Bayne Gets Hard Fought Eighth-Place Finish In Kansas

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In: Xfinity Series News

Trevor Bayne, driver of the No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Mustang, recorded his 19thtop-10 finish of the 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) season on Saturday afternoon at Kansas Speedway after earning an eighth-place finish. 

“We are happy with eighth,” said Bayne after the race. “Eighth-place was where we kind of ran throughout the day today. We made some good gains on our No. 6 AdvoCare Ford on the short run during the race. Our car just got too loose there on the last run, and I kept waiting for it to snap on me any second. But in the end, we’ll take eighth and move on to Charlotte next weekend.”

Bayne rolled off from the 11th positon on Saturday afternoon and battled inside the top 15 for much of the early portion of the 200-Lap event. After reporting that the No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Mustang was loose on entry and tight through the center of the corners, Crew Chief Chad Norris called Bayne to pit road during a Lap 23 caution for two tires and a chassis adjustment. Returning to the track in 11th, Bayne was quickly able to work his way into the top 10.

Bayne maintained his position until the tight handling condition returned, shuffling Bayne back to 12th just prior to the second pit stop of the afternoon on Lap 46. After pitting for four tires and adjustments, Bayne continued to race inside the top 15 until contact exiting pit road with the No. 44 car forced the AdvoCare Ford back to pit road during a Lap 73 caution. Returning to the track in 22nd, Bayne wasted little time making his way back toward the front, rejoining the top-10 just shy of the halfway point.

Now back inside the top 10, Norris told Bayne to begin saving fuel so that they could make it to the finish on one more pit stop. Using this alternate strategy, Bayne was able to work his way up to the seventh position just prior to his final pit stop of the afternoon on Lap 138. Then, following a caution on Lap 143, Bayne was able to utilize a three-wide maneuver on the ensuing restart to move into the top five.

In the closing stages, Bayne worked his way up to as high as fourth before the loose condition returned to the Roush Fenway Racing Ford. Fighting the handling, Bayne was ultimately shuffled back outside of the top five but was able to hold off a last lap charge from Brian Scott to earn an eighth-place finish, his third top-10 finish at the 1.5-Mile oval.

With the result, Bayne remains sixth in the championship standings and trails championship leader Chase Elliott by 97 points as the NNS heads to Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway next weekend.

RFR PR

Speedway Digest Staff
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