MWR NEWS: Trevor Bayne - Nashville Preview

CORNELIUS, N.C. — Trevor Bayne, the youngest fulltime NASCAR Nationwide Series driver, celebrates his one year anniversary with Diamond-Waltrip Racing this weekend at Nashville Superspeedway. The 19-year-old driver made a big splash last year in his DWR debut by qualifying on the outside pole. Since then the Knoxville, Tenn. native has made 23 starts behind the wheel of the No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota. He owns a pole (Indianapolis), two top-10 (Indianapolis and Las Vegas) and 11 top-15 finishes. Bayne has made two starts at the 1.33-mile Nashville Superspeedway qualifying second and sixth with finishes of 28th and 12th.

QUOTES

TREVOR BAYNE ON NASHVILLE: “I like racing at Nashville and it gets me back to my home state too. But I really like guitars so hopefully we can get one of those. We’re having a great second part of the season so far – as far as our speed. We haven’t gotten the finishes that we want, but we’ve been fast every weekend. I’m hoping to build on that all the way through. Hopefully we can carry the momentum from Charlotte on to Nashville. We have a great new sponsor on board and that’s always good to have a painted race car when you go to a race track. A paint scheme looks good when it’s got something on the hood. Our Toyotas have been strong for Diamond-Waltrip Racing and we’re just looking forward to building on that. I’ll have some friends and family out at Nashville Superspeedway so that will be great. I think its perfect timing to go back there. My first race last season for Michael Waltrip Racing was at Nashville. It’s going to be great to go back and see how far we’ve come in just one year.”

ON ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY WITH DWR: “It has been a great year. I have been able to learn so much from Jerry Baxter (crew chief) and all the other guys at Diamond-Waltrip Racing. We have build some fast cars and I think we are getting better and better each weekend. It’s cool to look back and see how far I have come in just one year. I think we, as a team, are really starting to gel and I think we can prove that we are a team that can win over the next 23 races.”

ON RACING ON A TRACK YOU HAVE RACED ON BEFORE: “It’s like starting on an even playing field this weekend. Normally, I have to spend the entire first practice just learning the race track before we can make adjustments to the car. That puts us behind just a little. We have made laps at Nashville so we will be able to make adjustments right off the truck. Also, Jerry (Baxter) knows what I want in a race car at Nashville so the car should be pretty close off the truck this weekend.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

Diamond-Waltrip Racing is owned by Gary and Blake Bechtel along with Michael Waltrip Racing. It fields Toyota Camry's out of the MWR shop in Cornelius, N.C. The Bechtels have owned cars in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series since 1990. The Morgan Hill, California residents’ teams have visited victory lane 10 times in the Nationwide Series.

Bayne owns 27 NNS starts. He has a pole (Indianapolis), three top-10s (Indianapolis, Richmond and Las Vegas), 11 top-15s and has led 34 laps. His average starting spot is 12th and a finishing spot of 18th.

Bayne is sixth among the drivers only competing in the Nationwide Series.

Bayne will sign autographs in the Nashville FanZone area on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

To get your dog’s picture on Bayne’s No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota go to www.outpetcare.com and register them for the next “Top Dog of the Week.”

On Tuesday, Bayne and the Diamond-Waltrip Racing team tested at Virginia International Raceway in preparation for the upcoming road course event at Road America.