Bayne "Back in Black" for 2018 with AdvoCare

You can hear AC/DC "Back in Black" when you look at the new No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Fusion for 2018 when the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series returns to the track at Daytona in February. 

This will mark the first time since 2006, when Roush Fenway Racing patriarch Mark Martin ran a black AAA Ford in his final race behind the wheel of the No. 6 Fusion.   Martin ran a black paint scheme with white numbers, while Bayne's number will remain the AdvoCare red. 

"This new paint scheme is pretty awesome," Trevor Bayne said.  "If you look through history a lot of the great drivers have driven black race cars as their primary scheme and I am pretty excited to have one as well going into 2018.  I think that this new look by AdvoCare is really great and shows that we mean business every time we head out onto the race track. 

"This scheme just makes me even more excited about getting back behind the wheel in 2018.  It is really cool to have the No. 6 Ford black again for Roush Fenway.  I know that Mark ran really well in these colors and hopefully we can replicate that same success next season."

Next year will be Bayne's fourth year behind the wheel of the No. 6 Ford, each year he has been able to make improvements on his statistics from the following year. 

Roush Fenway needs to go back to its roots

Burton(left) and Martin share a conversation
during the 2001 season

Racing has certainly changed in the last 18 years, however, success can certainly be something that burns a company when they aren't keeping themselves up.  Jack Roush has been around since 1988 and his Hall of Fame driver of the past Mark Martin and another driver shared something in the late 90s and early 2000s that helped provide the company with one of the strongest working cores in the sport but once Martin and teammate Jeff Burton were gone the working core at RFR was gone.

Back then the two believed in helping one another -- even if -- it meant in return the other driver would run better than the other.  Back then Martin and Burton was part of Roush's five car operation, however, they were housed in the same shop together. I do not see that these days with this organization.  Since these two drivers parted ways with Roush it went to "I have to beat my teammate system."  Martin and Burton had a system where all come together to make the organization better and that is what needs to happen with Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., even if Stenhouse is racing for playoff positions. 

The organization has to have two drivers willing to work with one another and two crew chiefs that

Bayne and Stenhouse need more of a working bond in the
Roush Fenway shop

have that same attitude.  I believe back in the day Jimmy Fennig and Buddy Parrott shared that same idea and the cars and success reflected it on the race track.  There has to be that will to want to be a successful pair of teammates in this sport.  Martin and Burton knew what it took to make that happen, so if there are notes that were left behind by these two drivers Roush's current drivers need to take a look at them and see how being a working pair in the garage can win you races. 

People speculated in 1998 that Martin was given better race cars than Burton, however, the teams kept working together to find more speed and were solid contenders all the way around .  I think that there is a missing piece at Roush Fenway Racing right now that they need to find to bring back some of their driver chemistry that they had in the late 90s with Martin/Burton and get the cars back up front.

Bayne is currently 21st in the standings and you can tell the 6 team is not getting the same equipment as the 17 throughout the playoff run.  It is just a disappointment to see the cars perform this terrible and know there are ways to get more out of a team and know that the team is missing that little tiny piece of the puzzle.

Stenhouse playoff run maybe good for RFR but has another effect on Bayne

While it is good for Roush Fenway to get into the playoffs, their moves to make sure Ricky Stenhouse moves forward has a totally different effect on Trevor Bayne and his season. 

Trevor Bayne and his team are struggling through the run of
playoffs as the focus is on teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr

You can argue that it is the Ford issue, the crew chief issue but fact is, right now Bayne and his No. 6 team are pretty much lab mice for the 17 team until they fall out.  The money is flowing into the 17 team and here is the major down fall that is having on Bayne and his team.  The sponsorship dollars that are suppose to be going into Bayne's car probably are going to Stenhouse to try and make it further and fans can clearly see it. 

As a former crew member I would have took it as a slap in the face if I was the 17  crew that got Stenhouse into the playoffs and then told I was being swapped to the 6 team because they were faster.  They got Stenhouse there, they should have had the chance to get him to the finish line.  I heard at the beginning of this year that the cars would be built equally and there would be only several differences in case one car was faster than the other, yet I just don't see that right now. 

Performance is an issue, plain and simple and you need both cars performing at their maximum and with the organization flushing it to the 17 team to try and move forward it is truly a bitter time.  I never seen this happen when Mark Martin and Jeff Burton were teammates, the two worked together to make sure each other performed as well as the other.  It was a partnership in the garage when these two were teammates.  Since then Roush Fenway Racing has turned into more of a competition between its teammates than a working partnership.

These finishes are not good on attracting sponsors that the 6 team needs for next season either.  It still remains to be seen how many races that they have left this season where the car will carry that dreaded 401k sponsorship from Ford and Roush Performance.  The fact of the matter is Bayne carried the team with full sponsorship for two seasons and AdvoCare backed off after last year to a part-time sponsorship but remained the major sponsor on the car.   Liberty National Life stepped up as well this season, along with Performance Plus Motor Oil, however,  you've still got to put money into a car that the sponsorship provides and make sure they perform to its fullest and right now its clear RFR isn't with the 6 team. 

This season seven races have gone with those 401K sponsors as we used to call them at the shop when I worked.  So that's a lot of money that needs to be found and RFR is hurting the 6 team by hindering their performance during the 17 team's Playoff run.

Now it's time for NASCAR to take it all away for cheating race teams

It is clear that NASCAR isn't getting the attention of teams like Joe Gibbs Racing who like to twist the rules quite often in the sport with the penalties that they are handing out right now.  So in my opinion it is time to do something even harsher to the teams that break the rules. 

I was a crew member in both local and NASCAR competition so I know that teams like to bend the rule book to get every little inch that they can.  However, when I look at the result of this past weekend when Denny Hamlin's two teams were penalized for the same exact issue in the two NASCAR divisions it is time to go with a heftier penalty than encumbering the finish, suspending the crew chief and taking points away as NASCAR did. 

NASCAR needs to think now about suspending the entire team for a race or two.  That meaning if you have a penalty such as this you can't race for an entire weekend, driver, crew chief, everyone, the entire team is suspended along with the car and the win needs to be completely stripped away and given to the next car in line that passes inspection.  Also fans need to understand that NASCAR can't do a complete inspection at the race track and find what they did on Hamlin's car at the track, a lot of it has to be done in the R&D Center at North Carolina. 

It is time that if you illegal to disqualify people and take the wins away and give the victory to the guy that truly deserved to win the win race.  I think there doesn't need to be any of this stuff about  "encumbering a finish," just truly take the finish away and send the guy back to dead last in the running order of the race like many of short track divisions would do in an event.  Also I think it is time NASCAR takes the top-5 cars from each divisions to R&D each week because who is to say one of the top-5 cars isn't illegal either?  It is just time for much harsher penalties.

I believe this past weekend Hamlin tried to hide something when he backed the car into the wall and did his burnout.  So it is time NASCAR looks at a different penalty system.

Bayne, Roush salute Mark Martin with first win paint scheme

For the third year in a row Trevor Bayne will be honoring NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Mark Martin with one of its throwback paint schemes at Darlington Raceway next weekend.  This time it is a paint scheme with a lot of significance to the organization and driver as it was the same one Martin drove to Roush Fenway's first victory in 1989.

The race was the AC Delco 500 on October 22, 1989 at North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham when Martin finally broke the barrier in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series after 57 races together.  Martin would carry the paint scheme to that single win, 602 laps led and 28 top-ten finishes. 

