It was September of 2010 that Trevor Bayne first joined the Roush Fenway organization after he was let loose by Diamond-Waltrip Racing when no sponsorship could be secured for the No. 99 team. It didn't take long for news to start spreading that Jack Roush was going to put the young kid behind the wheel of one of his Xfinity Series cars, even if it meant sponsoring him on his own.
After five years of waiting it out, through the good and the bad, Trevor Bayne is finally able to make a full-time start with Roush Fenway's No. 6 team. Bayne was asked how excited he was for this upcoming season and replied "Yeah we are, I can't thank Jack Roush and Ford enough for the last five years, that they've stood behind me to get to this point." said Bayne. "It's been a little bit of wait but it's been a great time driving the No. 21 car but now I get the opportunity to drive for the man I signed up to drive for 6 years ago"
"Pressure, I don't feel any pressure I feel like I have my own expectations, but I don't feel any pressure from it. I feel like I've had enough experience over the last few years to go out there and give everything I got every lap. I think when you start feeling pressure that's when you make mistakes. I just have to know I'm going to give it my all."
Bayne has a few tracks on the schedule that he has yet to make a visit to in his career. Of those are Pocono, Martinsville, and Sonoma and it sounds like plans are in the works to possibly run the ARCA race at Pocono and to make a run in the K&N West Series race at Sonoma if possible. He will have veteran crew chief Bob Osborne on board this season so it will be an extra step in finding his grip in the series.
People look at the last few years of Bayne running the No. 21 car and question his statistics but he made a point that while running the part-time schedule with the famed Wood Brothers organization. That even though they ran the races, the split where they would run two-three races and then the major break would throw them off in the summer time to start all over again.
Later on PRN he was asked about pressure with the car number and responded "A little but I've had that with the 21 car as well," stated Bayne. "The two cars I've gotten to drive there are a lot of shoes to fill. I can't thank Jack enough for letting me pull out his 6 car."
"I think just being part of this group with Ricky and Greg, I'm hopefully going to catch the upswing a little bit with Roush Fenway Racing. "I feel like the last couple of years has been a little tough on them."
"Competition wise, I have Bob Osborne on my box. He's very talented and a lot of experience crew chief and won a lot of races and gives me confidence moving forward."
There is still no clear answer on whether or not Bayne will be able to compete for Sprint Cup Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year with the new rules that NASCAR put in place a few years back, however, it appears that he will be illegible to run for the award.
"It's hard to believe Daytona was [four] years ago and I feel really
thankful for the opportunities I've had over the past few years to
develop as a driver and a person," Bayne said. "I'm probably more
appreciative for this opportunity than had I gone Sprint Cup racing full
time in 2011. Jack has stood behind me and been a man of his word and I
appreciate that."
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