Trevor Bayne

Trevor Bayne Dover Preview

2010-09-22T11:59:00.000-07:00

CORNELIUS, N.C. — Every time Trevor Bayne climbs into the No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota he wonders if this will be the weekend he notches his first NASCAR Nationwide Series victory. He’s been getting closer and closer. The 19-year-old, Knoxville, Tenn., finished a career-best third in the series’ most recent race in Richmond. He’s scored the fifth most points of any driver and most points of a Nationwide Series only driver in the last 10 races. This weekend the Diamond-Waltrip Racing driver races at Dover International Speedway. Bayne is seventh in the standings with only eight races left in the 2010 season.

TREVOR BAYNE QUOTES

SEVENTH PLACE IN STANDINGS: “It’s cool to work our way up to seventh after the rough start we had in February. We’ve had a lot of ups and downs. We started the season off with a 41st-place finish at Daytona and just struggled until about May. Before that we struggled to get the finishes we deserved. Now, I think we’ve figured out how to run in the top five each week and finish. Our next step is to figure out that little bit extra to win a race. Hopefully, we’ll do that this weekend in Dover and get us closer to the top five in the standings.”

BAYNE ON DOVER: “I like racing at Dover a lot. I don’t have a ton of experience there but I do have some track time. I finished 29th there in May and I ran an East race there once. For us to be successful this weekend we have to be able to get to the throttle hard and fast up off the corners. I remember in the East Series cars we were almost wide open during qualifying and the Nationwide cars aren’t that far off. One thing Martin (Truex Jr.) told me was to make sure you get to the throttle wide open. If you have to get to the gas easy and wait on the car a little off the corners you will get your butt kicked at Dover.”

NOTES OF INTEREST

• Bayne will participate in an autograph session on Saturday from 8:30-9:30 a.m. at the Dover International Speedway FanZone.

• Gary and Blake Bechtel along with Michael Waltrip Racing own Diamond-Waltrip Racing that fields Toyota Camrys out of the MWR shop in Cornelius, N.C. The Bechtels have owned cars in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series since 1990. The Morgan Hill, California residents’ teams have visited victory lane 10 times in the Nationwide Series.

• Bayne owns only one Nationwide Series start on the one-mile concrete oval in Dover. On May 15, he started 23rd and raced well before a late race incident left him with a 29th-place finish. Bayne started third and finished 21st in the Sept. 19, 2008 NASCAR K&N Pro Cup East Series race at Dover.

• Bayne is the second highest series-only regular in the driver point standings.

• Only Bayne, Michael Waltrip, Jeff Gordon, and Sam Ard have notched three consecutive Nationwide poles. Bayne won poles at St. Louis, Indianapolis and Iowa in July.

• Bayne owns 42 NNS starts. He has four poles (Indianapolis –2009, 2010, Gateway—2010 and Iowa 2010), five top-fives and 10 top-10s and has led 129 laps. His best finish (third) came at Gateway International Raceway on July 17 and at Richmond International Raceway on September 10.

Trevor Bayne Richmond Race Report

2010-09-10T19:49:00.000-07:00

Trevor Bayne Race Summary: No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota driver Trevor Bayne posted a third-place finish Friday night at Richmond International Raceway. The finish equals the best of the 19-year-old’s 42-race career and moved him to seventh in the 2010 driver standings. The Diamond-Waltrip driver started eighth and ran in the top five before briefly fading to mid-pack. A late-race charge saw him climb as high as second place in the closing laps before claiming the third-place finish. Bayne now owns five top-five finishes in his brief career. Bayne and the Nationwide Series returns to action at Dover on Sept. 25.

Bayne started eighth and battled a loose race car in the early going running about seventh.

Moved into the top five on lap 66 but fell to 16th by lap 90 struggling with handling

Issues corrected by lap 130 and charged to the front of the field.

Bayne restarted fifth on lap 205 and immediately moved to second.

Highest finishing Toyota, highest finishing non-Sprint Cup driver.

Marks Bayne’s fifth career top-five finish. Bayne also finished third at Gateway on July 17.

Winner Kevin Harvick and second-place Brad Keselowski nearly collided on the final two laps almost handing the victory to Bayne.

BAYNE QUOTES: “Really excited about this run we had today. That was awesome to get a top-three here with these new cars. Everybody at our shop has worked their butts off to get these new cars right and they were that way when we unloaded. Just a great run for this Out! Pet Care Toyota. That was a pretty cool restart there. We went down into that turn one and everybody just scattered and it was like the seas parted and the hole opened up and we got to second all of the sudden. That was pretty cool, it put us in position to finish up third here I think. Everyone at Diamond-Waltrip Racing just is working their butts off to get these cars right. We didn’t have to make many changes. Also, Out! Pet Care, we’ve had a lot of fun with them so far this year with all their competitions. We had a dog on our deck-lid again this week so that’s an every week thing and it’s pretty cool. I really like these new cars. I actually like the way they drive a little bit better than the current style cars.”

Trevor Bayne - Richmond Preview

2010-09-07T14:07:00.000-07:00

CORNELIUS, N.C. — No. 99 OUT! Pet Care driver Trevor Bayne races at Richmond International Raceway Friday night in the third of four 2010 races featuring the NASCAR Nationwide Series’ new car. The Knoxville, Tenn., native raced in the top five at Michigan and the top 10 in Daytona in previous appearances of the safer, more cost efficient car that will run full-time in 2011.

Racing the new or old car doesn't seem to matter to the 19-year-old Diamond-Waltrip Racing driver who’s scored the fifth most points of any driver in the last 10 Nationwide races posting three poles, three top-fives and five top-10 finishes.

QUOTES

TREVOR BAYNE ON RACING THE NEW CAR AT RICHMOND: “We tested the new car at Milwaukee a couple of months ago and we were pretty fast. I am hoping our information from Milwaukee can transfer over to Richmond. The new car seems to turn really well on short tracks and I think they will be really fun to drive at Richmond. However, I think we will fight forward bite this weekend. Whoever has the best forward bite and can turn the center will fight for the win at Richmond.”

BAYNE ON GOALS FOR THE FINAL RACES OF THE SEASON: “I think our goal is to win a race in the last nine races. We want to continue to be consistent and run for top five each week. I think if we can run top five each week the wins will start to come around. I would really like to be top five in the drivers’ points and top 10 in the owners’ points by the end of the season. It would be pretty cool to be recognized at the awards banquet in my first full season of Nationwide racing.”

CREW CHIEF JERRY BAXTER ON THE NEW CAR: “Our new car program is pretty solid. We have had some success early. Since the new car is so similar to the cup car we are able to use a lot of information from the cup program. With the car we run right now everything is so different that we don’t have all the support. With the new car we have a lot right in front of us so it’s a lot easier to get the cars set up to be successful.”

NOTES OF INTEREST

• Gary and Blake Bechtel along with Michael Waltrip Racing own Diamond-Waltrip Racing that fields Toyota Camrys out of the MWR shop in Cornelius, N.C. The Bechtels have owned cars in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series since 1990. The Morgan Hill, California residents’ teams have visited victory lane 10 times in the Nationwide Series.

• Bayne will participate in a NNS new car “Tech Talk” at the Nationwide Insurance mobile display unit in the FanZone on Friday at 3 p.m.

• Bayne will participate in an autograph session on Thursday from 4:30-5:15 p.m. in the amphitheater area.

• Bayne has two starts at Richmond. His best finish came in Sept. 2009 when he started ninth and finished seventh. In April he started sixth and finished 21st.

• Bayne owns 41 NNS starts. He has four poles (Indianapolis –2009, 2010, Gateway—2010 and Iowa 2010), four top-fives and 10 top-10s and has led 129 laps. His best finish (third) came at Gateway International Raceway on July 17.

Diamond-Waltrip Racing - Atlanta Post Race Report

2010-09-05T07:03:00.000-07:00

• Trevor Bayne, No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry - finished 24th - now seventh in points.

Trevor Bayne Race Summary: Trevor Bayne and the No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine team jumped one spot to seventh in the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship point standings. The Knoxville, Tenn., native started the Great Clips 300 from Atlanta Motor Speedway in 11th but an ill-handling racecar was evident from the drop of the green flag. Crew chief Jerry Baxter took several major swings at the No. 99 Toyota but nothing seemed to fix the problem. After suffering from a difficult handling condition along with several unfortunate events, Bayne crossed the finish line 24th and two laps down to the leaders. Next week the NNS travels to Richmond for it’s third new Nationwide car race on the NNS schedule.

TREVOR BAYNE, Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota

• Started 11th, finished 24th
• Suffered from an ill-handling race car throughout the 195 laps
• Raced in the top 20 for the majority of the race
• Went a lap down to the leaders on lap 98
• Brought out the third caution when he spun after making contact with Ryan Newman
• In the closing laps made an unscheduled pit stop while running 19th for a right-rear flat costing him five positions
• Bayne in now seventh in the NNS point standings

BAYNE QUOTES: “Our Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota was just off all day. We never could get it to handle right in practice and that just carried over to the race. This is the first time we’ve struggled like this in a long time. You’re going to have weeks like this. We just can’t let this mess with our momentum that we’ve had the last several months. We just need to go to Richmond and have a good run.”

NNS Racing Results

• Jamie McMurray won the Great Clips 300, his eighth victory in 179 NNS races
• This is his first victory and sixth top-10 finish in 2010.
• His last victory came on Nov. 13, 2004 at Darlington Raceway.
• Kyle Busch (second) posted his fourth top-10 finish in seven races at AMS.
• Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top five.
• The race featured nine lead changes among five drivers. Cautions slowed the race four time for 17 laps.
• NASCAR estimated 71,300 race fans in attendance at Atlanta

2010-08-31T11:25:00.000-07:00

CORNELIUS, N.C. — It’s easy to forget No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine driver Trevor Bayne is 19-years-old. He acts and drives like a veteran but the Knoxville, Tenn., native showed up at Bristol Motor Speedway two weeks ago with braces. Since then the Diamond-Waltrip Racing driver lost 10 lbs. but still managed to score two top-10 finishes. This weekend Bayne visits Atlanta Motor Speedway hoping to continue his recent streak of good performances in the Nationwide Series. In the last 6 races, Bayne scored the fourth most points—the best of any non-Sprint Cup driver.

QUOTES

TREVOR BAYNE ON HIS BRACES: “I decided to get braces because I had a small gap between my two front teeth. It was just something that had been bothering me for the last couple of years. Since I am in front of the camera a lot I wanted my teeth to be perfect. When the orthodontist told me it would only take six months I was all in. I have only had them on for two weeks and the gap between my two front teeth is almost gone. By this time next year I will have the best smile of any NASCAR driver.”

WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN EATING SINCE: “I have lost 10 pounds since I got my braces. The first couple of days my teeth were so sore. I pretty much lived off mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese. Last weekend in Montreal was the first time I could actually bite down on food. I really didn’t think my teeth would be this sore. I just got them readjusted on Monday so I think I will be back to eating soft foods again this week. I am glad that I only have to wear them for six months and not a couple of years like a lot of people.”

ON ATLANTA: “Atlanta is probably one of my favorite tracks on the circuit. Last year we were really fast right off the truck. I like it because its really fast but the race track isn’t smooth it has it’s own unique characteristics I like how your car slide all over the race track. You really have to search around for a groove that has the most grip for your car. You want to get you car working good on the long runs. As the run goes on the less grip you will have. You have to be able to be able to carry a lot of corner speed and the car has to work good over the bumps.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

• Gary and Blake Bechtel along with Michael Waltrip Racing own Diamond-Waltrip Racing. It fields Toyota Camrys out of the MWR shop in Cornelius, N.C. The Bechtels have owned cars in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series since 1990. The Morgan Hill, California residents’ teams have visited victory lane 10 times in the Nationwide Series.

• Bayne started seventh and finished 16th in his lone Atlanta Motor appearance in 2009.

• Bayne owns 40 NNS starts. He has four poles (Indianapolis –2009, 2010, Gateway—2010 and Iowa 2010), four top-fives and 10 top-10s and has led 129 laps. His best finish (third) came at Gateway International Raceway on July 17.

• In the last six races Bayne has scored two poles, two top-five and four top-10 finishes. He has also scored the fourth most points and has an average starting position of 11tth and a average finishing position of 10.8.

• Aaron’s, proud sponsor of the No. 99, will give away an autographed hat to a lucky race fan through Facebook and Twitter following any top-10 finish. Follow Aaron’s on Twitter (@aaronssports) and become a fan on Facebook (Facebook.com/AaronsSports).

Trevor Bayne scores a Top-10 at Montreal

2010-08-29T18:08:00.000-07:00

• Trevor Bayne, No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota Camry - Finished 10th - Now eighth in points.

Trevor Bayne Race Summary: In only his third NASCAR Nationwide Series road course race in his brief career, No. 99 OUT! Pet Care driver Trevor Bayne earned a 10th-place finish and remained eighth in the championship point standings. The 19-year-old driver started the race 20th, but climbed into the top 10 by lap 19. The Knoxville, Tenn., native raced sixth and appeared ready to compete for the victory in the closing laps. With four laps remaining Bayne and J.R. Fitzpatrick made contact sending the No. 99 Toyota into the wall. The OUT! Pet Care Camry suffered major damage, forcing it to limp home in 10th— the eighth top-10 finish of the season. Next weekend the Nationwide series heads to Atlanta for Saturday night’s race.

TREVOR BAYNE, OUT! Pet Care Toyota
• Bayne started 20th and finished 10th
• Eighth top-10 finish of the season and 10th of his career
• Narrowly avoided several incidents early in the race
• Raced in 10th by lap 19 and as high as fourth during a pit cycle with 27 laps remaining
• Restarted sixth on lap 67 then involved in two on-track incidents
• Suffered front and rear damage as he attempted to avoid a wreck on lap 68, but stayed out.
• Bumped by J.R. Fitzpatrick and made contact with the outside wall causing a flat tire on lap 73
• Bayne restarted 10th—the last car on the lead lap for the green-white-checkered finish and finished 10th.
• In 40 starts, Bayne has four poles, four top-five and 10 top-10 finishes

BAYNE QUOTE: "We had a really good OUT! Pet Care Toyota today. I learned so much. I had a lot of fun today. Once we were able to run consecutive green flag laps I started to get a lot faster. I am really happy with a top-10 finish however I think we could have finished top five if we didn't get wrecked. Overall, it was a great day for the No. 99 team."

NNS Racing Results
• Boris Said beat Max Papis to the finish line by .012 seconds to win his first NASCAR Nationwide Series race
• The margin of victory is the fifth closest in series history
• The win is the first for Boris Said in 22 career Nationwide Series starts
• Jacques Villeneuve, Brad Keselowski and Paul Menard rounded out the top five
• Brad Keselowski leads the point standings by 365 over second-place Carl Edwards
• The race featured 11 lead changes among eight drivers. Cautions slowed the race seven time for 19 laps.
• The race lasted three hours, 17 minutes.
• NASCAR estimated 70,000 race fans in attendance at Montreal

Trevor Bayne - Montreal Preview

2010-08-24T13:35:00.000-07:00

CORNELIUS, N.C. — No. 99 OUT! Pet Care driver Trevor Bayne makes his first trip outside the United States this weekend when he and the NASCAR Nationwide Series visit the 14-turn, 2.710-mile road course Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. Only Brad Keselowski, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch have scored more points than the 19-year-old driver Diamond Waltrip driver in the last Nationwide races10 races. Road course expert Michael McDowell tutored the Knoxville, Tenn. native in preparation for Sunday’s NAPA AUTO PARTS 200. The duo spent time driving a simulator and racing go-karts at Kershaw Speedway in South Carolina. Michael Waltrip Racing will field the No. 00 NAPA Toyota for driver Patrick Carpentier this weekend.

QUOTES

TREVOR BAYNE ON MONTREAL: “This will be my first time I have ever been out of the country. I am really looking forward to another road course race. I’ve never raced at Montreal but Michael (McDowell) has been working with me lately to get ready. Even though we only have one good finish on a road course this year, I think it’s fun to change it up a little. We have been on a long stretch of racing so it’s fun to throw something different into the mix outside of oval racing. However, our oval program is really strong right now so I hate to deviate from that, but hopefully we can make this program strong as well.”

ON HAVING PATRICK CARPENTIER AS A TEAMMATE THIS WEEKEND: “I am going to lean on Patrick a lot this weekend. This is his home track and he ran so well there last year until the motor blew up. I am going to get with him at the race track before practice starts and pick his brain a little. I’ll also follow him a few laps to try and get my rhythm down. I have to use all my resources this weekend to give me that extra little edge over the other Nationwide regulars. We are going to the track this weekend with the same setup Patrick had last season so I think we should be pretty fast off the truck.”

ON SCORING THE FOURTH MOST POINTS IN THE LAST 10 RACES: “At the beginning of the season we said we wanted to be a top five team by the end of the year and I think we are there now. If we keep performing like we have the last month I think we can get close to the top five in points. It’s been great to have the feeling of success with this team. To overcome some obstacles in the beginning and now to be performing like we are and racing with the Cup guys every weekend. It’s been so exciting to be able to race with Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski and just running up front.”

NOTES OF INTEREST

• MEDIA AVAILABILITY—Bayne and Carpentier will attend Thursday’s media luncheon at Noon in the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve Media Center.

• Diamond-Waltrip Racing is owned by Gary and Blake Bechtel along with Michael Waltrip Racing. It fields Toyota Camrys out of the MWR shop in Cornelius, N.C. The Bechtels have owned cars in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series since 1990. The Morgan Hill, California residents’ teams have visited victory lane 10 times in the Nationwide Series.

• Bayne has three poles, three top-five and four top-10 finishes in the last six races.

• Bayne has led 95 laps – third most of any driver in the series and the most of any Nationwide Series only driver. He is one of four NNS only drivers (Allgaier– 2, Braun– 1, Leffler– 1) to lead laps over the last five races.

• Bayne owns 39 NNS starts. He has four poles (Indianapolis –2009, 2010, Gateway—2010 and Iowa 2010), four top-fives and nine top-10s and has led 129 laps. His best finish (third) came at Gateway International Raceway on July 17.

Diamond-Waltrip Racing - Bristol Post Race

2010-08-21T07:45:00.000-07:00

Trevor Bayne, No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota Camry - finished sixth - remains eighth in points.

Trevor Bayne Race Summary: No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota driver Trevor Bayne raced his way to a career-best finish of sixth at Bristol Motor Speedway. Before tonight the Diamond-Waltrip Racing drivers best finish at the ’Worlds Fastest Half-Mile’ was 23rd. The Knoxville, Tenn., native started 17th and quickly moved through the field. However, a ill-handling race car, along with some fender damage, forced the No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota to pit road more than his competitors. With just over 50 laps remaining, Bayne restarted 20th but he was able to slice his way to sixth before the checkered flag waved on lap 250. The solid top-10 finish allowed Bayne to remain eight in the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship point standings. Next weekend the NNS travel north of the boarder to Montreal for the final road course event of the season.

TREVOR BAYNE, OUT! Pet Care Toyota

• Bayne started 17th and finished sixth

• This was Bayne’s seventh top-10 finish of the season and ninth of his career

• Bayne struggled with and ill-handling race car during the middle part of the race

• Bayne suffered left-front fender damage with just over 50 laps remaining in the race

• Bayne grabbed 13 spots in the closing laps to finish sixth

• In 39 starts, Bayne has four poles, four top-five and nine top-10 finishes

BAYNE QUOTE: “Not bad. We finally got a good finish at Bristol. We got a sixth-place finish. This team has so much momentum. When we finish sixth now we feel like it’s a 15th back in the day. We’re like, ‘Man, we’re so ready to get into the top-three or victory lane.’ It was an awesome Out! Pet Care Toyota today. A little bit tight and that’s what we fought all day. It seemed like we dropped back quite a bit, but we got through the field at the end and got a sixth-place finish.”

NNS Racing Results

• Kyle Busch won the Food City 250, his 40th victory in 193 NNS races

• This is this 10th victory and 17th top-10 finish in 2010. This is his second victory and 10th top10 finish in 13 races at Bristol Motor Speedway

• Jason Leffler (second) posted his seventh top-10 finish in 15 races at BMS

• Elliott Sadler, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Carl Edward rounded out the top five

• The race featured 10 lead changes among six drivers. Cautions slowed the race eight time for 48 laps.

• NASCAR estimated 112,000 race fans in attendance at Bristol

Trevor Bayne - Bristol Preview

2010-08-17T10:58:00.000-07:00

CORNELIUS, N.C. — When Trevor Bayne visited Bristol Motor Speedway in March his goal was to log laps and finish the race. When the Knoxville native fires up his No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota in Friday night’s NASCAR Nationwide race he’ll be disappointed with any finish outside the top five. That’s a measure of the progress made by the 19-year-old Diamond-Waltrip Racing driver in his first full season in the series. Only two drivers have scored more points than Bayne over the last five races and no Nationwide only driver has outscored Bayne. During those five races Bayne owns three poles, three top-five, four top-15 finishes and led 95 laps.