Back to Back Top-tens gives Trevor Bayne confidence going to Darlington

Trevor Bayne's 7th place finish at Bristol was his second consecutive top-10

After a rough start in 2017, Trevor Bayne has taken the past two weekends and scored back to back top-ten finishes at Michigan and Bristol; two different styles of tracks on the circuit.  The top-ten finishes in consecutive weekends are the first time in Bayne's career that he has scored top-ten finishes in two straight events since joining the Monster Energy Cup Series in 2010. 

While there are only two races remaining in the regular season before the playoffs begin, Bayne pretty much knows that he has to win at either Darlington or Richmond to get in.  His team has began to carry more momentum over the past few weeks after getting a little bit of luck on their side, even after blowing a tire at Bristol and hitting the wall at Bristol.  Bayne was able to rally back in the latter part of the event and get up to seventh before the checkered flag fell. 

"Obviously, we need to win.  That's what our goal is,"Trevor Bayne stated.  "Seventh is great but we have to get (to victory lane).  I'm really proud of these guys and the gains we're making.

"It's been a rough time through the summer but we're coming back now."

Bayne feels that the teams execution all around has been the difference in their performance the past few weeks.

"Just execution," Bayne said when asked what he thought was the key to the last two finishes.  "I feel like the last month we had strategy, things went our way and we've gotten results from it.  Here at Bristol, Roush Fenway always gives us good cars and we've had really good runs the last four or five races."

"Our Ford was fast at the end when it mattered.  At one point we blew a tire, hit the fence.  I thought we were going to get lucky and get back back on the lead lap.  Got on the lead lap, got a caution, and put new tires on it and started passing cars.

"It's great to get back-to-back top-10s and it really gives us some momentum going forward toward these last two races before the playoffs begin."

Darlington itself has been pretty rough on Bayne the last two years.  While running paint schemes in honor of Mark Martin, he's had two races with issues.  In 2015 he had a tire issue that regulated him to a 35th place finish, and last year the engine let go in his No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Fusion that resulted in a 40th place finish.  If Bayne can continue his improvement going to Darlington, the results should improve there as well.

Trevor Bayne scores first top-five since July of 2016 at Michigan

Bayne challenged late for a top-3 finish in the Pure Michigan 400

Trevor Bayne gave Kyle Larson a little help on the final restart of the Pure Michigan 400 on Sunday to help him him win his third straight race at Michigan Speedway but it also propelled Bayne to his first top-five finish of the 2017 season in the Roush Performance Ford.

With the race restarting in over-time, Bayne would restart behind Larson on the outside line in the fifth position and gave the driver of the 42 car enough of a push to get around two Furniture Row Toyota's in the end.  Bayne also made a daring move to get around Erik Jones and Matt for third and fourth before hitting a patch of oil dry in the turn 3 section of the track that sent him up the track but he would rally back around Austin Dillon for fifth place. 

It was his only top-five finish of the season, in what has been a season filled with tough finishes for Trevor Bayne and his team.  After the finish, Bayne moved up to 19th in the points standings but with just three races to go before the playoffs begin, it will take a victory for Bayne to get in. 

Even if Trevor Bayne does not make it in, he's out to make a statement the remainder of the season with his team.

"We're still not in the Chase yet and we have to keep pushing and making our cars faster and for Ricky's sake, who's in the Chase," said Bayne after the race.   "We have 13 races left with or without the Chase to go make a statement, win races and run well.  It feels good to be in contention.  We still aren't the fastest race car.  We can't beat them on raw speed, but we can put ourselves close with fuel strategy, tire strategy and trying to be in the mix at the end.  And that feels really good from what we're used to."

Bayne had a fast car in the first stage of the event as he was turning laps as quick as the race leaders and making gains on the top-10 pack of cars.  After the end of the first stage the team made adjustments that didn't sit well with the car and Bayne began to fall back in the field.  It would take until the final run of the final stage for Bayne to show up when crew chief Matt Puccia made the call to go to the end on fuel.

Once again it seemed like Indianapolis all over again when the caution flag came out on lap 185.  Bayne's team took the chance with two tires and came out first in the pits, however, four cars remained on the track.  With nine laps remaining in the race, Bayne seen himself back in the same position he was in at Indy, he was in fifth place and on older tires.  Another caution fell on lap 195 that would red flag the event and Bayne would restart in 6th place behind Kyle Larson. 

He would eventually give Larson the push to win the race and make the move through to get into the top-five. 

"That's what we needed," said Bayne after the Michigan event.  "Man, if it stayed green we had another shot like Indy to hold off that 78, but we had a caution at the wrong time.  I got a great restart and pushed the 42 to the lead.  I went for it in turn three and it didn't stick.  It got massive loose and ended up fifth.  Third and fifth, that's not a big difference.  If I went home thinking I should have gone for it in three, I would be kicking my butt.  But it's a great day for our team.  We needed this to recover a little bit."

After being wrecked on the restart at Indianapolis, Bayne took the chance at Michigan and came home fifth.

"It's refreshing.  We've had a tough couple of months not getting the results we thought that we deserved.  Today, to get a result feels really good.  We had fast car early on.  We had fuel strategy at the end.  Probably gonna have a shot to beat the 78 if it stayed green.  Got a caution and I was like 'Oh man, here goes Indy again.'  We had a good first restart.  The second restart was even better.  We were able to push the 42 up to the lead and getting into (turn 3) I tried to go for it from the top and hit the Speedy Dry, and got loose, and came home fifth.  Cost us a couple spots.  Man, when you're in that position you have to go for it.  I wouldn't have slept good at night if I didn't stuff it in there and try something.  It just didn't stick.  It feels really good for our team."

Times have changed and fans are tired of cup drivers in lower divisions

I look at the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule this season and the race winners and I only see six wins from drivers that are not full-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers on the win column and three came from William Byron.

You can be one of those fans that think that the sport is making one of its judgment calls, however, I think the officials needed to set even stiffer limitations to the regulars because the sport needs a change.  Yeah I am one of those fans that think Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, and Kyle Larson have had enough play time in the two lower divisions and if you look at the drivers that have spoken up about this topic the most it has been Busch, Keselowski, Harvick and Larson.  Why?  It is because they are the ones that have ran the most races the past 4-5 seasons as a MENCS regular.

Mark Martin was a regular in the winners circle in the 90s

Fans keep bringing up how we didn't hear fans gripe about Mark Martin winning races in the 1990s, well I am going to take you back in time a little bit to Martin's winningest season that came in 1993.  He ran a total of 14 races that season in the No. 60 Winn Dixie Ford for Roush,   That season there was a 28 race schedule, and there was only 12 races won by cup regulars, 7 by Martin, 2 by Dale Earnhardt, 2 by Micheal Waltrip and 1 by Bill Elliott.  Also the schedule had a bit of a different phase as well, as NASCAR raced at many more venues away from cup tracks like Hickory, Rougemont, Nazareth, Myrtle Beach, Milwaukee, and  Indianapolis Raceway Park.

If the series went back to the direction it had years ago I don't believe you would see as many cup regulars in the races to begin with.  However, the major venues took the course and took over the schedule and you no longer have races at these small venues anymore like we used to have on the schedule.  Even Mark Martin himself sees that times are changing and that the need for a cup regulars in the series are not as serious as before.

"I don't really know where I stand on that," said Martin when asked about cup drivers competiting in the Xfinity Series. 

