Daytona 500 will mark 7 years

When Trevor Bayne first came into the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series it was suppose to be in development role with the Wood Brothers in 2011.  After starting one race at Texas Motor Speedway in 2010 and finishing in the top-10 the Wood Brothers and then affiliate Roush Fenway Racing decided to put Bayne behind the wheel of the legendary No. 21 Ford Fusion for a part-time schedule.

No one expected the outcome that would come in just Trevor Bayne's second career start that would be the 2011 Daytona 500.  Bayne started his weekend off being one of the fastest cars on the track and qualifying third on February 20th behind the Hendrick Motorsports duo of Dale Earnhardt Jr and Jeff Gordon.  On Thursday afternoon he showed some strength drafting with Jeff Gordon but finished 19th in the second duel. 

The final restart of the race

During the race, Bayne was a strong contender throughout the event drafting with strong contenders Jeff Gordon until he was taken out of the event and David Ragan until he was black flagged for moving over to soon on a late restart that put Bayne in front of the field after a lap 202 green-white-checkered restart.  Many thought Bayne was a sitting duck on the final restart with veteran driver Bobby Labonte behind him and veterans Tony Stewart and Mark Martin lined up together.  However, Bayne's Ford was able to stay out in front with a push from Labonte and when a hard charge from Carl Edwards came Bayne moved down to slow the progress of the No. 99.  Bayne would cross the line as the youngest winner of the Daytona 500 at 20 years and 1 day old. 

"I keep thinking I'm dreaming.  Our first 500 -- are you kidding me?" Bayne said "To win our first win our second ever cup race, I mean this is just incredible.  Wow, this is unbelievable.  How cool is it to see the Wood Brothers back in victory lane?  It's crazy to get my first win before a Nationwide win, I didn't know how to get to victory lane!"

It has now been seven years since Bayne won the Great American race in his second career start and he is still with Roush Fenway Racing driving the No. 6 Ford Fusion and will go for his second 500 victory this coming weekend in the 60th Daytona 500 at DIS.