QUOTES

TREVOR BAYNE ON THE PAST FIVE RACES: “We’ve had a lot of success the past month or two. I think Jerry Baxter (crew chief) and I are really starting to gel. We have been able to bring really fast race cars to the track each week. We have been able to unload really fast so we aren’t spending all practice chasing our tails. I also think it helps that we are starting to go back to tracks that I have raced on before. I know what I need in the car to run up front. It’s been really cool to race against some of the veterans of the sport lately. I think I have started to prove myself to them and they are starting to show me some respect.”

HOW IMPORTANT IS TRACK POSITION AT BRISTOL? “Track position is huge at Bristol. Before they repaved the track you stayed single-file and had room to move or bump people out of the way. Now when they’re two and three wide, you can get shuffled out in a hurry. We need to qualify well. That will help us stay out of all the havoc that happens in the middle of the pack. They race like maniacs in the back of the pack. You can go a lap down pretty quick at Bristol so you really want to stay with the leaders and stay out of trouble.”

NOTES OF INTEREST

• Diamond-Waltrip Racing is owned by Gary and Blake Bechtel along with Michael Waltrip Racing. It fields Toyota Camrys out of the MWR shop in Cornelius, N.C. The Bechtels have owned cars in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series since 1990. The Morgan Hill, California residents’ teams have visited victory lane 10 times in the Nationwide Series.

• In the last five races, Bayne has led 95 laps – third most of any driver in the series and the most of any NASCAR Nationwide Series only driver (See Sidebar). He is one of four NNS only drivers (Allgaier– 2, Braun– 1, Leffler– 1) to lead laps over the last five races.

• Bayne started 26th and finished 23rd in his first career NNS start at Bristol in March 2009.

• The 19-year-old driver is no rookie to BMS. He has six career starts at the .533-mile oval with his best finish of third coming behind the wheel of a USAR Pro Cup Series car in 2007. Additionally, in 2006, Bayne led the USAR field with 15 laps remaining but finished outside the top 20 after a spin.

• Bayne owns 38 NNS starts. He has four poles (Indianapolis –2009, 2010, Gateway—2010 and Iowa 2010), four top-fives and eight top-10s and has led 129 laps. His best finish (third) came at Gateway International Raceway on July 17.

• The Knoxville native will sign autographs at the Food City Race Night. He will be at the Knoxville Expo Center on Wednesday 6–8 p.m. The Diamond-Waltrip driver will also be at State Street in Bristol on Thursday 5–6 p.m.

Trevor Bayne Michigan Report

2010-08-14T14:32:00.000-07:00

• Diamond Waltrip Racing’s Trevor Bayne, driving the No. 99 Out Pet Care Toyota finished 11th—stays eighth in points.

Trevor Bayne Race Summary: No. 99 Out Pet Care Toyota driver Trevor Bayne posted an 11th-place finish Saturday in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Michigan International Speedway. The 19-year-old Diamond-Waltrip driver appeared destined for a top-three finish, but a caution in the final laps jumbled the field. Bayne pitted for four tires while some stayed on the track. He restarted the race 14th with less than 10 laps remaining. Bayne raced up to 11th when the checkered flag fell. Bayne remained eighth in points. The Nationwide Series returns to action Friday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.

• Bayne started 8th then climbed into the top five by lap 50.

• Bayne was one of the fastest cars on the track especially on long green flag runs.

• Moved into the top three and raced third with 12 laps left in the race when the caution fell.

• Pitted for four tires and restarted the race in 14th place.

• Fought for clean air on the restart and climbed to 11th when checked flag fell.

BAYNE QUOTE: “We had a really good Out! Pet Care Camry today and were able to run up front all afternoon. It was a really tough call by Jerry (Baxter, crew chief) there at the end. We really thought that four tires would give us what we needed to get up front, but other guys only took two tires and that was the difference. We ran well all weekend and I think we had a car that could have finished in the top-five.”

Trevor Bayne - Michigan Preview

2010-08-10T13:18:00.000-07:00

CORNELIUS, N.C. — A past champion and a potential champion have enjoyed a pretty good streak of racing lately. Since No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota driver Trevor Bayne came under the tutelage of his “driving coach” Johnny Benson in late July, Bayne has captured two poles and two top-five finishes as well as moved up three spots to eighth in the NASCAR Nationwide Series point standings.

Benson, the 1995 Nationwide Series and 2008 Craftsman Truck champion, will race his late model at area short tracks this weekend so he won’t attend Saturday’s race at Michigan International Speedway. The pair plan several phone conversations throughout the weekend to help speed the 19-year-old’s learning curve on the two-mile oval. Saturday marks the first race for the Nationwide Series’ new car on an intermediate track. The Diamond-Waltrip Racing team will test at MIS on Thursday, practice Friday, qualify and race Saturday.

QUOTES

DRIVING COACH JOHNNY BENSON ON WORKING WITH TREVOR BAYNE: “Trevor has done a tremendous job for Diamond-Waltrip Racing this season. They brought me on board to help him with a few things where my experience could help him move on a little quicker. Trevor has been great to work with so far and you can tell he is a really good kid. What I am really impressed with is his willingness to listen to what you want him to do. He will go out on the track and try anything that I want him to do. I think that really says a lot about him as a person. A lot of young kids don’t like to take advice from people and he has been real receptive. I think the way he takes things and how quickly he learns from his mistakes are going to be a huge positive for him now and in the future.”

CREW CHIEF JERRY BAXTER ON THE ADDTION OF JOHNNY BENSON: “Johnny has been a great asset to the team since we hired him a month or so ago. He is the first person that has focused on Trevor from a driver’s perspective. David Reutimann and Martin Truex Jr. try to help Trevor as much as they can but they just don’t have the time to focus 100 percent on him. If we would have had Johnny in February, Trevor would be light years ahead of where he is right now. Johnny helps Trevor stay focused and helps him relay what needs to be fixed about the car. I also think Trevor has done a great job in trusting Johnny and taking all his advice.”

TREVOR BAYNE ON RACING THE NEW CAR AT MICHIGAN: “I’m actually pretty excited about it more so than the current style cars. That’s because I have the opportunity to drive for a team at Diamond-Waltrip Racing that has the affiliation with a Cup team (Michael Waltrip Racing) under the same roof. We can feed off them. MWR’s COT program in the Cup series has been really strong here lately. David Reutimann won at Chicago and they’ve been running top-five almost every weekend. I’m actually pretty excited about it. We got to go test our car at Milwaukee and we ran with the current style cars. We were just as quick so I know that the new cars are going to be fast and have a little bit more drag. They’re going to be a handful. It’s going to separate the boys from the men a little bit. I love how you have to hustle them. It’s fun.”

NOTES OF INTEREST

• Bayne started second and finished 30th in June at MIS—his lone appearance at the track.

• Bayne will hold a media availability session in the media center on Thursday at 12:10 p.m.

• Diamond-Waltrip Racing is owned by Gary and Blake Bechtel along with Michael Waltrip Racing. It fields Toyota Camrys out of the MWR shop in Cornelius, N.C. The Bechtels have owned cars in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series since 1990. The Morgan Hill, California residents’ teams have visited victory lane 10 times in the Nationwide Series.

• Bayne owns 37 NNS starts. He has four poles (Indianapolis –2009, 2010, Gateway—2010 and Iowa 2010), four top-fives and eight top-10s and has led 129 laps. His best finish (third) came at Gateway International Raceway on July 17.

• Bayne continues to remain consistent in his qualifying efforts over his first 36 starts. During his short career, the Knoxville, Tenn., native has grabbed four poles (Indianapolis –2, Gateway - 1 and Iowa-1), 11 top-five and 20 top-10 starting positions. He boasts an 11.3 starting average and has only started 11 races outside the top 15

Diamond-Waltrip Racing - Watkins Glen International Post Race

2010-08-07T15:45:00.000-07:00

Trevor Bayne, No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota Camry - finished 29th - now eighth in points.

Trevor Bayne Race Summary: No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota driver Trevor Bayne ended his string of top-five finishes after being involved in a multi-car incident on lap 25 and finished 29th. The 19-year-old driver started the 82-lap event in 19th and maintained that position until he hit pit road for green flag pit stops on lap 18. The first caution flag flew on lap 19 and several teams opted to hit pit road for service. The Knoxville, Tenn., native stayed on the racing surface and restarted 13th on lap 23. Unfortunately, on the restart a big pile-up occurred in front of the No. 99 Toyota and Bayne had no where to go. The OUT! Pet Care Toyota received major damage and was forced to the garage for an extended period of time. The team returned to the track 22 laps down, but worked to maintain the eighth position in the NASCAR Nationwide Series point standings. Next week the NNS travels to Michigan for it’s second new Nationwide car race on the NNS schedule.

TREVOR BAYNE, OUT! Pet Care Toyota
• Started 19th, finished 29th
• Moved up to 13th before being involved in and incident on lap 23
• After approximately 25 minutes in the garage Bayne returned to the track 33rd, 22 laps down to the leaders
• After returning to track Bayne ran lap times just as fast as the top 10
• Bayne remains eighth in the NNS point standings

BAYNE QUOTES: “The track closed off. The 38 (Jason Leffler) bounced off the guardrail and got us. I saw the 16 (Colin Braun) spinning forever and I tried to check up and there were cars all behind us, so I veered to the left and as soon as I did the 38 bounced off the guardrail and caught us in the left rear, spun us around, put us in the guardrail. Nowhere for anybody to go. I told somebody earlier that I could’ve let go of the steering wheel and had about the same chance of getting through the crash because there was no way you could do anything to get through it no matter what you did. I hate it for this OUT! Pet Care Toyota, but we’ll see if we can get back out on the track.”

NNS Racing Results
• JTG-Daugherty’s Marcos Ambrose won the ZIPPO 200 at The Glen, his third victory in 73 NNS races
• This is his third consecutive victory at Watkins Glen. Terry Labonte is the only other driver to win three consecutive races at The Glen (1994-96)
• This is his third victory and third top-10 finish in four races at Watkins Glen
• Joey Logano (second) posted his second top-10 finish in three races at Watkins Glen
• The race featured three lead changes among three drivers. Cautions slowed the race four time for 10 laps.
• NASCAR estimated 40,000 race fans in attendance at Watkins Glen

Trevor Bayne - Watkins Glen Preview

2010-08-03T14:28:00.000-07:00

CORNELIUS, N.C. — No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota driver Trevor Bayne owns three consecutive top-five finishes plus etched his name in the history books last week by surpassing Jeff Gordon as the youngest driver to capture three consecutive NASCAR Nationwide Series pole awards. This feat put the 19-year-old driver in exclusive company, tying the mark of consecutive poles set by Sam Ard (1983), Mark Martin (1987), his team co-owner Michael Waltrip (1989) and Jeff Gordon (1992). He’ll become the first driver in series history to win four consecutive pole awards if he wins the pole for Saturday’s race at Watkins Glen International.