"I was able to participate; I didn't run that many races," the Hall of Fame driver stated while unveiling a paint scheme that Clint Bowyer will driver at Darlington next month.  "I ran 14 to 16 races a year for a number of years.  But at the time it was important, I think, for the series to have Cup drivers do the series for a lot different reasons."

"It's a different day and age today," Martin stated.  I like what's going on nowadays, I like the rule today and where they go with it from there I'm sure will work...The racing, the world, the hardware, everything has changed since the '90s.  I'm ok with what they're doing and OK with where they're looking at heading to limit it even more."

Next season NASCAR will begin with heavier limits.  Drivers will more than five years of experience in the Monster Energy Cup Series will now be limited to seven races in the NASCAR Xfinity Series down from a maximum of 10 races this year.  Drivers with the same experience will also be restricted to a limit of 5 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series events, down from seven events this year.

The rules will also make it so the finales for both series are off limits to Cup regulars earning championship points in the Monster Energy Cup Series regardless of experience in the series.   Additionally the Xfinity Series' Dash 4 Cash program four race stretch with bonus money will be off limits to any Monster Energy Series driver.

Many people are saying fans are sour about cup drivers, however, it hurts ratings when these guy's constantly wins races and he's winning events by 3-plus seconds over other drivers.  So it became time for NASCAR to change these rules.  

Last season, Trevor Bayne only ran one event that came at this weekend's weekend Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen.  With the Roush Fenway program not running their Cup drivers like most teams, I don't see this effecting their program much. 

The one thing I do believe that this could have helped possibly in the past.  Had Chris Buescher, Bubba Wallace and Trevor Bayne won races without cup drivers in the field, possibly sponsors would have taken notice to them and they would still have rides with RFR with the exception of Bayne.  I believe that not winning hurt Wallace finding sponsorship and on several occasions he might have had the field not been filled with cup veterans.

Why Roush needs to remain two-car team in 2018

Yesterday I wrote about Steve Newmark's comments on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio about the Roush Fenway Racing organization remaining a two-car operation in 2018.  Today is my day to put it all in my perspective on why it is the best thing for this organization at the moment.

Trevor Bayne talks with car owner Jack Roush at Michigan

The starting point here is, Roush Fenway is still searching for more speed on intermediate tracks after a lot of changes that were made to the team.  While Ricky Stenhouse Jr., has been able to win on restrictor plate tracks this season, the team is still looking for the speed with both drivers at other places.  So to add a third car one year after dropping down to two just isn't a smart move when the organization has not completely gotten the speed back into their race cars.

To justify staying this way just look at what Team Penske did back in the late 2000s.  They ran three race cars and struggled with them.  They switched back to two cars in 2011 and a year later were about to win a championship with Brad Keselowski in 2012.  Penske has remained a two-car team since and helped back the Wood Brothers to keep their third driver on the track in the 21.  I believe that Roush has taken this same road to bringing themselves back up the ladder.

Sponsorship is also a major effect on the organization.  Where the two years prior, AdvoCare completely backed Trevor Bayne they are not this season.  Once again this weekend Roush Performance Parts is on Bayne's Ford Fusion at Kentucky Speedway.  So here is that little issue that fans of Bubba Wallace keep wanting to gripe about when he got dropped after Pocono.  Wallace has not won a race since he first arrived at Roush and the sponsorship didn't come with him.  So with issues going on to keep the two primary cars in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series going forward they had no choice but to drop the 6 Xfinity program out.

Years ago unsponsored cars were white and black on the track but around Roush's 25th anniversary in the sport, they started to change that.  Bayne ran several events in a 25th Anniversary Roush Fenway car in 2013, a Roush CleanTech car and other Roush related products but here is the problem with that; when those companies are on the car it was what we used to call a 401K sponsorship on the car.

That meaning that the money is coming straight from the organization and not from a corporate organization like AdvoCare or Liberty National Life.  The same goes for when Ford Performance is on the cars as well, instead of running a blank car it is a way for the team to advertise for the manufacturer or the car owners main company.  Sponsorship is the driving point of this sport, and the company needs more of it to fill some of the holes for 2018.  Fans want to have this little debate about the organization asking too much for sponsorship, however, since Newmark came in, I have heard all that changed when Geoff Smith parted ways as the Team President. 

Smith in my opinion was responsible for the big split between Mark Martin and Valvoline back in the early 1990s because he wanted too much from the sponsor.  I believe now Newmark is smarter about getting sponsorship for the cars and takes what they can get for the cars. 

The one thing that RFR did not downsize was its engineering department last fall.  While going from 3 cars to 2, the team kept it's engineering core the same and added to it.  Roush still has work to do in getting their chassis's better but they're finding speed as the season goes on. The goal is to get back to a three car organization but not until they have speed back in the main two cars for the organization. 

Newmark: Objective is to stay two cars in 2018

Stenhouse and Bayne will remain the two-car duo at RFR

Roush Fenway Racing President Steve Newmark stated on Tradin' Paint on Tuesday afternoon that the intent was for the organization to remain a two-car Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series team in 2018 and remain with one NASCAR Xfinity Series program as well. 


The team began this season with two cars in each series but last month but with the lack of sponsorship on Darrell Wallace's No. 6 car, the team was forced to shut down the cars program after Pocono.  There are many who believe that owner Jack Roush should have kept Wallace's program floating with his own funding, however, with the sponsorship issues on the Cup Series side as well it wasn't possible.

"I think our objective right ow and plan is to stay two (cup) and one (Xfinity)," Steve Newmark said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.  "On the Cup side, that's clearly our direction.  I think even if sponsor came for the third team, I think right now we feel this process has worked." 

"We made a very painful decision to cup down to two this year, and we had the option to stay at three but decided that the most important thing is to put our cars in the best position to win.  To do that, we thought that it was best to consolidate to two teams but maintain the same size engineering staff and R&D and laser focus that on the two cars." 

This season Ricky Stenhouse has found victory lane twice (both on restrictor plate events) and the organization as a whole has turned the corner with their program.  It would be hard for them to add a third car for 2018 so quickly, as Newmark stated even with the aid of sponsorship on the table.  That leaves Chris Buescher out in the wind once again.  He will likely be staying at JTG Daugherty for next season.

"Chris has done a great job.  We fortunate that he and Tad (Geschickter, owner of JTG Daugherty) have struck up a great relationship and he's getting some great experience there."

 There is an option on the table if Roush doesn't want to sell it's charter for the No. 16.  They can lease the charter from the 6 or 17 cars out to JTGD for another year to keep Buescher going as well. 

Daytona is Bayne's best shot on the schedule to win before the playoffs

After a dismal finish at Sonoma Raceway that was brought on by overheating issues with his No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Fusion the driver will now go to one of his best tracks on the circuit and try and do what his teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr., did in May at Talladega. 

Bayne finished 10th in February at Daytona

Daytona International Speedway has been one of Trevor Bayne's strongest points in his career.  He won the 500 in his first try and he's been very strong in the past at plate racing when he hasn't been taken out in the huge multi-car incidents.  Last July, Bayne drove the No. 6 AdvoCare Ford to a 3rd place finish in the Coke Zero 400 at the track and was right in contention for the victory the last few laps of the race.

Bayne has scored 2 top-fives and 4 top-ten finishes in his career at the track, and if the team is going to push to make it into the Playoffs off of a victory this will be the place that they have their best chance at doing so.  Bayne finished 10th in the Daytona 500 earlier this season after being involved in several incidents and still kept his car up in the race for a solid finish. 

