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.

What attracts the sponsors eye to Trevor Bayne

Today's fans have this thing about a driver having a relationship with a sponsor and some believe if there is no success on the track, there is going to be no success with the partnership.  There are some, however, that truly can see how a partnership like Trevor Bayne and AdvoCare have worked out for as long as it has.

Bayne signs memorabilia for fans at the AdvoCare Booth

When you look at what Trevor Bayne has done off the track at AdvoCare's independent distributors at meet and greets and speak of their products and his off the track style has helped garner the reputation for his sponsor.  AdvoCare is part of Bayne's regiment for performance with their many products in his corner.

"That relationship has been one of the best relationships, if not the best relationship; that I've had in all my career with a partner and a sponsor for more than one reason," Bayne said.  "They've committed to sponsor every single race, which is incredible at this level.  But beyond that, the people in that company and the distributors, they are all super fit people, and it motivates you to keep fit yourself and keeps you accountable."

It was late in 2013 when AdvoCare began their partnership with Bayne after they decided not to move to the Sprint Cup Series with Austin Dillon and Richard Childress Racing.  The partnership started when Bayne began to use their products after he was diagnosed with MS in 2011, so Bayne knew if he wanted to keep going further into his career he needed a change and AdvoCare was the company that took him in the right direction.

"The product is incredible, and it's been really good for me to take it to keep me fresh and hydrated before the races.  It's been a big part of my routine and helps me in the car.  Also being around fit, like the distributors, you can't be an overweight race car driver and out of shape if you're going to work for AdvoCare."

Roush has had to support its other 2
cars in Sprint Cup for 2 seasons

Next season, Bayne for the first time will have someone other than AdvoCare on his No. 6 Ford Fusion.  Liberty National Life will be on board for several races and as a major associate sponsor on the car for the 2017 season.  There have been fans question why these sponsors wanted to be on the 6 car and possibly not with Greg Biffle, Ricky Stenhouse or even Chris Buescher, however, the posture that Bayne brings to the table for sponsors is different on and off the track.

He's very composed behind the camera when he is interviewed by the media, he is able to keep his cool even through the lows of the season and thanks the sponsors he has every race.  Bayne has been the only one at Roush Fenway Racing to be able to fill a complete season with sponsors since coming on board, as teammates Ricky Stenhouse and Greg Biffle had support from Roush Performance and Ford on their cars at time that brought little to no revenue to the team.

AdvoCare re-upped through the end of the 2019 season with Trevor Bayne and Roush Fenway back in November.  The partnership that started back in 2014 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (then Nationwide) has grown into one of the healthiest in the sport between the driver and the sponsor.

Bayne's results on the track may not weigh in to many fans on social media but his off the track performance with his sponsors has repped the results for the company that has backed him.  I have seen many AdvoCare Independent Distributors discuss Trevor Bayne's meets and all have positive reaction to the driver that their company backs.  It helps when the athlete that company backs uses their product on a regular basis.  Bayne is able to speak out to these people and what they do.

Maybe it's time the fans that question sponsors realize there's positives that outweigh the negatives.

Bayne picks up some insurance sponsorship from Liberty National in 2017

On Wednesday morning, Roush Fenway Racing announced a partnership with Liberty National Life Insurance Company, that will will have the leading health and life insurance company serve as the primary team partner on Trevor Bayne's No. 6 Ford Fusion.  Liberty National will also serve as well  as major partner in multiple races during the 2017 season.

"We are excited to have Liberty National on board next season," said Bayne.  "They are an extremely well respected brand that has been providing valuable services since 1900.  It's the kind of brand that are proud to have an association with and I can't wait to see the No. 6 Liberty National Ford on track.  Our Goal is to put our car up front and compete for race wins."

The No. 6 Liberty National Ford Fusion will make its debut on the track at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March.

"Liberty National views this new partnership with Roush Fenway Racing as the opportunity of a life time," said Liberty National President Steve DiChiaro.  "We look forward to cheering on Trevor Bayne as he drives the Liberty National car to victory lane in 2017."

This will be the first time Trevor Bayne has had someone other than AdvoCare on his No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Fusion in the Sprint Cup Series as they have been the only major sponsor in the series for the Knoxville, TN native.