QUOTES

TREVOR BAYNE ON THREE CONSECUTIVE POLE AWARDS: “It’s a pretty awesome accomplishment. I had no idea that it was going to be that big of an accomplishment until I realized that it put me in the same class with Michael Waltrip and Jeff Gordon. The last time someone got three pole awards in a row, I was a one year old. I really thought Kyle Busch or someone else had done it recently. It’s a real honor to be in that group. I just think it shows how much our team has grown over the last few months.”

BAYNE ON WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL: “Watkins Glen is an awesome road course. It’s probably the easiest road course that we have on the schedule. It’s way different from Road America and Montreal. It’s not as technical as those road courses. Watkins Glen is kind of wide open. You only have a couple tight corners. There is turn one and the left hander right before you get to the frontstretch. Other than that it’s pretty easy. The bus stop is probably my favorite part of the track. You carry so much speed through there. I am really looking forward to this weekend. I finished third there in the East Series so I think we could have another really good weekend.”

ON RECENT SUCCESS: “I think things started changing when I started taking advice from Kevin Harvick and Johnny Benson. I talked with Harvick in Dover. His main point to me was to finish races and not always try and get top-fives or top-10s when we have a car that’s not good enough. He told me that I really need to work on taking what the car will give me. I feel like that past several weeks or so we have really worked on that. For us to be able to get the top-fives the past few weeks we had to finish the race. Also, a couple of weeks ago we hired Benson as my driving coach. He has so much knowledge of the sport. I have been calling him ‘Bill Nye the Science Guy’ because he thinks about things you wouldn’t normally think about as a driver. I think long term he is going to be a great driving coach and teach me a lot about this sport.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

• Over the last seven weeks, Bayne has scored the fourth most points of any driver, gaining three positions to rank eighth in the championship point standings. The only drivers to score more points are Carl Edwards (1144), Brad Keselowski (1043) and Steve Wallace (952). Bayne grabbed three pole awards, four top-fives, five top-10s and led 95 laps.

• Diamond-Waltrip Racing is owned by Gary and Blake Bechtel along with Michael Waltrip Racing. It fields Toyota Camrys out of the MWR shop in Cornelius, N.C. The Bechtels have owned cars in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series since 1990. The Morgan Hill, California residents’ teams have visited victory lane 10 times in the Nationwide Series.

• In just 36 NASCAR Nationwide Series starts, Bayne has four poles (Indianapolis –2009, 2010, Gateway—2010 and Iowa 2010), four top-fives and eight top-10s and has led 129 laps. His best finish (third) came at Gateway International Raceway on July 17.

• Bayne started 11th and finished third in his lone start at Watkins Glen in the K&N Pro East Series.

• Get your dog’s picture on Bayne’s No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota by going to www.outpetcare.com and register for the “Top Dog of the Week.”

Diamond-Waltrip Racing - Iowa Post Race

2010-08-01T06:22:00.000-07:00

Trevor Bayne, No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry - finished fifth - now eighth in points.

Trevor Bayne Race Summary: For the third consecutive week the No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota driver Trevor Bayne grabbed the pole and scored a top-five finish. Bayne started the 250-lap race from Iowa Speedway on the inside row, but Kyle Busch powered past the No. 99 Toyota coming off turn two. The Knoxville, Tenn., driver didn’t let Busch out of his site and was about to pass the 36-time NASCAR Nationwide Series winner when the second caution flew on lap 44 for a multi-car incident in turn two. The 19-year-old driver was pleased with the performance of his Aaron’s Dream Machine so crew chief Jerry Baxter made minor adjustments to keep up with changing track conditions. Bayne raced inside the top three until the final caution flag flew on lap 205. Baxter summoned his driver to pit road for four tires and a minor chassis adjustment. Some teams opted for two tires so the Diamond-Waltrip Racing driver restarted 10th on lap 209. The young phenom was able to use the four tires to his advantage and grabbed five spots before the checkered flag flew. The rising star is now eighth in the NNS championship point standings. Next week the NNS travels to Watkins Glen International for it’s second road course race on the NNS schedule.

TREVOR BAYNE, Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota
- Bayne won the pole award with a lap of 23.637 seconds, 133.266 mph
- This is his third consecutive and fourth career pole in 36 NASCAR Nationwide Series races
- He is the youngest, and first driver in 18 years, to post three consecutive poles in the NNS. Jeff Gordon last did it 02/29/1992.
- Bayne was the fourth driver to accomplish the feat. The others were Sam Ard, Jeff Gordon and Michael Waltrip.
- Bayne scored his third-consecutive top-five finish and his fourth career top-five finish
- Bayne led twice for 21 laps and raced in the top 10 for the entire 250-lap race
- In 36 NNS starts Bayne has four poles, four top-five and eight top-10 finishes
BAYNE QUOTES:

What did you learn from racing with Kyle Busch tonight?
“I learned so much from following Kyle (Busch). He deserves every bit of the credit he gets. He’s in great equipment, great crew chief (Jason Ratcliff) and he’s an unbelievable driver. That first 50 laps he was sideways the whole time and I followed him up and learned that top groove. How to get the car straight to run off of the corner and get good drive. Our car was really free at the beginning, but as the night came on we got tighter and we kept getting tighter and tighter and that’s what really got us at the end. If that thing would’ve ended in daylight we probably could’ve got our first win here. But, we’re so happy about these top-fives every weekend. Three poles in a row, I mean, I hear that’s pretty tough to do so that’s awesome for this Aaron’s Dream Machine team. We’re just as excited as we can be.”

What happened to your car as it went from day to night?
“That was the biggest thing. We didn’t get any practice at night because it rained all day yesterday. We didn’t really know what the track was going to do and it just kept taking on rubber and kept getting more and more grip and that played into the other guys favor more so than us. It just kept getting tighter. Everybody was so free at the beginning. Their cars came to them. Us, we were pretty good at the beginning and we got tight at the end.”

NNS Racing Results
- Kyle Busch won the U.S. Cellular 250, his 39th victory in 190 NNS race
- This is his ninth victory and 14th top-10 finish in 2010
- This is his first victory and second top-10 finish in two races at Iowa Speedway
- Carl Edwards (second) posted his first top-10 finish in two races at Iowa Speedway
- Jason Leffler, Brad Keselowski and Bayne rounded out the top five
- The race was slowed by two red flag periods for just over 20 minutes
- The race featured seven lead changes among three drivers. Cautions slowed the race six time for 27 laps.
- NASCAR estimated a sell out crowd of 56,000 race fans in attendance at Iowa

Trevor Bayne - Iowa Preview

2010-07-27T13:31:00.000-07:00

CORNELIUS, N.C. — No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota driver Trevor Bayne’s goal is to be in attendance at the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series banquet at the end of the season. He knows in order to get a formal invitation he must finish in the top 10 in the championship point standings. As of late, the youngest-fulltime competitor in the series has made a huge jump toward this goal.

Over the last six races, the 19-year-old driver has scored the fourth most points of any driver, gaining two positions to rank ninth in the championship point standings. The only drivers to score more points are Carl Edwards (1010), Brad Keselowski (883) and Steven Wallace (802). The Knoxville, Tenn., native has also grabbed two pole awards, three top-fives, four top-10s and led 74 laps of competition.

QUOTES

TREVOR BAYNE ON BEING NINTH IN POINTS: “It’s our goal to make it to the banquet, however; I think it’s way too early to focus on them. I have never really been a person to pay attention to the points. I know solid finishes equal good standings in the points. We have run really well the past couple of months and have a lot of momentum on our side. I think if we keep running like we are capable of doing, we could end up in the top five.”

BAYNE ON IOWA SPEEDWAY: “Iowa is probably one of the easier tracks that we go to on the schedule. The biggest challenge is not over driving the corners. The corners look huge until you get to the middle and realize they are almost like a short track. Iowa reminds me of a mile-and-a-half track just down sized. It’s a great place to race. When I was getting ready to race there for the first time, I thought it was huge since I grew up racing on short tracks. After racing Daytona and Talladega, Iowa is almost like a short track to me.”

BAYNE ON JOHNNY BENSON: “I think having Johnny Benson on board is going to be very helpful. I talked with him before we went to IRP and he gave me some really good tips on how to get around the racetrack. This weekend will be the first time he is coming to the track with us. I think he will be able to help me get adapted to the track quicker. I also think he could provide some benefit to the entire team. He can help communicate to Jerry Baxter what the car is doing around the race track.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

• Bayne has two starts at Iowa Speedway. His first start was in 2008 where he started sixth and finished third in the K&N Pro East Series race. Last season, Bayne started fourth and finished 26th in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race.

• Starting last week, Diamond-Waltrip Racing hired Johnny Benson as Bayne’s driving coach. Benson will attend a large majority of races with the No. 99 team. Benson owns a championship in both the NASCAR Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series.

• Bayne owns 35 NASCAR Nationwide Series starts. He has three poles (Indianapolis –2009, 2010 and Gateway—2010), three top-fives and seven top-10s and has led 108 laps. His best finish (third) came at Gateway International Raceway on July 17.

• Diamond-Waltrip Racing is owned by Gary and Blake Bechtel along with Michael Waltrip Racing. It fields Toyota Camrys out of the MWR shop in Cornelius, N.C. The Bechtels have owned cars in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series since 1990. The Morgan Hill, California residents’ teams have visited victory lane 10 times in the Nationwide Series.

• Bayne continues to remain consistent in his qualifying efforts over his first 35 starts. Over his short career, the Knoxville, Tenn., native has grabbed three poles (Indianapolis –2 and Gateway - 1), 10 top-five and 19 top-10 starting positions. He boasts a 11.3-starting average and has only started 10 races outside the top 15.

• Aaron’s, proud sponsor of the No. 99, will give away an autographed hat to a lucky race fan through Facebook and Twitter following any top-10 finish. Follow Aaron’s on Twitter (@aaronssports) and become a fan on Facebook (Facebook.com/AaronsSports).

• Bayne is ninth in points, but fourth among the non-Sprint Cup drivers in the Nationwide Series.

Diamond-Waltrip Indy Race Report

2010-07-25T05:24:00.000-07:00

Trevor Bayne, No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota Camry - finished fourth - now ninth in points.