With Stenhouse, Ryan Blaney and Austin Dillon now winning this season it pretty much has made it a situation where the No. 6 team has to win to get in now.  They are 18th in the standings, Dillon is 22nd but with a win.  Bayne is now 86 points behind Matt Kenseth who is 12th in the standings and the first driver without a victory.  So to make up those points is pretty much going to be out of question. 

The strengths of the Roush Fenway Racing restrictor plate program is where the fastest cars at.  Former crew chief Jimmy Fennig has been the head of the program since stepping down as the crew chief in 2015 and he's kept the Roush plate cars up to par with everyone else.  Stenhouse's win at Talladega in the May event was proof of that.  Now it's time Bayne gets that win at Daytona.

Danica Patrick needs to take a lesson from the past on how to treat fans

The King started the trend in the 70s

I heard about the incident that happened last Friday at Pocono with Danica Patrick before most fans on social media did because a facebook friend posted her video and it wasn't even everything that was said.  Danica did get booed by a couple of fans, and had she just keep on walking I wouldn't have even thought about writing this article today.

Reading comments from fans the past I seen some think that getting an autograph is not in the driver's job description, however, I want to go back about 45 years to when Richard Petty really began this trend in this sport where drivers sign for fans and don't even think a second about it.  The King's autograph is probably the least rare of any driver in the sport but it is because he took the time and energy throughout the years to spend time and give fans the respect to sign a shirt, maybe a diecast, or a piece of paper from the local news where he won the week before.

This is the man that led NASCAR from being a moonshine stream to being mainstream.  There is a story of Richard Petty that has been told where he sat in the heat in the 1970s and signed for every race fan until everyone left.  He was who changed the sports fan cultural around and made it different than Major League Baseball and the NFL where most athletes charge you for their John Hancock.

So here is where we are with Danica Patrick.  I think that every driver in the garage area has been booed at one time or another and they just keep on walking and ignore the fans that did it.  She came back to the group of fans that had one or two men that did the booing and gave them all a lecture, as I said the friend of mine was part of this group and she had nothing in this.  Instead of signing a few autographs to people that didn't make the gesture she goes and gives everyone a lecture on her feelings being hurt.

"Since I'm old, instead of taking the booing, I want to tell you guys...I do the best I can.  I mean, if you're a real fan you know that I'm not just -- my job is not to sign autographs right?  My job is to drive a car and to tell the crew chief what's going on."

"I don't appreciate the booing.  It hurts my feelings I'm a f'n person, you know what I mean?  I'm a person too.  I have feelings."

To me she should have just walked away if she didn't want to sign autographs for the group of fans that was standing there instead of lecturing fans about her poor feelings.  I seen several people tweet over the weekend about meeting Trevor Bayne and what kind of a great person he was to meet.  There are some fans that think you aren't a true fan if you don't agree with what Danica did on Friday afternoon, however, I can tell you; as a fan and a former crew member fans shouldn't have to listen to a driver cuss them.  It's one listen to hear it on TV or on the radio, however, she stepped over the line when she did it in their face.

You can defend Danica Patrick but her actions this past week was not a solid representation of what drivers in this sport should be like.  What makes it worse for her is that she is fighting for sponsorship and if I were a sponsor I certainly wouldn't want a driver that makes that kind of a statement to fans at the race track.

Richard Petty set the prime example.  If you look at the man's signature today, I still don't think it has changed at all in the last 50 years.  It's why he is the most respected man in this sport.  Maybe Danica Patrick should take a lesson from the KING!

Wallace not the first to have a door closed due to sponsorship dollars

If you are a Trevor Bayne fan and been following him for quite sometime, you definitely remember 2012; don't you?  Yeah Trevor Bayne started off that 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series season, as it was called back then, now the Xfinity Series with five top-15 finishes and was sitting in the same place Darrell Wallace Jr., is currently in right now in the standings 4th.

Roush Fenway Racing had to pull the plug on it's No. 60 program that season because of a lack of  sponsorship funding after the fifth race of the season at Auto Club Speedway when Bayne finished 14th.  Luckily for Bayne he had a part-time gig with the Wood Brothers team at the time in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series to run the No. 21 Ford that season in 16 races.

Bayne had to compete part-time in 2012
In the Wood Brothers No. 21

Roush Fenway Racing's going through this once again with Wallace.  They were able to stretch the amount of races a little further than they were with Bayne and make it to the 12th race of the season, but it is still something that has fans wondering about the posture of the marketing crew at RFR right now.  I have read numerous remarks from fans about Roush asking too much money for a sponsorship, however, I believe that was back in the day when Geoff Smith was the president of the organization.  I believe that the company has since learned to take what they are able to get for sponsors to go on their cars.

Just like with Bayne, Wallace lucked up and there was an open seat in the upper ranks of the NASCAR world.  Richard Petty Motorsports decided that they would give him a chance to go forth and debut this coming weekend at Pocono Raceway.  This season Globe Life and Leidos stepped up to sponsor Wallace in several races but it just wasn't enough to keep the train going on the right track.

Back in 2012, Roush was in a similar situation as they are in this year.  Their MENCS teams were not fully funded and the could not fund two competitive NASCAR Xfinity programs.  Steve Newmark, at the time knew that it was not a reflection on the driver, but how the team was that season.  In 2013, Matt Kenseth moved on to Joe Gibbs racing allowing Ricky Stenhouse to go full-time in the No. 17 Cup car, which put Trevor Bayne in a car that had major funding by Cargill.  Eventually he would pick up a major deal with AdvoCare that would become his leading sponsor in Cup.

This year, you are seeing the samething.  So far in 2017 on the Cup level, Trevor Bayne has had three races with cars that were unsponsored, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., has had one event so far.  Whenever you see Roush Performance or Ford EcoBoost on one of these cars, it is what we considered back in the day to be a 401K sponsorship, meaning the money was coming from the company and it's employees.



You might question the move by Roush but the importance is to get their Cup program back into full speed.  So the funding that they were putting into the 6 Xfinity program will likely go into the MENCS for the rest of the year.

NASCAR makes major swing to change schedule for 2018

NASCAR announced on Tuesday, May 23, that the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule would have a significant change next year.

It will start with the "Great American Race" being moved back to its old traditional date on Presidents Day weekend on February 18th.  It will be the start of a swing of changes to the schedule revamping for next season.

The three-quarter mile Richmond International Raceway will move from being the last race before the playoffs to being the second race in the playoffs next season.  It's spring event in April will also have another change returning to being a night race on April 21.

Chicagoland Speedway will be moved from being the first race in the playoffs in the past to being July 1st right before the historical July Speedweeks Coke Zero 400 at Daytona.  Making a solid start to NBC Sports run on TV next season with two huge events.

One of the more noticeable moves on the schedule is Indianapolis Motor Speedway taking over the cut off race before the playoffs begin next season. But even bigger is the move that Charlotte Motor Speedway has coming for 2018.  It's October race that is traditionally a 500 miler on the 1.5 mile oval will now be on the track's road course in the infield.  It adds all types of tracks to the playoff scenario for 2018.

Las Vegas Motor Speedway will also host two events next season starting with its traditional date in March and then another race to kick off the Playoffs.  

