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
Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500 1:28 PM ET

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.