Trevor Bayne, driver of the No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Fusion, ran up front for much of the 150-mile qualifying event at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday night before ultimately finishing in the 22nd position following an incident with eight laps remaining.
“Our AdvoCare Ford felt really good running up front,” said Bayne after the race. “It was great to be running up there and showing that our car has some great speed. It just stinks that it got torn up in the end. I’m not exactly sure what happened but I hate it for all of my guys that built me this car. I’m just happy to know we had a good car there in the beginning and I’m confident our backup will be just as good.”
Bayne began the 60-lap qualifying event from the seventh position and wasted little time moving forward, working his way into the top five by the completion of the first lap. Bayne’s march toward the front didn’t end there as he was able to maneuver his way into the second position as the field began Lap 3.
The driver of the No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Fusion would maintain his second position throughout the ensuing 13 laps, holding steady formation on the inside line behind race leader Matt Kenseth. Bayne would then pit for the first time during the first caution period of the evening on Lap 17. Crew chief Bob Osborne decided to utilize a fuel-only strategy to help Bayne maintain his track position inside the top three.
Taking the Lap 22 restart in third, Bayne would continue to battle for position inside the top five until the outside line began to grow stronger and ultimately forced Bayne into a three-wide situation that sent him back to 10th just prior to a Lap 27 caution.
Bayne continued to jostle for position inside the top 10 until the momentum on the inside line began to stall, shuffling the AdvoCare Ford back to 19th. Then, with just eight laps remaining, Bayne and the No. 42 of Kyle Larson made contact, sending the Roush Fenway Racing Ford into the wall – damaging the front end. Bayne would ultimately be scored with a 22nd-place finish.
Following the race, the AdvoCare team felt that the damage was too severe to repair and decided to go to a back-up car for Sunday’s Daytona 500. Bayne will take the green flag for the 57th running of “The Great American Race” from the 39th position.
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