2018 MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES SCHEDULE
Feb. 11: Daytona International Speedway (Clash / Daytona 500 Qualifying)
Feb. 15: Daytona International Speedway (Duel)
Feb. 18: Daytona 500
Feb. 25: Atlanta Motor Speedway
March 4: Las Vegas Motor Speedway
March 11: Phoenix Raceway
March 18: Auto Club Speedway
March 25: Martinsville Speedway
April 8: Texas Motor Speedway
April 15: Bristol Motor Speedway
April 21: Richmond International Raceway
April 29: Talladega Superspeedway
May 6: Dover International Speedway
May 12: Kansas Speedway
May 19: Charlotte Motor Speedway (Monster Energy All-Star Race)
May 27 : Charlotte Motor Speedway
June 3: Pocono Raceway
June 10: Michigan International Speedway
June 24: Sonoma Raceway
July 1: Chicagoland Speedway
July 7: Daytona International Speedway
July 14: Kentucky Speedway
July 22: New Hampshire Motor Speedway
July 29: Pocono Raceway
Aug. 5: Watkins Glen International
Aug. 12: Michigan International Speedway
Aug. 18: Bristol Motor Speedway
Sept. 2: Darlington Raceway
Sept. 9: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Sept. 16: Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Sept. 22: Richmond International Raceway
Sept. 30: Charlotte Motor Speedway
Oct. 7: Dover International Speedway
Oct. 14: Talladega Superspeedway
Oct. 21: Kansas Speedway
Oct. 28: Martinsville Speedway
Nov. 4: Texas Motor Speedway
Nov. 11: Phoenix Raceway
Nov. 18: Homestead-Miami Speedway

Stenhouse's win at Talladega was "wind in Roush's sails"

It had been 101 races since a Roush Fenway Racing car had visited victory lane in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.  It went back to Sunday, June 22, 2014 at Sonoma when Carl Edwards won the race at the road course out in California.

Jack Roush was all smiles on Sunday

So when Ricky Stenhouse won the Geico 500 on Sunday afternoon it really did throw wind to the sails in the organization at Roush Fenway Racing.  There are a lot of team members that have stuck through the grit and grind since that last win happened at Roush, they've heard all that talk that they were not capable of winning ever again; and the doors were ready to close on the organization.  Yet everyone of these guys that worked to get back to victory lane held through and have been able to see this organization turn around in just the last 9 months. 

It started from the top. 

Robbie Reiser was moved from being competition director after holding the position for almost ten seasons.  Kevin Kidd and Tommy Wheeler came in and have made swift changes into the organization that have seen much better results on the track this season than in the last few years in the MENCS. 

Jack Roush has hope that the win on Sunday is a solid impulse for even more victories this season.

"It gives us fresh wind in our sail," said the 75 year old car owner.  "We've got over 300 victories in NASCAR.  The number that I hold dear is 40 years of racing, drag racing, road racing and NASCAR.  I've won over 450 national events, and it puts another chapter in that record."

It was not long ago that Roush was the flagship organization for Ford Performance in NASCAR.  All around the board, they were a force in NASCAR's top tier division all the way down to the truck series and then something took a major change.  Around 2012, Roush Fenway Racing began to take a slide backwards and veteran drivers Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards parted ways with the organization within three years of one another to go to Joe Gibbs Racing. 

It was then late in the 2016 that a decision was made for Roush's last veteran driver Greg Biffle to part ways with the team.  Both Roush and Biffle mutually agreed that it was time for a change for both parties and it left the team with two cars and systematically in a position to improve. 

At the heals of the decision, it left the team in a position to do much needed work in their management department.  Robbie Reiser as I said was replaced with Kevin Kidd and Tommy Wheeler was put into a management role as well.  New roles were giving to younger members and the team freshened up the way that their cars were built within. 

Many questioned Bayne and Stenhouse when the decision
was made to go to two cars

Then there was one other little thing.  The team was left with two very young drivers that many people considered underachievers in the sport.  The only one to win a race was Trevor Bayne in his second start in the 2011 Daytona 500, so many were questioning how this would work out.  On Sunday when Stenhouse won, Bayne congratulated his long-time teammate on social media, even after being involved in the huge wreck late in the race. 

While it is only one victory for the organization, the team owner still believes that there a lot more to come for his drivers. 

"We'll win a race with Trevor before this year is over unless I miss my guess," Roush said.  "But honestly we can get ourselves ready for the last 10 races to make a championship run."

Roush Fenway rebounding with two car effort

People still want to measure Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse to the likes of the past drivers that departed Roush Fenway Racing since 2013.  There just isn't a proper measuring cup for this right now and the fans that do it need to realize something right now, Bayne and Stenhouse do not have the same equipment that Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle had from previous seasons.

There was a lot of changes that were implemented into the organization this past year to help put a spring in the step at Roush Fenway Racing.  The one major change was the team going to two-cars from being a three car for so long.  Greg Biffle and Roush mutually agreed that it was time for the split to happen.  Bayne and Stenhouse entered the organization within a year of one another in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and their driving styles were very comparable against one another.

Trevor Bayne talks with car owner Jack Roush

"Going into the season, what we hadn't done in the past is really give people individual goals," said Bayne on Race Day last Sunday.  "Have things that you set out to do.  Whether it is the aero department, engineering, design team, drivers, pit crews; instead of looking at a result and saying 'man we need to finish top-15 and just going out finishing top-15, we say what are the little things we can do every week to add up to top-15 finishes."

Stenhouse has seen the changes from a three car team to a two-car team as a way to get the cars faster and make changes quicker.

"One of the things that I have seen going down to two from three (cars) last year, we're able to get things implemented into our cars a lot faster," said Stenhouse.  "They're at the wind tunnel every week and they're taking what they learn and getting it into those two cars pretty quick.  A lot of focus is on both cars and that's really been showing every time we go to the race track."

Bayne's crew chief Matt Puccia brought a valid point as well.  The two young drivers have very similar driving styles so it makes it easier on the crews.

"Fortunately for us, Trevor and Ricky have similar driving characteristics and that's been really good for the two of them to work together on a weekly basis so those guys are really able feed off each other and help each other because their driving characteristics are so similar."

The two drivers go into this weekend's race at Talladega Superspeedway both inside the Playoff Grid

Bayne and Stenhouse have worked together as teammates
since August 2010 in the Xfinity Series.

with Bayne sitting in 14th and Stenhouse in 15th.  The two drivers have made steadily improvements this season and while Stenhouse has more top-ten finishes, Bayne remains the more consistent one finishing in the top-15 consistently.

 "Well Ricky and I came in as Xfinity drivers for Jack and they always told us well you guys are the
future of the company," said Bayne.  "But I don't think we ever saw the day coming where we would be the only two cup drivers at Roush Fenway Racing leading the way.  So for us to be here now it is really cool to have watched us grow up, progress in our careers, and pushing each other and we're kinda all out.  I don't have things that I learned at a race track that I hold back from Ricky."

 That in the past was one of the biggest issues that sparred at Roush Fenway Racing.  There was more of a rivalry within the organization than a chemistry among the race teams.  Now the teams are working together to find speed and sharing what they find in their race cars. 

Bayne continues to make the gains in 2017

Bayne has had a lot to smile about in 2017

It was a year ago that Trevor Bayne really began to start showing some of the same promise that he did when he first arrived on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series circuit in 2010.  He is coming off an 11th place finish in the Food City 500 on Monday afternoon at Bristol Motor Speedway and continues to be in contention to make the playoffs. 

Where was Trevor Bayne at in 2016 at this points in the season compared to this season? 