Trevor Bayne Race Summary: No. 99 OUT! Pet Care driver Trevor Bayne grabbed his second consecutive pole and top-five finish on Saturday night at Raceway Park in Indianapolis. Bayne chose to start the 200-lap race in the outside lane and wrestled the lead from Steven Wallace before they hit the start/finish line to complete the first lap. The 19-year-old driver led the first 39 laps before relinquishing the lead to eventual race-winner Kyle Busch. Following the first caution on lap 75, Bayne retook the lead from Busch and stayed out front until his OUT! Pet Care Toyota became a little too loose. The Knoxville, Tenn. native raced inside the top five until a late caution flag flew on lap 165. Crew Chief Jerry Baxter summoned Bayne to pit road for four fresh Goodyear tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment. Some teams opted to stay out on the race track so the Diamond-Waltrip Racing driver restarted 14th on lap 172. Bayne sliced his way through the field and by lap 174 raced seventh then on lap 178 moved to fifth. Bayne gained another spot in the closing laps to cross the finish line fourth and score his third top-five finish of his NASCAR Nationwide Series career. Bayne is ninth in the NNS championship point standings as the series travels to Iowa Speedway for another Saturday night race.

TREVOR BAYNE, OUT! Pet Care Toyota

Bayne qualified on the pole for the second consecutive week

This was Bayne’s second consecutive pole at Indy and third career NNS pole

Bayne led twice for 55 laps

Bayne suffered from a loose-handling Toyota for the majority of the race

Bayne restarted 14th on the lap 172 but grabbed seven spots in just three laps

Bayne scored his second consecutive top-five finish and his third career top-five finish

In 35 NNS starts Bayne has three poles, three top-five and seven top-10 finishes

BAYNE QUOTE: “Man, I love this short track race. wish we could do it every weekend. ’s what I’ve grown up doing, it’s what I still love to do. ’s just beating and banging, but when you get together you can still gather it up because you’re not going too fast. had a couple close calls, but we fought back to another top-five. was just talking to Jerry (Baxter, crew chief), we’re starting to get greedy. get a top-five and now we want to win this thing. , I know how Kyle Busch and Joey Logano feel when they come in and are complaining about finishing second. ’s a great run all day for the Out! Pet Care Toyota. Everybody here, they work so hard. pit stops were pretty good and we unloaded fast, stayed fast all day. top-fives in a row – we’ll take it.”

NNS Racing Results

Kyle Busch won the Kroger 200 benefitting Riley Hospital for Children, his 38th victory in 189 NNS races.

This is his eighth victory and 13th top-10 finish in 2010

This is his third victory and fourth top-10 finish in six races at Indy

Carl Edwards (second) posted his fourth top-10 finish in six races at Indy

Aric Almirola, Bayne and Reed Sorenson rounded out the top five

The race featured seven lead changes among four drivers. Cautions slowed the race six times for 36 laps.

NASCAR estimated 40,000 race fans in attendance at Indy

Trevor Bayne - Indianapolis Preview

2010-07-20T13:40:00.000-07:00

CORNELIUS, N.C. — No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota driver Trevor Bayne burst onto the NASCAR scene at Indianapolis a year ago when he won his first pole and finished seventh in just his seventh Nationwide Series start. The 19-year-old will make his 35th career start —equal to a full season of NNS competition— on Saturday night at Indianapolis. The Diamond-Waltrip driver’s success of late is more like that of a veteran driver than a first year driver. Last weekend he won the pole, led 19 laps and posted a career-best third-place finish at Gateway. That came on the heels of recent good runs like the fifth-place finish at New Hampshire and a 10th-place finish at Road America—his first road course race.

QUOTES

CO-OWNER MICHAEL WALTRIP ON BAYNE: “Trevor is a 19-year-old kid that isn’t scared to go up there and mix it up with the Cup guys. We haven’t seen a lot of young guys that have been able to get up near the front and immediately contend, but Trevor has been able to do that. He is someone that races every lap like it might be his last. He kind of reminds me of Martin (Truex Jr.) when he first jumped onto the scene. His youthfulness, enthusiasm and willingness to listen and learn brings a special spark to this team. He wants to know what he is supposed to do in each situation. He wants the respect of his competitors.”

CREW CHIEF JERRY BAXTER ON BAYNE: “Trevor has learned a lot over the past year. The biggest thing we have worked on with him is patience. He likes to go out there and run every lap as hard as he can. We have really tried to get him to run 80 to 85 percent for the first two thirds of the race and keep the car in one piece. Over the last couple of months he has really started coming into his own. I think he has realized that when someone is fast let them by instead of racing the wheels off the race car. He has learned how to get everything he can out of the race car. I really think once Trevor starts going back to these tracks two and three times, he will start competing for wins every week.”

TREVOR BAYNE ON INDIANAPOLIS: “I like racing at Indy a lot—it fits my driving style. We won the pole, led 34 laps and finished seventh last year. The car was solid the entire race until Steven Wallace got into us when the caution flag flew and we got stuck back in traffic. I think we had a car to win but we just weren’t able to get back up to the front after the mishap.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

• Diamond-Waltrip Racing is owned by Gary and Blake Bechtel along with Michael Waltrip Racing. It fields Toyota Camrys out of the MWR shop in Cornelius, N.C. The Bechtels have owned cars in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series since 1990. The Morgan Hill, California residents’ teams have visited victory lane 10 times in the Nationwide Series.

• Bayne is 11th in points, but fifth among the non-Sprint Cup drivers in the Nationwide Series.

• Get your dog’s picture on Bayne’s No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota by going to www.outpetcare.com and register for the “Top Dog of the Week.”

• Bayne owns 34 NASCAR Nationwide Series starts. He has two poles (Indianapolis –2009 and Gateway—2010), two top-fives and six top-10s and has led 53 laps. His average starting spot is 12th and average finish is 18th. His best finish (third) came at Gateway International Raceway on July 17.

Bayne Starts From The Pole and Finishes A Career Best Third At Gateway

2010-07-18T04:35:00.001-07:00

‪

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

2010-07-13T13:32:00.000-07:00

CORNELIUS, N.C. — After working with veteran drivers most of his career, No. 99 OUT! Pet Care crew chief Jerry Baxter carries the added responsibility of overseeing a NASCAR Nationwide team with a talented rookie. Baxter and his 19-year-old driver Trevor Bayne have turned in impressive performances throughout this season as well endured some disappointments—not all of their making— like closing lap accidents in the last two races that ruined runs by Bayne. This weekend at Gateway International Raceway Bayne and Baxter hope 18-year-old driver Ryan Truex’s Nationwide Series debut as Bayne’s teammate should help both drivers on the 1.25-mile St. Louis oval.

QUOTES

BAXTER ON VETERAN AND ROOKIE DRIVERS: “There is a big difference between working with Michael (Waltrip) and Trevor Bayne. The veteran drivers know what they want in a race car because they have done it for so long and you set it up the way they want it. With Trevor, we have to let him tell us what he is feeling and then we make a decision based on his input and our past experience. He hasn't been at these tracks a lot so he can’t relate past experiences so I think getting the car right lies more on my shoulders now than it did in the past.”

BAXTER ON WHAT YOU TELL A YOUNG DRIVER AFTER A TOUGH RACE: “Trevor doesn’t seem like he carries things over from the past weekend. He does a really good job of not carrying a grudge over from a prior incident. He does a really good about letting things roll of his chest and get focused for the next weekend.”

GATEWAY INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY: “(Ryan Truex Crew Chief) Mike Greci and I have worked really hard together over the past couple of weeks to get both of our cars ready for this weekend. I think it gives me an extra person do bounce ideas off of. Trevor and Ryan are both young drivers and they get along really well so they should be able to help each other out. We think this will benefit our whole Nationwide organization.”

BAYNE ON RYAN TRUEX: “I have been looking forward to having a teammate all season. It gives me someone to bounce ideas off of and it also gives us another car to try different setups. I believe there are some things that we can learn from each other that will make us better racers. We plan go to Gateway this weekend with identical setups and hopefully between the two cars, we can come up with a setup that can win the race.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

• Diamond-Waltrip Racing is owned by Gary and Blake Bechtel along with Michael Waltrip Racing. It fields Toyota Camrys out of the MWR shop in Cornelius, N.C. The Bechtels have owned cars in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series since 1990. The Morgan Hill, California residents’ teams have visited victory lane 10 times in the Nationwide Series.

• Bayne will sign autographs on pit road on Friday at 3:15 p.m.

• Bayne started 12th and finished 27th last year in his only Gateway start.

• Bayne is 11th in points, but fifth among the non-Sprint Cup drivers in the Nationwide Series.

• Get your dog’s picture on Bayne’s No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota by going to www.outpetcare.com and register for the “Top Dog of the Week.”

• Bayne has five top-10 finishes in 33 career starts. His best finish (fifth) came at New Hampshire International Speedway on June 26.

Trevor Bayne Chicagoland Race Report

2010-07-10T08:57:00.000-07:00

• Trevor Bayne, No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry - finished 32nd - now 11th in points.

Trevor Bayne Race Summary: Late-race contact with another car then a cut tire ruined No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota driver Trevor Bayne’s bid for another good finish on Friday night at Chicagoland Speedway. The Diamond-Waltrip Racing Camry started the NASCAR Nationwide Series race third. Despite suffering from a tight-handling car, Bayne raced in the top 10 for the majority of the race. Bayne, Steven Wallace and Justin Allgaier raced hard with each other in the final laps before Allgaier made contact and cut the No. 99’s left-front tire.

With just three laps remaining, the cut tire disintegrated and Bayne slammed the outside wall ending his race and leaving him with a 32nd–place finish. Bayne is 11th in points as the Nationwide Series travels to St. Louis for Saturday night’s race.

TREVOR BAYNE, Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota

• Bayne qualified third—his third top three starting spot of the season

• Suffered from an extremely tight-handling race car for the majority of the race

A key caution flag flew on lap 140 with the leader just 10 cars back allowing Bayne to stay on lead lap

• Bayne suffered major damage after contact with the wall on lap 197 and was unable to return to the race

• Raced in and around the top 10 for the majority of the race

BAYNE QUOTE: “We were going to have a pretty decent finish tonight. We fought a tight-handling race car for most of the race but Jerry Baxter was able to give me a pretty good Aaron's Dream Machine when it counted. I was racing Steven Wallace and Justin Allgaier decide to take it three wide and slide into us and cut our tire. I tried to nurse it home but the tire blew and I hit the outside wall hard. It just stinks for all the guys on the team that work so hard each week. I just feel like this happens to us each week. We have a good run and something happens right at the end of the race and we don't get the finishes we deserve.”

