd place finish at Richmond last weekend.

In Xfinity Series competition, Chicagoland Speedway was one of Bayne's most competitive venues. In 8 career starts in the series, Bayne scored 3 top-fives and 4 top-ten finishes, including a second and a fifth place effort in the two events in 2014.  Bayne has an average start of 12.2 and an average finish of 10.9 at the track in the lower tier division.
Quoting Trevor Bayne:
"Chicago is a fun track to race on.  It's one of those tracks that let's you race on any of the grooves, which is what I like.  We ran well there in the Xfinity Series and hopefully some of that can translate over to our AdvoCare Ford in the Cup Series this weekend."
Notes of Interest

• Trevor Bayne has logged 84 career starts in the Sprint Cup Series.  He has 1 win, 1 top-five, 5 top-tens, led 29 laps, he has an average start of 23.0 and average finish of 25.9
• Bayne enters this weekend 28th in the Sprint Cup Series points standings, he is 35 points behind Sam Hornish Jr for 27th.  Complete Sprint Cup Standings
• Vote for Trevor Bayne for the NASCAR NMPA Most Popular Driver Award 

Scott's Pit Box: Roush's problem isn't with driver talent

Trevor Bayne and Jack Roush

In the past few weeks I've read some columns and blogs where many writers are pointing to Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., being the main problem at Roush Fenway Racing.  I have to wonder about some of these writers and if they really do know a thing about what is really going on at Roush Fenway Racing right now.

Bayne and Stenhouse both have struggled but when you look at their teammate and veteran driver Greg Biffle he is right there with them through much of the season.  As the season has progressed both the younger drivers have began to run better than Biffle, so that has to make you wonder there; if the issue could be related to information that Biffle is providing the team since he is the senior driver of the company now.  Roush's struggles began before both of these drivers arrived on the scene in Sprint Cup full-time.

The problems began in 2012 and the issues haven't been pin-pointed.  At the end of last year Mark McArdle and Kevin Kidd were both hired for two major positions in hopes of bringing a new look to the organization and finding part of the issues.  I have read so much that if you were put Chris Buescher in one of these drivers cars he'd be running in the top-ten and as big of a fan as I am of Buescher, I think the results would be exactly the same for one major reason - the cars.  These cars are all having the same handling characteristics week in and week out.  I've been listening to the AdvoCare team radio each week and most weeks you hear 'Tight center, loose off' and that is a bad handling issue to have at almost every race track NASCAR visits.

Bayne talks to crew chief Bob Osborne at Richmond

Crew Chief Bob Osborne is in his first season back since 2012 and I have really liked how he and Trevor Bayne worked together along with spotter Freddie Kraft.  Also Stenhouse has a rookie crew chief with Nick Sandler and the two seem to finally be making some strides.  In my opinion that has been one of Stenhouse's problematic issues, he has not been able to work with a crew chief longer than one season before RFR has made a change to his team.

So we look at other issues.  At Kentucky earlier this season when NASCAR first introduced the lower down force rules package, Bayne and Stenhouse both performed well.  The two ran among the top-ten and were competitors for solid finishes.  Stenhouse pointed out this week to someone that he felt with this high down force package that NASCAR currently runs, their cars do turn as well as everyone else.  He said it was something that they were just missing their race car and maybe in their front suspension, so when the load was put on the car it didn't turn like it should.  If NASCAR does run the rules package in 2016, it might be a helping hand to RFR and its teams.

With Michael Waltrip Racing shutting down at the end of the season it might be a good time for Roush to go hunting for new engineers for their team.  I've read comments from fans that they think that Roush should purchase a chassis from Penske, here's your problem fans.  Penske likely isn't going to sell to a rival team like Roush and provide the same information that they have.

Trevor Bayne Diehards: Richmond Race Report

Trevor Bayne recorded a 23rd place finish in his No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Fusion on Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway in the Federated Auto Parts 400.

Bayne started the race in the 28th position and quickly began to fall behind as he reported to crew chief Bob Osborne that his No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Fusion was tight through the center of the corner and loose off.  A caution on lap 37 enabled the team to get back on the lead lap with the lucky dog, Osborne brought Bayne to pit road for four tires and an adjustment on the car to help improve the tight handling car.

Bayne returned to the track in 30th, and he was able to quickly work his way up to 26th during the long green flag run.  Bayne worked himself up to the 22nd position just after a lap 209 caution flag.

He was able to maintain his track position for much of the last half of the event, moving into the top-20 with 50 laps remaining in the event.  The long run continued until a caution flag with less than 20 laps remaining.  Bayne fell back to 23rd in the closing laps of the event where he would finish.

"Our AdvoCare Ford was pretty quick on the long run," said Bayne.  "We were able to make up some ground on guys during those long stretches and that really helped us.  We'll take this finish and move on to Chicago and see what we can do there."

NASCAR needs to stick to low down force package

For the two races that NASCAR ran the low down-force package at Kentucky Speedway and at Darlington Raceway it was clear that the competition was much better and the cars were more in the drivers hands than with the standard 2015 package that NASCAR has ran for much of the season.

The three significant changes that were put into the Sprint Cup Series package for last Sunday's race at Darlington.  The spoiler was 3-1/2 inches (instead of 3 inches at Kentucky) and the splitter featured a 1/4 inch leading ledge.  Throw in a tire that was built for this low down force package and it made for better racing.  The package provided 26 lead changes at Darlington this past weekend, compared to the 22 last Spring at Darlington Raceway.  Many drivers and fans were lobbying with NASCAR for the package to be put in place for the Chase, however, NASCAR has said they will go with the 2015 package for the Chase.

NASCAR has to do something to save itself as many fans feel the sport is faltering due to bad competition.  The lower down force seemed to give fans a little bit more hope that the racing would be getting better for the future.  Many drivers feel it put the car back in there hands for the first time in years.  When you take the the front splitter and the rear spoiler away, it allowed the second place car to at least make a gain on the leader during the race.

The biggest obstacle for NASCAR in 2016 if they go to this package will be going to places such as Michigan, Indianapolis, and Fontana where the track is over two-miles in length and speeds reach over 200 mph already without a low spoiler.  However there are ways to decrease the speed down in the cars and still keep the competition solid on the track.