He was five positions behind where he stands now in 15th.  He has gradually made improvement on his average finish position from a year ago.  Last year Bayne was at 19.0, this season he has a 14.2 average finish position in the first 8 races of the season.  Then there is a big 100% on a certain statistics that many fans don't look at.  He has completed every single lap so far this season on the schedule. 

Sure he only has one top-ten finish so far this season, however, Bayne remains consistent and keeps running top-15 finishes to the statistic sheet.  He was able to score a couple of stage points for finishing ninth in the second stage of the event on Monday afternoon.  His only finish outside of the top-20 this season came at Fontana when he and teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr., had a mishap in the final laps of the event and Bayne admitted later on about wrecking Stenhouse. 

There is a difference in Trevor Bayne this season when it comes to his aggression on the track.  On Monday afternoon, it didn't appear he was going to be making many friends; most especially with fellow Ford driver Clint Bowyer who he had contact with midway through the race.  However, that is one thing I believe Bayne has needed to have for several seasons.  He doesn't need to take any crap from others on the track and one of the biggest reasons that he has had to has been the cars he has raced since his first season in the No. 6 car. 

The equipment at RFR had been a very big issue when it came to the results for Bayne and his teammate Ricky Stenhouse.  I feel somewhere down the line there was something missing with some key personnel in the organization including a driver.  I think the two seasons before this year (2015, 2016) Greg Biffle might have been a big part of the issues that were going on with the team. 

The No. 6 AdvoCare Crew has been a big part of the
improvement in 2017 for Bayne.

Many questioned the move that was made last year when Jack Roush and long-time veteran driver Greg Biffle parted ways with a mutual agreement.  There was a lot of fans that didn't believe that the youth that was spread from Bayne and Stenhouse could improve the Roush Fenway Racing organization; however, the first eight races are a sign they are turning the team around with the changes that were made to the team on the inside in the off-season.

Crew Chief Matt Puccia continues to keep making the right calls during the events to get Bayne's
race cars better throughout the day.  The chemistry between the driver and crew chief continues to remain smooth and spotter Roman Pemberton continues to keep Bayne out of trouble.  The other huge improvement this season came from the No. 6 AdvoCare crew on pit road.  If the team isn't making gains on pit road, they're not losing spots, at least very often.  So that is a huge plus compared to 2016.

There's a lot to thank Jack Roush on his birthday

It was August 2010, Trevor Bayne had lost his deal with Michael Waltrip Racing because of sponsorship issues with Out! Pet Care not going through for the rest of the season.  It didn't take long for Jack Roush to come calling and put Trevor Bayne in one of his cars for the remainder of the season. 

It was the first of many times Trevor Bayne probably can thank his boss along the lines of his career to getting into the No. 6 car.  I don't think that there is another car owner in the garage area that would have stuck by his drivers the way that Roush has in these struggling times but for Bayne there's more to it than the struggling.

When Bayne came down with multiple sclerosis in 2011 after winning the 500, no one really knew at the time what he had.  Bayne first began to feel a numbness in his arm during a race at Texas in 2011, six weeks after he won the Daytona 500.  It was during that time he felt it was related to an insect bite on his elbow that had become irritated and developed into a rash on his arm. 

He was then admitted to the Mayo Clinic three weeks later for nausea, fatigue and double division.  He would undergo a spinal tap, the doctors at the clinic would rule out Lyme disease and discharged him with a diagnosis of "inflammatory condition." 

It would take almost two years before the clinic would eventually find he had MS.   The question is, had Bayne been with any other car owner during this time table would he still have kept his ride with the organization?  I highly doubt it.  Roush kept him on the roster and when the sponsorship came he was moved to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2015 with AdvoCare as his full-time sponsorship. 

Jack Roush celebrated his 75th birthday today.  And it doesn't appear he is going to be giving up anytime soon on his organization. So right now there is a lot to thank Jack Roush for if you are a Trevor Bayne fan!

Bayne looks to continue Bristol consistency

With just over 114 miles between Trevor Bayne's hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee and Bristol, it has always been considered his home track on the NASCAR circuit.  It was where he made his first start in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2009 in the No. 52 Taco Bell Chevrolet and where he scored his first top-five in the No. 6 AdvoCare Ford for Roush Fenway Racing last April. 

The track has had its ups and downs on Trevor Bayne throughout the years but this weekend he looks to continue a string of solid finishes that he has been having at the concrete half mile in the last two years.  Bayne has finished inside the top-15 the last three events at Bristol, including a career best in this event last April where he finished fifth at the track. 

Don't look for Bayne's consistency at the track to slow down this weekend either.  Bayne and his team have been able to find a little more speed during the 2017 season with their race cars and if the cautions work out correctly and Bayne remains on the lead lap he can get another solid finish at the track.

Can Roush Fenway Racing go on without Jack Roush?

Jack Roush is debating retirement after a long career in auto racing

Yes you read the question correctly, can Roush Fenway Racing go on without Jack Roush?

In my mind they will be able to do so.  I read an article this morning where Jack Roush see's retirement in his near future.  I mean think people, Jack is getting up in age (74 to exact) and he's not going to  be around forever.  I believe last season, Roush started planning for his eventual retirement by putting management in place that could run the team better in case of this situation.

Roush started his organization back in 1988 in NASCAR with Hall of Fame driver Mark Martin in a newly formed race team.  It took them nearly two years to win, but since Roush has had drivers combine for 135 victories in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.  Late last year, the organization announced that it was cutting back to a two-car team to try and fix some of the problems within the organization. 

"I expected to have better years than  2016 and 2015," Roush told the Arizona Republic in advance to this weekend's Camping World 500.  "Had I realized I had these years in front of, I might have decided to side-step and retire.

"I'm 74.  I can't do what I'm doing today for another 10 years.  My window is, the longest I've been able to predict what I was going to do in life, has been five years.  I'm probably down to a three-year window.  I'm looking at how I can be useful."

Jack Roush would be one of the few
car owners in the garage to know what
he is looking for examining spark plugs

I look at many of the people that Roush has hired on in the last few years to help bring the company back up to par and it seems like as of late there is more speed in the two cars at the track, they still need a little more to get to victory lane.  I think Ford has realized that and they're working hard to help the organization get back to where it needs to go.

In essence I also feel Ford is going to help keep them going when Jack Roush steps away.  Whether it be to find someone to help run the everyday business of the shop or to take it over and they might already have someone in mind.  Rumors began to float around in 2015 that Doug Yates was ready to buy Jack Roush's portion of the company (whether it was true or not, I do not know), so he's a possible candidate for the job.

There is a piece of me that thinks when the sport evolved to fuel injection from carburation it also took a piece of Jack Roush with it.  Jack Roush was one of the few car owners you seen that pulled a spark plug out of one of these V8 engines and examined everyone of them to see if they were running rich or lean.  He had his hands on his cars in some way and now I think it has been slowly peeled away.

Within the last year and a half many changes to Roush Fenway Racing's structure changed to help boost their technical settings to go faster on the track.  It started when Kevin Kidd was hired a couple of years ago and he is now the general manager of the organization.  At the end of last year, several other moves were made to help bring the technology along to make the cars faster, but so far the best finish the teams have had is Trevor Bayne's 10th at the Daytona 500.

"We've restructured our management group to be able to operate with greater independence from me," said Jack Roush, who also owns a huge engineering company in Michigan.  "And without as much of the inspiration for what we do as, maybe, I've been in the past.