NNS Racing Results

• Kyle Busch won the Dollar General 300 Powered by Coca-Cola, his 37th victory in 188 NNS races

• With the victory, Busch takes sole possession of second place on the all-time series wins list. Mark Martin is the all-time wins leader with 48.

• Joey Logano (second) posted his second top-10 finish in two races at Chicagoland Speedway

• Brian Scott, David Reutimann and Jason Leffler rounded out the top five

• The race featured 14 lead changes among seven drivers. Cautions slowed the race five times for 20 laps.

• NASCAR estimated 57,500 race fans in attendance at Chicago

Trevor Bayne - Chicagoland Preview

2010-07-06T12:52:00.000-07:00

CORNELIUS, N.C. — The NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule reaches the halfway mark Friday night at Chicagoland Speedway. No. 99 Aaron’s Toyota driver Trevor Bayne travels to the Joliet, Ill. track after earning a career-best finish of fifth at New Hampshire, two top-10 and three top-15 finishes in the last four races. The Diamond-Waltrip Racing driver is 11th in points just 36 points out of 10th.

This week the 19-year-old Bayne, the youngest fulltime competitor in the series, serves as ESPN’s in-race reporter. He’ll talk with the broadcasters before and during the race. His crew chief Jerry Baxter will also offer his in-race analysis while rear tire changer Lee Cunningham will carry a pit crew camera during the race.

QUOTES

BAYNE ON CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY: “I’ve raced only once at Chicagoland Speedway. The track seems to be a lot like Michigan where you can run from the white line to the wall. The white line seems to be the fastest if you can get your car to work down there. Over the last couple of days, I have been making laps on my IRacing game and just trying to figure out the best way around. I’ve also watched video of the past races at Chicago trying to get myself mentally prepared for this weekend’s race.”

ON THE FIRST 17 RACES OF THE SEASON: “This year so far has been a roller coaster ride. We have had some really good races and some really bad races. We haven’t gotten some of the finishes we deserved. We have run up front a lot but something seems to happen to us and we end up behind the wall before the race is over. (Crew Chief) Jerry Baxter has worked really hard this year to give me fast race cars, and I think we are really close to being one of the best Nationwide teams out there. This past month has really been a confidence boost for me. We’ve had some really good finishes and it has shown me that we can run with the cup guys every week.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

• Bayne started eighth and finished 12th in 2009 at Chicagoland— his only start at the track.

• Bayne owns 32 Nationwide starts. He has a pole (Indianapolis), five top-10s (Indianapolis, Richmond, Las Vegas, Road America and New Hampshire), 15 top-15’s and has led 34 laps. His average starting spot is 12th and finishing spot is 18th.

• Diamond-Waltrip Racing is owned by Gary and Blake Bechtel along with Michael Waltrip Racing. It fields Toyota Camry's out of the MWR shop in Cornelius, N.C. The Bechtels have owned cars in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series since 1990. The Morgan Hill, California residents’ teams have visited victory lane 10 times in the Nationwide Series.

• Bayne continues to remain consistent in his qualifying efforts over his first 32 starts. Over his short career the Knoxville, Tenn., native has grabbed a pole (Indianapolis), six top-five and 16 top-10 starting positions. He boasts a 12.3 starting average and has only started 10 races outside the top 15.

• Aaron’s, proud sponsor of the No. 99, will give away an autographed hat to a lucky race fan through Facebook and Twitter following any top-10 finish. Follow Aaron’s on Twitter (@aaronssports) and become a fan on Facebook (Facebook.com/AaronsSports).

• Bayne is 11th in points, but fifth among the non-Sprint Cup drivers in the Nationwide Series.

• Aaron’s is the No. 99 Toyota Camry’s primary sponsor for five of the final 18 races with OUT! Pet Car on the remaining 13 races.

Diamond-Waltrip Daytona Report

2010-07-06T08:38:00.000-07:00

Trevor Bayne, No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota Camry - finished 27th - now 11th in points.

Trevor Bayne Race Summary: No. 99 Out! Pet Care Toyota driver Trevor Bayne finished 27th in the NASCAR Nationwide series race at Daytona International Speedway Friday night. Bayne raced in the top-five and appeared destined for a top-10 finish, but contact with another driver on the final lap caused heavy damage and cost him several spots. The 19-year-old Diamond-Waltrip Racing driver impressed throughout the race running in the top five and avoiding trouble in the debut race of the series’ new cars. Bayne, the youngest fulltime driver in the series, is 11th in the championship point standings. The Nationwide series next heads to Chicagoland Speedway for Friday night’s race.

TREVOR BAYNE, No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota

• Bayne qualified 12th and raced his way into the top 10 by lap 43

• Ran has high as fourth during the race.

• Like most drivers, Bayne fought an ill-handling race car for the majority of the race.

• Friday was Bayne’s first full race at Daytona. In February another car ended Bayne’s race after six laps.

• Moved down one spot, to 11th, in the Nationwide championship point standings

BAYNE QUOTE: “Our OUT! Pet Care Toyota was dancing all over the place tonight. We just couldn’t find a happy medium. However, I think a lot of other drivers were fighting the same thing. I think we had a car that could have finished in the top 10 but we got wrecked. We learned a lot about the new Nationwide Series car this weekend that will help us in the future. Finishing a race at Daytona has a lot to do with luck and it just wasn’t on our side tonight.”

NNS Racing Results

• NASCAR debut the new NASCAR Nationwide Series car at Daytona International Speedway

• Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Subway Jalapeno 250 Powered by Coca-Cola, his 23rd victory in 115 NNS races

• This is his sixth victory and 11th top-10 finish in 19 races at DIS

• Joey Logano (second) posted his third top-10 finish in four races at DIS

• Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five

• The race featured 13 lead changes among eight drivers. Cautions slowed the race four time for 16 laps.

• NASCAR estimated 55,000 race fans in attendance at Daytona

Trevor Bayne - Daytona Preview

2010-06-29T08:54:00.000-07:00

CORNELIUS, N.C. — No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota driver Trevor Bayne knows from experience that finishing a race in one piece at Daytona International Speedway has a lot to do with luck. In the season opener, Bayne started the race 17th but only ran six laps before another competitor sent him into the outside retaining wall and ended his day with a 41st-place finish. However, Bayne hopes his momentum from the past three weeks will help him to a solid finish this weekend. Over the last three weeks, the Knoxville, Tenn., native has grabbed three consecutive top-15 finishes, two consecutive top-10 finishes and a career-best finish of fifth at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He has also moved up to 10th in the NNS championship point standings. Friday marks the debut of the new Nationwide Series car.

QUOTES

TREVOR BAYNES THOUGHTS ON THE NEW NATIONWIDE CAR: “We tested the new car at the Milwaukee Mile and they are a driver’s race car. You can really hustle them. They’re just as quick as the old Nationwide car. I thought they were going to be about a half-a-second off when we were there testing, but they were actually just as fast. They were a lot of fun through the center of the corner and they turn really well. The complaints of the COT when it first came out were how tight it is so they took that, they fixed it for the Nationwide car now and it’s pretty unbelievable. I think the Daytona race is going to be a lot of crazy stuff happening just because they are so free. We were looking at our data from the test and we had more wheel to the right than I did to the left sometimes, but they’re fun to drive and I think it’s going to go back to making the cars handle rather than just go fast even at those superspeedways. They’re still easy to adjust so I think it’s going to be good racing.”

ON BEING IN THE TOP 10 IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS: “It’s cool to work our way back into the top 10 after the season we have had so far. We have had a lot of ups and downs. We started the season off with a 41st-place finish at Daytona and just have struggled since. However, over the past couple of weeks we have started to hit our stride and grab some solid finishes. We had a good car in Kentucky and finished 11th then stayed on the race track at Road America and finished 10th. had a really fast race car in New Hampshire and finished fifth. It’s like we are finally starting to get the finishes we deserve. When we have solid weeks like this at the race track it gives us something to build off of.”

ON RETURNING TO DAYTONA: “I like Daytona a lot but honestly I didn't get to learn a lot at Daytona since we got wrecked on lap six. I kind of see this as my Daytona debut. I really didn’t get to learn a lot in Daytona. We didn’t get to qualify and we didn't get to race so I am going to Daytona kind of blind. I think the best spot to run is out front. If you are one of the lead cars 90 percent of the time you will stay out of the wrecks.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

Bayne will sign autographs in the Sprint FANZONE under the Goodyear Legends area on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.

Diamond-Waltrip Racing is owned by Gary and Blake Bechtel along with Michael Waltrip Racing. It fields Toyota Camrys out of the MWR shop in Cornelius, N.C. The Bechtels have owned cars in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series since 1990. The Morgan Hill, California residents’ teams have visited victory lane 10 times in the Nationwide Series.

After a career-best finish of fifth-place at New Hampshire, Bayne jumped into the top 10 in the championship point standings for the first time in his young career. He is also fourth among the non-Sprint Cup drivers in the Nationwide Series.

Get your dog’s picture on Bayne’s No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota by going to www.outpetcare.com and register for the “Top Dog of the Week.”

Trevor Bayne - New Hampshire Race Report

2010-06-26T19:58:00.000-07:00

Trevor Bayne, No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota Camry - finished fifth - now 10th in points.

Trevor Bayne Race Summary: Diamond-Waltrip Racing driver Trevor Bayne posted a career-best finish of fifth in Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The OUT! Pet Care Toyota started the race in 18th but quickly moved to 12th when the first caution flew on lap six. The 19-year-old driver fought a tight-handling race car, but still charged into the top 10 by lap 92. Bayne never stopped going forward and raced sixth with less than 50 laps remaining. With 18 laps to go, the Knoxville, Tenn., native wrestled fifth away from Justin Alligaier and held on to score the highest finish of a non-Sprint Cup driver. Bayne, the youngest fulltime driver in the series, is 10th in the championship point standings. The series debuts its news cars Friday under the lights at Daytona International Speedway.

TREVOR BAYNE, No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota

• Bayne started 18th finished fifth – a career-best.

• Bayne was the highest finishing Nationwide-only driver

• Picked up his second consecutive top-10 finish and third consecutive top-15 finish

• Moved up one spot to 10th in the NASCAR Nationwide Series point standings

• Fought a tight-handling race car for the majority of the race.

