DOVER, Del. (June 1, 2013) – Roush Fenway’s Trevor Bayne locked up his third top-five finish of the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) season thanks to a bold and strategic pit call that gave him prime track position in Saturday’s 200-mill NNS race at Dover International Speedway. Less than halfway through the race, Bayne and the No. 6 Ford EcoBoost Mustang were running in ninth place when Crew Chief Mike Kelley made the decision to take two tires while the rest of the pack took four. The call catapulted Bayne into second place and then allowed him to take over the lead on the restart.
“Yeah, that two-tire stop got us in the game there. I had a fast car and could run times as fast as the leaders, we just needed that to get some track position,” said Bayne after the race. “I was really proud of these guys and the car that they gave me.”
From the halfway point on, Bayne never let go of the strong track position. The No. 6 Ford EcoBoost wavered around the top five throughout the next 60 laps when another two-tire pit stop launched him back into third place and allowed him to round out the day in fourth.
Bayne says last week’s sixth-place finish in Charlotte, and this week’s strong finish will be the key to gaining momentum in the season. “We have had some bad runs but now we got a couple good ones in a row and we need to keep it going. Top-five’s are what we have to knock out every weekend and eventually that will lead to victory lane,” said Bayne.
Today’s finish earned Bayne 41 points in the NNS standings and bumped him back into the top-10 ranks. He now sits 90 points behind NNS leader Regan Smith. The No. 6 team will try to build upon its hot streak next week in Iowa for the Dupont Pioneer 350.
Next Up:
Dupont Pioneer 350
Iowa Speedway
Newton, IA
Saturday, June 8th 2013
