Trevor Bayne Race Summary: No. 99 Out Pet Care Toyota driver Trevor Bayne earned his second career pole and posted a career-best third-place finish Saturday night at Gateway International Raceway. Bayne opted to stay on the race track while the leaders pitted with just under 30 laps remaining to take the lead. Bayne relinquished two spots during the several restarts but was still able to hold off cars with fresher tires through the wild racing to hold on for the third-place finish. Bayne led the race’s opening lap and never faded outside the top-five in the first half of the race. The Jerry Baxter-led team prepared a Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota that looked good in every practice, qualifying and in the race on the 1.25-mile oval. Bayne’s finished, kept him in 11th-place in the series points race. The Nationwide Series returns to action Saturday night in Indianapolis.
· Bayne won his second career pole in just his 34th career race.
· His third-place finish was the best of his brief career.
· Bayne led the first lap and never fell outside the top five in the first half of the race.
· Ran in the top-10 in second half of the race.
· With 20 laps remaining, crew chief Jerry Baxter had Bayne stay on the track giving him the lead.
· Carl Edwards and Brad Kesolowski passed Bayne before a red flag stopped the race.
· Bayne restarted the with two laps to go in fourth and finished third after Kesolowski and Edwards made contact.
BAYNE QUOTE: How do you feel after tonight’s race?
“It was just a really enduring race. It was hard for the drivers, it was hard for the team, but Jerry Baxter (crew chief) did a great job with the call there to not pit and got us our track position back. We had a strong enough car to be up there and that was the way it was for us in our Out! Pet Car Toyota all weekend. We unloaded fast, in the top three, qualified on the pole and then finished top three so it’s a great weekend for us. Can’t thank everyone enough for giving us this opportunity. It was a great weekend for us and we’re happy to be in the top three.”
How important was the call by Jerry Baxter to not pit on the last caution?
“That was a crucial call for us and we had fallen back to eighth. That wasn’t because of our car, that was just because of some coincidences that had happened when I got pinched down on the bottom by the 62 (Brendan Gaughan) and that cost us to lose a couple spots. We were coming back, but track position is so important here because you don’t have the gear to get off the corners. That was a really great call and it took a lot of guts for Jerry Baxter (crew chief) to do that, to leave us out when everybody was coming down pit road. It paid off for us. We got a top three out of it, we had a strong Out! Pet Care Toyota all weekend. We unloaded top three, stayed top three all through practices, qualified on the pole and then finished top three. Just a really strong weekend for us.”
What did you see on the final lap between Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski?
“I had a front row view of it for sure. I was just hoping I could get by the 32 (Reed Sorenson) because I figured for sure I would win the race if I got by him because I figured the 60 (Carl Edwards) and 22 (Brad Keselowski) would kind of take care of themselves just by the way turn one and two looked. It was insane from the very beginning of the restart. They went into one and two -- Keselowski overdrove it and slid up the track and it looked like the 22 just overdrove it a couple times and slid up the track and tried to run the 60 up and then the 60 just came down there at the end and got the 22 from what I saw. I was kind of focused on chasing my car through three and four because I overdrove it as well on the last lap. Fortunately, it helped us and we got our first top three. It doesn’t really matter how we got it, as long as we got it. I hate it for those guys because they were so dominant all day, but it was just a great run for us.”
Ryan Truex Race Summary: It only took half a race for No. 00 Ryan Truex to claw his way into the top-10 in his first NASCAR Nationwide Series appearance. The 2009 K&N Pro Series East Champion and 2010 points leader impressed competitors and fans at Gateway International Raceway on Saturday night by driving like a veteran. The 18-year-old qualified 18th then stormed into the top 10 at the halfway mark and even climbed as high as eighth. With just 22 laps remaining, Truex lost control of his car and slapped the wall. He parked the car after the accident but drove the No. 20 Toyota in relief for Matt DiBenedetto who was involved in an earlier accident. Truex returns to Nationwide race at Michigan on Aug. 14.
· Truex started his first NASCAR Nationwide Series race in 18th.
· Truex moved into the top-10 at the halfway mark of the race.
· He climbed as high as eighth late in the race.
· Raced in 10th on lap 178 when he hit the wall and pulled into the garage.
· Served a relief driver for Matt DiBenedetto who was in an accident earlier in the race.
TRUEX QUOTE: "Man that was a lot of fun until I spun out. I was really surprised how well we ran. I didn’t know if we would run that well. Napa and my crew made all this happen. I just drive. I have a lot to learn but that started tonight. I was having fun out there. Really, I was. Next time will be more about racing. This weekend was getting in the field and learning. I got hot out there, but I think everyone did. Sounds like it was a cool finish.”
RACE NOTES:
· Carl Edwards and Brad Kesolowski made contact the front stretch coming to the checkered flag.
· Edwards survived the contact and claimed the victory. Kesolowski hit and wall and was struck by another car and finished 14th.
· Reed Sorenson finished second and Bayne finished third.
· The next race is July 24 at Raceway Park in Indianapolis.
Results
1 Carl Edwards
2 Reed Sorenson
3 Trevor Bayne
4 Paul Menard
5 Steve Wallace
6 Brian Scott *
7 Colin Braun *
8 Josh Wise
9 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. *
10 Tony Raines
11 Michael Annett
12 Shelby Howard
13 Steve Arpin
14 Brad Keselowski
15 Willie Allen
16 Kevin Harvick
17 Brendan Gaughan
18 Tayler Malsam
19 Mike Bliss
20 Kenny Wallace
21 Morgan Shepherd
22 Mike Wallace
23 Jason Leffler
24 Alex Kennedy
25 Justin Allgaier
26 Eric McClure
27 Joe Nemechek
28 Ryan Truex
29 Matt DiBenedetto
30 Brad Coleman
31 Landon Cassill
32 Kelly Bires
33 Brad Baker
34 Jason Keller
35 Kevin Lepage
36 Chase Miller
37 Danny O'Quinn Jr.
38 Brian Keselowski
39 Kevin Swindell
40 Johnny Chapman
41 Johnny Sauter
42 Dennis Setzer
43 Mark Green
Points
1 Brad Keselowski Leader
2 Carl Edwards -168
3 Justin Allgaier -497
4 Kyle Busch -556
5 Kevin Harvick -608
6 Paul Menard -675
7 Steve Wallace -838
8 Brendan Gaughan -915
9 Joey Logano -934
10 Jason Leffler -954
11 Trevor Bayne -1002
12 Brian Scott* -1051
13 Michael Annett -1069
14 Reed Sorenson -1085
15 Tony Raines -1110
16 Kenny Wallace -1296
17 Mike Wallace -1323
18 Mike Bliss -1341
19 Eric McClure -1483
20 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.* -1494
21 Joe Nemechek -1499
22 Michael McDowell -1563
23 Jason Keller -1608
24 Colin Braun* -1633
25 Greg Biffle -1674
26 Scott Lagasse Jr. -1714
27 Josh Wise -1847
28 Willie Allen -1962
29 Shelby Howard -1972
30 Robert Richardson Jr. -1983
31 Jamie McMurray -1998
32 Morgan Shepherd -2014
33 Brian Keselowski -2068
34 James Buescher* -2139
35 Mark Green -2156
36 Clint Bowyer -2187
Posts
That was a great race for Trevor and the MWR teams. When the 12 got into Trevor's car i was thinking here we go again the 12 is going to take him out again. But was good to see the car didn't get damage. Ryan was really good even with the finish he was running great. I think he will do better the next time he run the Nationwide. Keep up the great work MWR.
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