• Picked up seven spots in the first six laps

• Moved into the top 10 on lap 92 and stayed there the final 108 laps. Grabbed fifth on the lap 182 restart and held off Justin Allgaier

BAYNE QUOTE: “It’s awesome to be going back on an uphill slope. We got in a little slump there for a while, but we’ve got a lot of good things going on. Out Pet Care came on board here and ever since then, it seems like we’ve been climbing. We finished 11th at Kentucky, 10th at the road course and now fifth here. It looks like we have to just keep doing what we’re doing and we’ll be good to go.”

NNS Racing Results

• Kyle Busch won the New England 200, his 36th victory in 186 NNS starts.

• Busch became the all-time NASCAR Nationwide Series lap leader with 8,117 laps led.

• This is his sixth victory and 10th top-10 finish in 2010.

• Brad Keselowski (second) posted his third top-10 finish in three races at NHMS

• Carl Edwards, Joey Logano and Bayne rounded out the top five

• The race featured 16 lead changes among six drivers. Cautions slowed the race four times for 16 laps.

• NASCAR estimated 40,000 race fans in attendance at New Hampshire

Trevor Bayne - New Hampshire Preview

2010-06-22T13:44:00.000-07:00

CORNELIUS, N.C. — No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Products Toyota driver Trevor Bayne, the youngest fulltime NASCAR Nationwide Series driver, reached a small milestone of 30 starts last weekend at Road America. The 19-year-old Diamond-Waltrip Racing driver continues to gain experience while impressing many along the way. In those 30 starts, Bayne has grabbed a pole (Indianapolis), four top-10s including his 10th-place finish at Road America, 13 top-15s and has led 34 laps. The Knoxville, Tenn., native has really shined in qualifying. He has six top-five and 16 top-10 starting positions. He boasts a 12.3 starting average and has only started nine races outside the top 15.

QUOTES

TREVOR BAYNE ON NEW HAMPSHIRE: “I really like New Hampshire. I have had some success there (a top-five and top-10 finish in the K&N Pro Series East competition) and have led some laps. You really have to get all your braking done there before you hit the corners. New Hampshire isn’t considered a short track but it really drives like one. Forward bite is something that we really have to work on this weekend. You have to be able to carry a lot of speed off the corners. I really like the tracks that require a lot of throttle control. On the mile-and-a-half tracks, sometimes you can just stand on the gas and not worry about spinning the tires. I really think we have a chance to have a solid run this weekend.”

ON WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED IN YOUR FIRST 30 STARTS: “I have learned a lot over these first 30 races. However, I still have a lot to learn. I think the biggest thing I have learned so far is patience. These Nationwide races are so much longer than the East races. I have had to learn when to race hard and when to save my equipment.”

ON THE CHANGE IN MINDSET OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF RACES: “The past couple of weeks we have just concentrated on keeping the car in one piece and that has led to some really good finishes. I have been working a lot on just giving 80 percent for most of the race and not trying to win the race on the first lap. The last couple of months were really tough on me and the guys. We tore up a lot of good equipment and didn't really have anything to show for it. Jerry Baxter (crew chief) and I have worked really hard on just finishing every lap of each race. I think this new mentality has helped my confidence over the past couple of weeks.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

• Bayne will hold a media availability session in the New Hampshire Motor Speedway media center on Friday at 9 a.m.

• Bayne will sign autographs at the OUT! Pet Care display in the Fan Zone on Saturday at noon.

• Diamond-Waltrip Racing is owned by Gary and Blake Bechtel along with Michael Waltrip Racing. It fields Toyota Camrys out of the MWR shop in Cornelius, N.C. The Bechtels have owned cars in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series since 1990. The Morgan Hill, California residents’ teams have visited victory lane 10 times in the Nationwide Series.

• Bayne is 11th in points, but fifth among the non-Sprint Cup drivers in the Nationwide Series.

• Bayne has two K&N Pro Series East starts at the New England oval. The 19-year-old driver has one top-five and two top-10 finishes. He also led laps during both of his starts at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

• Get your dog’s picture on Bayne’s No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota by going to www.outpetcare.com and register for the “Top Dog of the Week.”

Trevor Bayne - Road America Race Report

2010-06-20T09:18:00.000-07:00

Trevor Bayne, No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota Camry - finished 10th - now 11th in points.

Trevor Bayne Race Summary: Trevor Bayne and the OUT! Pet Care team finished 10th on Saturday at Road America, grabbing their second top-10 finish of the season. The Diamond-Waltrip team started the race 20th and slowly climbed their way into the top 15. A solid second pit stop on lap 27 by the over-the-wall crew moved Bayne into the top 10 where he raced for most of the final 23 laps. The youngest fulltime NNS driver now sits 11th in the championship point standings. The NNS next stop will be at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N. H. where they will race next Saturday afternoon.”

NNS Racing Results

• Carl Edwards won the THE BUCYRUS 200, his 26th victory in 191 NNS starts.

• This was the NASCAR Nationwide Series debut at the four-mile road course.

• Ron Fellows (second) posted his first top-10 finish in one races at Road America.

• Brendan Gaughan, Brad keselowski and Owen Kelly rounded out the top five

• The race featured seven lead changes among five drivers.

• The race was slowed by seven cautions for a total of 14 laps.

• NASCAR estimated 50,000 race fans in attendance at Road America.

TREVOR BAYNE, No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota

• Bayne started 20th finished 10th

• Grabbed only his second top 10 finish of the 2010 season

• Picked up his second consecutive top 15 finish

• Move up one spots to 11th in the NASCAR Nationwide Series point standings

• A red flag halted the race for just under 32 minutes

• Picked up two spots before he made his first pit stop of the day

• The over-the-wall crew pick up six spots on pit road during the lap 27 pit stop

• Received right-rear damage on lap 44

• Worked his way back in the top 10 after a fuel only pit stop on lap 31

• Bayne finished 10th in the inaugural race at the four-mile road course in Elkhart Lake, Wis.

BAYNE QUOTE: “This was a solid day for the OUT! Pet Care Toyota team. We were able to keep our car out of the gravel all weekend. I am just a little disappointed that we got some damage at the end of the race. This is only our second top-10 finish of the season so I am really excited. It gives us something to build on. I have to thank my pit crew for another solid job in the pits. They got me out in front of that big wreck that caused the long red flag. This is two solid weeks for us so I am pretty excited. I feel like we finally have some momentum.”

Trevor Bayne - Road America Preview

2010-06-15T10:22:00.000-07:00

CORNELIUS, N.C. — Diamond-Waltrip Racing has worked extremely hard over the past couple of months to prepare 19-year-old driver Trevor Bayne for the NASCAR Nationwide Series’ two upcoming road course races. Bayne has attended what he jokingly refers to as the “Michael McDowell school of racing.” The duo have spent several weeks at Virginia International Raceway driving a two-seater built by Michael Waltrip Racing. This weekend the series makes its debut at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. The Knoxville, Tenn., native finished third at Watkins Glen and 17th at Lime Rock in the 2008 K&N Pro Series. Bayne visited Road America May 3 doing promotional work and raved about the track and the challenges it will present the drivers.

QUOTES

TREVOR BAYNE ON ROAD AMERICA: “Road America is an awesome track. It’s a very high speed road course. There are a lot of elevation changes and some spots that could potentially be dangerous. The trickiest part of the track to me is turns five and six. You have to get your car slowed down to get through five and then you have to remember the blind turn that is after the hill on six. The car is going to get really light coming up the hill. You have to slow down heading up the hill or you won’t make it. I think if you can stay on the racetrack at Road America, you can bring home a top-10 finish.

ON ROAD COURSE RACING: “I really like racing on road courses. It’s something a little different from what we do every week. I have only raced on two road courses in my career but we have run pretty well. Road course racing can be a challenge. Michael McDowell has been working with me over the last couple of months to get me ready. He keeps telling me to think ahead. You have to get yourself set up for the next turn. You can’t just focus on where you are currently on the track.”

ON BEING ON AN EVEN PLAYING FIELD THIS WEEKEND: “It’s pretty cool that a large majority of the field has the same amount of experience as I do at Road America. There are going to be some road course ringers out there like Ron Fellows but at least this puts me on the same playing field as most of the Nationwide Series drivers. The open test that we have on Thursday is going to mean a lot for us. It will give us a chance to try a bunch of things and have a pretty good car come Friday and Saturday.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

Diamond-Waltrip Racing is owned by Gary and Blake Bechtel along with Michael Waltrip Racing. It fields Toyota Camrys out of the MWR shop in Cornelius, N.C. The Bechtels have owned cars in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series since 1990. The Morgan Hill, California residents’ teams have visited victory lane 10 times in the Nationwide Series.

On Monday and Tuesday, Bayne and the Diamond-Waltrip Racing team tested the new NASCAR Nationwide car at the Milwaukee Mile. The new car will race at Daytona, Michigan, Richmond and Charlotte.

Bayne owns 29 NNS starts. He has a pole (Indianapolis), three top-10s (Indianapolis, Richmond and Las Vegas), 12 top-15s and has led 34 laps. His average starting spot is 12th and a finishing spot of 19th.

Bayne is 12th in points, but sixth among the non-Sprint Cup drivers competing in the Nationwide Series.

Bayne posted consistent qualifying efforts in his first 29 starts. Over his short career, he has grabbed a pole (Indianapolis), six top-five and 16 top-10 starting positions. He boasts a 12.3 starting average and has only started eight races outside the top 15.

To get your dog’s picture on Bayne’s No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota, go to www.outpetcare.com and register for the next “Top Dog of the Week.”

OUT! Pet Care products will be on the No. 99 Toyota Camry for 16 of the final 21 races with Aaron’s on the remaining races.

Bayne Moves to 12th in NNS Overall Points

2010-06-13T18:19:00.001-07:00

Trevor Bayne, No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry - finished 11th - now 12th in points.

Trevor Bayne Race Summary: Trevor Bayne, the youngest fulltime NASCAR Nationwide Series driver, grabbed a solid 11th-place finish and climbed into the top 12 in the championship point standings at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday night. Bayne continued his string of impressive qualifying efforts in the past six races by grabbing a 12th-place starting position. The 19-year-old driver worked his way into seventh before the second caution flag waved on lap 20. After the restart the No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine started to lose rear grip and Bayne began free falling through the field. He was 20th before a caution flag flew on lap 111. The No. 99 Toyota started to come to life and Bayne found himself in the top five with 57 laps remaining in the race. The Knoxville, Tenn., native held strong with a tight-handling race car and crossed the finish line 11th.