"The race team, with the partnership we've got with John Henry and the Fenway Sports Group, has got plenty of depth.  As long as....we're able to to make a viable business out of it.  I'm sure the people that will follow me and will manage the affairs after my passing, they will look favorably on the involvement."

I noticed a different Jack Roush back in January when Mark Martin was inducted into the Hall of Fame.  Just the way Jack was during the ceremony caught me off guard.  There is a lot of questions about whether or not this team could go on without the man that started it, I believe Ford Performance will help find a way to keep them going.  During the 2002 season, when Roush had his first plain crash the team came together harder than ever before to make sure that they won races and competed for Jack.  I believe that would be the same case when Jack takes his step into retirement.

The people that have been with the organization would want to carry his name on in good faith and make sure they go forward in the right manner.

Pre-Race Report: Bayne heads to Phoenix

Trevor Bayne is heading to the second round of the west swing races at Phoenix Raceway, the driver goes into the race sitting in the 11th position in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series after the first three events of the season.

 Phoenix Raceway has been one of the toughest tracks for Trevor Bayne on the Cup Series circuit since arriving on tour in 2011.  He has yet to score a top-ten finish at the track in the desert, with a career best finish coming last spring when Bayne piloted the No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Fusion to a 23rd place finish.  Bayne has averaged a 27.8 start at the track and a 30.6 average finish in five events at the track.

Bayne did have success at Phoenix Raceway in the NASCAR XFINITY Series in the 10 career starts he had at the track.  Bayne scored 1 top-five and 6 top-ten finishes, and averaged a 12.5 start and 13.1 finish in the series.  Crew Chief Matt Puccia has been on the pit box for 11 MENCS events at Phoenix Raceway with his best finish coming with Greg Biffle in 2012, a 3rd place finish.

This weekend AdvoCare will return this weekend as the primary sponsor on the No. 6 Ford Fusion at Phoenix after two weeks of new sponsors being on the car at Atlanta and Las Vegas. 

Trevor Bayne on Phoenix:  "We've started off on a really positive note with this AdvoCare team so far in 2017 and I'm confident that we can continue that this weekend in Phoenix.  Phoenix is a challenging track that races a lot like a short track.  I'm ready to get there this weekend and hopefully we can have another solid run on Sunday."

Performance Plus Motor Oil on board for the first time at Vegas

After representing Liberty National Life last weekend in Atlanta, Trevor Bayne will have his third sponsor in as many weeks on the No. 6 Roush Fenway Ford Fusion this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Performance Plus Motor Oil will be the primary sponsor for Bayne and his No. 6 team this weekend for the Kobalt 400 at the 1.5 mile track in Las Vegas.  Las Vegas is the last 1.5 mile track that Trevor Bayne scored a top-ten finish on, back when he was driving the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford in 2012.   This will be the seventh event that Trevor Bayne has taken part of at LVMS in his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career.

After their performance in Atlanta, Trevor Bayne and the team should be looking forward to another intermediate track as they were heading to a competitive top-ten finish before the final caution flag took any chance of that way.

"I'm fired up to get back to the track this weekend in Las Vegas.  We had some really good speed last week in Atlanta and I'm excited to see how that will transfer over to this week.  Vegas has always been a really fun track to race on and I'm confident (crew chief) Matt (Puccia) will give me a solid Ford Fusion that will unload just as fast as last week.  I also want to thank everyone at Performance Plus for coming on board.  This is the first race of the season with these guys on our Roush Fenway Ford and I hope that we give them a great show on Sunday."

Bayne, Roush Fenway show improvement at Atlanta

There were a lot of questions going into Sunday's Fold's of Honor 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway where Roush Fenway Racing was concerned.  It was the first race on a mile and a half venue this season where the organization has struggled for the last few seasons.

Trevor Bayne and teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr., were competitive for much of the 500 mile event and ended up finishing in 12th and Stenhouse ended up finishing 13th.  The No. 6 Liberty National Life Ford Fusion started from the 15th position and the driver and crew chief had a plan from the start of the race to conserve their tires for the start of the race.

The No. 6 Liberty National Life crew complete a stop

Spotter Roman Pemberton reminded Bayne not to really go forward until he got about 15-20 laps into the run where the tires on his no. 6 LNL Ford Fusion would last through the first run.  The first 85 lap segment was ran on Friday's qualifying tires, so the team remained content to settle into the top-20 early on as Pemberton reminded Bayne to stick to their plan.

Bayne began to pass cars about 20 laps into as Pemberton told Bayne "Keep that rhythm going," and crew chief Matt Puccia came over the radio "Don't get anymore than that out of it."

Bayne was up into the top-ten when the first round of pit stops began under the long green flag run on Sunday.  His No. 6 Liberty National Ford needed a slight adjustment made to help tighten his car up.  After the stop, Bayne was running inside the top-10 once again with a strong car through the long run.  He finished the first stage in 13th after falling back late in the run on the older tires, trying to get his car to the finish of the stage without having a tire go.

The Liberty National Life crew was able to get Trevor Bayne out in the top-10 for the second stage of the 500-mile event, as Puccia did an air pressure adjustment and wedge to help during the long run and forward drive.  Bayne remained steady through the second stage of the race and very competitive as he battled to get a top-ten in the second stage of the event.

Crew chief Matt Puccia came over the radio and asked Roman Pemberton how they looked on the track, as Pemberton replied "Really, Really good.  We just have to get ourselves in a hole where we can place ourselves with the leaders."

Bayne would finish tenth in the second segment of the event that setup the final stage, the green flag dropped at lap 178 would be a run of  147 laps on the 1.54 mile track.  Bayne and his crew worked to conserve tires through the run but several caution flags late in the event hurt their finish at the end of the event as they settled for 12th after being a strong contender for a top-10 before the No. 3 of Austin Dillon had battery issues and brought the yellow flag on lap lap 311.

"Today was a solid day overall," said Bayne after the Folds of Honor 500.  "We had some good speed right off the truck with our Liberty National Ford and were able to make good adjustments throughout the day today that kept us in the game.  I can't thank these guy's enough of this team for their hard work on this team for their hard work.  Today was a good step in the right direction and we're ready to build off of this next week in Vegas."

Liberty National Life will be on the No. 6 for the first time at Atlanta

Since Trevor Bayne has been running full-time for Roush Fenway Racing at the upper level when he moved up in 2015, AdvoCare has been the only sponsor that has adorned his No. 6 Ford Fusion.

That is about to change this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Liberty National Life Insurance will be on the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford for the first of multiple races this season for Trevor Bayne.  In November, RFR and Liberty National Life announced their partnership that would begin with the Folds of Honor 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend.

Trevor Bayne is coming off a 10th place finish in the season opening Daytona 500 and hopes to carry that momentum over to Atlanta where he started third last Spring in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

Trevor Bayne finishes 6th in Can Am Duel

Trevor Bayne piloted his No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Fusion to a sixth place finish in Thursday night's first Can-Am Duel 150 qualifying race at Daytona International Speedway. The result of Bayne's finish put him 11th in the starting lineup for the Great American Race on Sunday afternoon. 

Trevor Bayne talks with owner Jack Roush after the Can-Am
Duel Qualifying race on Thursday night.

"My AdvoCare Ford felt really good tonight," said Bayne after the 150 mile event.  "It pushed like crazy and runs bottom better than any car I've ever really had here.  Really made tonight a fun night and helped us learn what we need to do over the next couple of days to get this car ready for the 500 on Sunday."

