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.

Trevor Bayne Diehards: Federated Auto Parts 400 Preview

Trevor Bayne will make his second career start at Richmond International Raceway this weekend in the No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Fusion for Roush Fenway Racing.  Bayne ran the Spring event at Richmond earlier this season and finished 24th at the 3/4 mile short track.  In eight starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Richmond, Bayne recorded two top-five finishes, and three top-ten finishes, he recorded his best finish of third in September of 2010 after starting in 8th position in the event while racing for MWR.
Quoting Trevor Bayne on Richmond: 
"This weekend in Richmond will be pretty intense.  It's always an action-packed race where anything and everything can happen.  Hopefully we can keep our car clean all night and have a solid run with the AdvoCare Ford."

Notes of Interest for Richmond

• Trevor Bayne has ran 83 Sprint Cup Series starts in his career, 1 win, 1 top-five, and 5 top-ten finishes in the series.  Bayne has an average start of 22.9 and an average finish of 26.0
• Trevor Bayne is 28th in the Sprint Cup Series points standings going into the last race before the Chase, he is 12 points ahead of teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
• Bayne has eight career starts in the Xfinity Series at RIR, he has 2 top-five finishes, 3 top-tens, completed 1959 of 2002 laps, has an average start of 7.9 and an average finish of 12.8.
• Vote for Trevor Bayne for the NMPA Motor Popular Driver - http://www.nascar.com/sprintmostpopulardriver

Trevor Bayne Diehards: Southern 500 Preview

No. 6 AdvoCare Ford driver Trevor Bayne will be making his first start in the Sprint Cup Series at Darlington Raceway this weekend in the Bojangles' Southern 500.  Bayne will be sporting a 1998 Mark Martin throwback paint scheme in honor of Roush Fenway legend Mark Martin who won 35 times in the No. 6 Roush Ford.

Bayne has 3 previous starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the famed egg-shaped Darlington Raceway.  Bayne's best finish came last year at the track when he finished 9th in the No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Mustang last Spring.  The 24 year old driver from Knoxville, Tennessee has ran all 24 events this season with 2 top-ten finishes this season at Michigan and Daytona.
Quoting Trevor Bayne:
"It's a huge honor to run this paint scheme in Darlington.  This scheme was so successful in the late '90s with Mark driving it, and it's really cool to see it back on the track and on the No. 6 Roush Fenway Ford again.
Bayne on Darlington:
"Darlington is going to be special this weekend.  Everyone is running some cool throwback paint schemes and to be racing at Darlington on Labor Day weekend is pretty cool.  This is a tricky race track that you really need to be on your toes at so you can avoid that 'Darlington Stripe' on the right side of your car.  I'm looking forward to the challenge this weekend."
Other Notes of Interest:

•  Trevor Bayne will be making his 83rd career Sprint Cup Series start this weekend.  
•  Trevor Bayne enters this weekend 27th in the Sprint Cup Series points standings after finishing 15th two weeks ago in Bristol.