NASCAR
Smoky Mountain Motorcycle Museum coming soon to the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area.
« Volunteer Racing Series releases 2010 schedule | Main | Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series to visit Bulls Gap and Cherokee »
Trevor Bayne posts career best finish in Vegas
By admin | February 27, 2010
By Richard Allen
Not everyone leaves Las Vegas a winner. As a matter of fact, very few do. That is true in NASCAR as well as at the gaming tables.
On Saturday, Knoxville’s Trevor Bayne did not win the Nationwide Series Sam’s Town 300 but he had to feel like he had been dealt a pair of aces at the Texas Hold ‘em table anyway. The young driver scored his best ever finish in the series with a solid 6th place.
The finish was certainly not an easy one as Bayne had to race with the likes of Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch over the closing laps.
His team decided to put on two tires during their final pit stop while most other drivers in the top-10 took four tires. The #99 Michael Waltrip Racing crew gambled that Bayne would be able to use the track position gained from the shorter stop to score a higher finish. The gamble paid off. Track position or not, racing with such experienced and aggressive competitors with the disadvantage of older tires would have been a daunting task for anyone. Yet Bayne held his own.
At one point, Bayne found himself in the middle of a three-wide sandwich with Harvick on one side and Busch on the other. A slip by the driver in the middle could have resulted in a bad day for everyone and a lot of criticism for the younger and less known of the three. But the 19 year old stayed in there and raced the veterans hard.
Via twitter, team owner Michael Waltrip said, “Going three wide like that takes talent.” He went on to add, “Great job by Trevor battling the big boys at the front!”
Bayne showed great poise at a young age racing with some of the biggest stars in NASCAR. After today, few should be surprised if he posts even better runs in the very near future.
Richard Allen is a member of the National Motorsports Press Association. His weekly columns appear in The Mountain Press and the Knoxville Journal.
Topics: ALL ARTICLES, Bayne, Trevor, EAST TENNESSEE DRIVERS | No Comments »