Trevor Bayne started the 60 lap event in 10th position and quickly charged to the top-five and in third position by the time the 7th lap was complete in the first Can-Am Duel.  Bayne made a huge save when Jamie McMurray got into the back of his No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Fusion on lap 8.  Bayne was shuffled to the back of the top-ten by the time that that competition caution flag waved on lap 25. 

Crew Chief Matt Puccia brought Bayne in for four fresh Goodyears, sending him back out in 11th position for the lap 30 restart.  Bayne would then move himself back inside the lead pack of cars, as he would take the middle to get himself up to 6th place when the caution flag lap flew at lap 48.

He battled side by side with Matt Kenseth in the closing laps to get inside the top-five and made a quick move to get in front at the line by Kenseth got the fifth position back before the two crossed the line.  Bayne crossed the line 6th in his No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Fusion.

Bayne, Stenhouse can make two-car system work at Roush Fenway Racing

This weekend it is a nice mid-70 degree weekend for racing at Daytona International Speedway and the haulers rolled in on Thursday night to start things off for the season.  The teams began to unload their equipment on Friday afternoon to begin preparation for Daytona Speedweeks and there will be a big difference this season for Trevor Bayne and his organization.

While the sport is taking a major change in its sponsor, Roush Fenway Racing is as well and just about everyone has heard it.  For the first time in their career Trevor Bayne and teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr., will be a two-car operation together.  Roush and veteran Greg Biffle parted ways right before the end of the 2016 season and it made many people wonder what would happen with the team.  For years there has been a veteran face among the organization to build upon, now the two younger drivers are what is left to to move forward into the future.

Bayne and Stenhouse worked together from September 2010-2012 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series

Bayne and Stenhouse worked together as a strong pair in 2011

and even though Bayne missed most of the 2012 because of sponsorship issues, the two drivers had immediate success in the series together.  The two won 9 races and Stenhouse won back to back championships when the two were teammates in the series.  So this isn't their first rodeo working together as teammates in a two-car system.  While neither driver has yet to find full success in the upper level of NASCAR, there are some pieces fans and the media have left out when discussing these two drivers.  They've not had top-notch cars since they've been running in the series.

There is that lone win between the two drivers in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series that came from Trevor Bayne's win in the 2011 Daytona 500.  So I go on something that many people have tried to point on in the media.  You have to look at sponsorship dollars right now at Roush Fenway Racing and in years passed, there just wasn't enough money and sponsors to fully field three to four race cars and be competitively in the top circuit of the sport.  Right now Roush has two cars and enough sponsors to fully spread the money around to make sure that they put it all in the right places and there are a couple of other pieces to the puzzle that needs to be talked about as well.  Bayne and Stenhouse likely don't cost as much on a monetary scale as say a Greg Biffle or Carl Edwards so it is a lot easier to take the money from the sponsors and put it into finding what else is going on in their race cars.

I think that Roush made some key organizational moves in the off-season to put people in other positions and remove certain people as well.  Do I wish that there would have been a lot more people hired from outside of this organization to bring in new voices and ideas?  You're darn right I do.  I think that this is a starting point, however, for this team to try and find its grip.

When you shuffle a third car out of the organization there is a big change.  However, there is something else that comes with this as well.  I believe when Greg Biffle was there, the possibility was higher say for the team to sit and take what the veteran driver wanted over the other two drivers in the organization.  Now I think it is a pretty much even drawing board with Bayne and Stenhouse in the Cup Series.   In years passed, I somehow feel the team was afraid to criticize the members and drivers and say they were running terribly.

This season is a fresh start almost for an organization that truly needed it. 

Looking Forward to 2017: Key's to finding success for Bayne

The 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season will be one filled with many changes for Trevor Bayne on the circuit, but there are some key factors staying the same that will help him out through this season.

Bayne is entering his third full-time season on the circuit this year for Roush Fenway Racing after driving part-time for the Wood Brothers from 2011-2014 in the famed No. 21 Ford.  In Bayne's first two years at Roush, the organization has failed to provide the driver with cars to compete inside the top-10 on a regular base but changes made in the off-season to the organization might be some of the key pieces to get the No. 6 Ford Fusion up front this season.

No. 1 Crew Chief Matt Puccia:  This will be the second season that Bayne and Matt Puccia have been able to work together on the No. 6 Fords at Roush Fenway.  Last season, Puccia and Bayne had moments where it appeared they were coming around and showing signs of being potential contenders in the Cup Series.  They had top-five finishes at Bristol and Daytona and were competitive at tracks such as Dover and Watkins Glen.  The two kept their composure throughout the season and were able to come back several times after being wrecked to record solid finishes inside the top-10.

Puccia helped Bayne improve in every category of statistic except the win column last year by scoring more top-fives, more top-tens, better average start and finish and laps led than any year past.

No. 2 Restrictor Plate Tracks:    Probably the strongest point of Trevor Bayne and Roush Fenway's year in 2016 was on restrictor plate tracks.  Bayne was a solid contender in the four plate events last season.  He was up front battling for the win in the July Coke Zero 400 at Daytona.  Bayne battled himself through pack in the final laps and finished 3rd in the event.  He also was 10th in the Spring Talladega event but fell back at the finish of the fall event and finished 17th.

Considering Bayne won the 2011 Daytona 500, six years ago, it will be a strong note that the team will continue to be contenders on the plate tracks this season.  Bayne has been strong since the get go on these fast paced drafting events and the Roush cars with the help of former crew chief Jimmy Fennig have remained fast at Daytona and Talladega.

No. 3 No More Stenhouse VS Bayne:  During the Media Day at Charlotte, Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., both spoke about the importance of working together instead of against each other in 2017.  The two drivers have been teammates since 2010 when Bayne first arrived at Roush Fenway Racing after being let go by Michael Waltrip Racing after sponsorship issues.  For two years, Roush had a gimmick on social media called Ricky VS Trevor with many videos of them challenging each other to many things away from the track.

Bayne and Stenhouse worked well with one another in the NASCAR Xfinity Series together from 2010-2012 before Stenhouse was moved to Cup Series racing full-time in 2013.  The two have to share what they find with each other and make sure their crew chiefs and teams share the same line of thought.  Roush Fenway Racing's strongest years were when Mark Martin and Jeff Burton were able to work together as a solid pair in the sport and they made things work, along with their teams and crew chiefs.

No. 4 Remain Focused And Look Forward:  Last year, Trevor Bayne was able to work with an experienced spotter Roman Pemberton who finally was able to catch some of the issues going on while Bayne was driving the race car.  The biggest issue was his talking while driving the car and trying to telling Puccia and Pemberton what was going on every 2-3 laps.  Pemberton and Puccia calmed him down and got his focus more on the driving and letting them handle the car.  That needs to be more of the focus this season going forward.

No. 5 Roush Fenway Cars Need Improvement:  For the past few years, Trevor Bayne has had to hear the media and fans throw the comments at him and the problem is he has been driving cars that are midpack class since coming onto the Cup Series scene except for a few events.  The key changes in the off-season should provide some of that, as Kevin Kidd has provided some changes as the new Director for the Cup Series program. 

Both Bayne and Stenhouse have been acknowledged as mediocre at best drivers, but the fact is both drivers can race with the best of them.  It is the cars that are the biggest problem at Roush right now.  I think that some fans and media don't take into consideration that drivers who race cars such as these two have the last few years, it isn't always the driver, or even the crew chief for that matter.  If the team begins to get the cars better you will see the two drivers show a huge improvement on the track.