NNS Racing Results
‪·‬ Joey Logano won the Meijer 300, his seventh victory in 51 NNS starts
‪·‬ This is his first victory and ninth top-10 finish in 2010.
‪·‬ This is his third victory and third top-5 finish in three races at Kentucky Speedway.
‪·‬ Carl Edwards (second) posted his second top-10 finish in six races at Kentucky Speedway.
‪·‬ Brad Keselowski, Brendan Gaughan and Reed Sorenson rounded out the top five
‪·‬ The race featured 11 lead changes among eight drivers.
‪·‬ The race was slowed by 10 cautions for a total of 51 laps.
‪·‬ NASCAR estimated 61,000 race fans in attendance at Kentucky.

TREVOR BAYNE, No. 99 Dream Machine Toyota
‪·‬ Bayne started 12th - his fifth top 12 starting position in six races
‪·‬ Move up three spots to 12th in the NASCAR Nationwide Series point standings
‪·‬ Picked up five spots before the second caution flag flew for a single car incident on the backstretch
‪·‬ Lost gear grip during the middle part of the race and ran as low as 20th
‪·‬ The over-the-wall crew pick up five spots on pit road during the lap 113 pit stop
‪·‬ Worked his way back in the top 10 after a fuel only pit stop on lap 133
‪·‬ Raced inside the top 10 until the final lap when Colin Braun passed him in turn three
‪·‬ Bayne finished 11th his second top 15 finish at the 1.5-mile track

BAYNE QUOTE: “We accomplished our goal of just finishing the race tonight. Jerry Baxter (crew chief) told me just to finish every lap and good finishes will start coming to us. We didn’t have the best race car tonight but we were able to grab a solid finish and bring home a Aaron’s Dream Machine in one piece. My guys have done a great job every week bring good equipment to the race track. This is something we can build off of. Now we can bring this car back to the shop an make it better for the next race.”

Trevor Bayne - Kentucky Race Report

2010-06-13T10:17:00.000-07:00

Trevor Bayne, No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry - finished 11th - now 12th in points.

Trevor Bayne Race Summary: Trevor Bayne, the youngest fulltime NASCAR Nationwide Series driver, grabbed a solid 11th-place finish and climbed into the top 12 in the championship point standings at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday night. Bayne continued his string of impressive qualifying efforts in the past six races by grabbing a 12th-place starting position. The 19-year-old driver worked his way into seventh before the second caution flag waved on lap 20. After the restart the No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine started to lose rear grip and Bayne began free falling through the field. He was 20th before a caution flag flew on lap 111. The No. 99 Toyota started to come to life and Bayne found himself in the top five with 57 laps remaining in the race. The Knoxville, Tenn., native held strong with a tight-handling race car and crossed the finish line 11th.

NNS Racing Results

Joey Logano won the Meijer 300, his seventh victory in 51 NNS starts

This is his first victory and ninth top-10 finish in 2010.

This is his third victory and third top-5 finish in three races at Kentucky Speedway.

Carl Edwards (second) posted his second top-10 finish in six races at Kentucky Speedway.

Brad Keselowski, Brendan Gaughan and Reed Sorenson rounded out the top five

The race featured 11 lead changes among eight drivers.

The race was slowed by 10 cautions for a total of 51 laps.

NASCAR estimated 61,000 race fans in attendance at Kentucky.

TREVOR BAYNE, No. 99 Dream Machine Toyota

Bayne started 12th - his fifth top 12 starting position in six races

Move up three spots to 12th in the NASCAR Nationwide Series point standings

Picked up five spots before the second caution flag flew for a single car incident on the backstretch

Lost gear grip during the middle part of the race and ran as low as 20th

The over-the-wall crew pick up five spots on pit road during the lap 113 pit stop

Worked his way back in the top 10 after a fuel only pit stop on lap 133

Raced inside the top 10 until the final lap when Colin Braun passed him in turn three

Bayne finished 11th his second top 15 finish at the 1.5-mile track

BAYNE QUOTE: “We accomplished our goal of just finishing the race tonight. Jerry Baxter (crew chief) told me just to finish every lap and good finishes will start coming to us. We didn’t have the best race car tonight but we were able to grab a solid finish and bring home a Aaron’s Dream Machine in one piece. My guys have done a great job every week bring good equipment to the race track. This is something we can build off of. Now we can bring this car back to the shop an make it better for the next race.”

Trevor Bayne - Kentucky Preview

2010-06-08T08:22:00.000-07:00

CORNELIUS, N.C. — Saturday night’s race at Kentucky Speedway is the second of three consecutive stand-alone races for the NASCAR Nationwide Series. If history matters, racing at Kentucky Speedway could be a good thing for 19-year-old Trevor Bayne. The 1.5-mile oval has a history of giving young drivers their first career victory. David Gilliland (2006), Stephen Leicht (2007) and Joey Logano (2008) each earned their first career victories at Kentucky.

Bayne, the youngest fulltime NNS driver, has shown speed of late posting two top-five (Charlotte and Nashville) and four top-10 starting qualifying efforts. Like most talented young drivers, Bayne owns only 28 career starts, he’s working on translating that speed into good finishes. Bayne will pilot the No. 99 Aaron’s Toyota for the Jerry Baxter-led Diamond-Waltrip Racing team. Aaron’s (six races) and OUT! Pet Care (16 races) will serve as primary sponsors for the team’s remaining 2010 races.

QUOTES

BAYNE ON THE SEASON TO DATE: “Our season to date has been a roller coaster. They need to put us in Disney’s theme park there so we can be the best ride of the place because we’ve been so up and down. One week we’ll have a great run and something will happen at the very end. Every race has been a roller coaster, not just the season itself. We’ll be so fast or qualify so good and then something happens to take us out of it. We’re looking to turn that around and just finish these races, even if it’s 10th, it’s still a finish because we get in a situation at the end of races where we shouldn’t be and things happen. To be that high in the points (eighth) after some of the things we’ve gone through is still pretty awesome. Getting OUT! Pet Care on board with Aaron’s has been a big step for our team and you can see the motivation in the guys, it’s just different. They know we’re good to go and we don’t have to worry about these other 18 races this year that aren’t funded, we can just go out to the track and do our thing and not worry about it. That relieves a lot of pressure for myself too because I can just go out and race now. I can just go do my thing. Ty Norris (general manager) Gary Bechtel (team owner) and Michael Waltrip, they can just go work on the race team and focus on the components instead of having to chase all the sponsorship they were having to do before. I’m sure they’ll still be on top of their game on that, but this just relieves us some more. I think we’re getting ready to turn it around here.”

KENTUCKY AS A PLACE FOR FIRST TIME WINNERS: “I think all the stand-alone events are a place for a first time winner. However, I think it puts more pressure on the team because this is our chance to shine and turn it around and get momentum going. Not having the Cup guys here is a big chance to break into the top-three. It’s definitely an advantage for us when the Cup guys aren’t here. I think this is one of our best shots of the year to grab a good finish or at least get that momentum going so this team knows what it feels like to finish on a high note. I think once we can get some momentum good finishes will start compounding on each other. You get one top-five and you know you can do this, it builds motivation and the team gets behind you and good thing start happening.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

Diamond-Waltrip Racing is owned by Gary and Blake Bechtel along with Michael Waltrip Racing. It fields Toyota Camry's out of the MWR shop in Cornelius, N.C. The Bechtels have owned cars in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series since 1990. The Morgan Hill, California residents’ teams have visited victory lane 10 times in the Nationwide Series.

This weekend marks the second of four “Dash 4 Cash” races sponsored by Nationwide Insurance, where full-time/part-time and limited schedule series-only driver along with full-time double-duty drivers have the opportunity to pocket an extra $25,000 with a win. Otherwise, the pot rolls over to the next “Dash 4 Cash” event, July 31 at Iowa.

Bayne continues to remain consistent in his qualifying efforts over his first 28 starts. Over his short career the Knoxville, Tenn., native has grabbed a pole (Indianapolis), six top-five and 16 top-10 starting positions. He boasts a 12.3 starting average and has only started eight races outside the top 15.

Aaron’s, proud sponsor of the No. 99, will give away an autographed hat to a lucky race fan through Facebook and Twitter following any top-10 finish. Follow Aaron’s on Twitter (@aaronssports) and become a fan on Facebook (Facebook.com/AaronsSports)

Bayne will sign autographs at the Aaron’s display 6:15-6:30 p.m. Saturday in the track’s FanZone

Trevor Bayne - Nashville Race Report

2010-06-06T11:39:00.000-07:00

Trevor Bayne, No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota Camry - finished 32nd - now 15th in points.

Trevor Bayne Race Summary: Diamond-Waltrip Racing driver Trevor Bayne raced inside the top-10 until he was wrecked on lap 126 and forced behind the wall for the remainder of the event. The 19-year-old driver qualified in the top-five for the second week in a row. Bayne raced as high as second and was running sixth when the No. 12 of Justin Allgaier got into Bayne. The contact cut down a left-rear tire. Before the Knoxville, Tenn., native could make it to pit road he hit the outside wall causing major damage to the No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota. Bayne crossed the line 32nd.

NNS Racing Results

Brad Keselowski won the Nashville 300, his ninth victory in 117 NNS starts

This is his third victory and 12th top-10 finish in 2010.

This is his second victory and sixth top-10 finish in 11 races at Nashville Superspeedway.

Carl Edwards (second) posted his 10th top-10 finish in 11 races at Nashville Superspeedway.

Paul Menard, Justin Allgaier and Mike Bliss rounded out the top five

The race featured 10 lead changes among six drivers.

The race was slowed by eight cautions for a total of 36 laps.

NASCAR estimated 17,500 race fans in attendance at Nashville.

TREVOR BAYNE, No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota

Bayne started third and finished 32nd

This was Bayne’s fourth top-10 starting position in five races

Bayne ran as high as second

Bayne raced inside the top 10 for the majority of the race

Suffered a left-rear flat and hit the wall on lap 126

Crossed the finish line 32nd, 99 laps down to the leaders

BAYNE QUOTE: “It stinks that we tore up another race car. It seems like that’s what happens to us every week. We have fast race cars – we just need to start finishing these things. I hate it for our sponsors – Out Pet Care and everybody. There was nothing we could do about it. We were coming out of turn four, two guys got checked up in front of us, we got under them and (Justin) Allgaier decided he had another run and wanted to pass all four of us at one time. It stinks for us because they are still out there racing and we’re in here with a torn up race car. We’ll come back and get them. We have a strong race team and I think we’re coming up right now and we just need to finish the races the way we’re running.”

Trevor Bayne - Nashville Preview

2010-06-01T12:05:00.000-07:00

CORNELIUS, N.C. — Trevor Bayne, the youngest fulltime NASCAR Nationwide Series driver, celebrates his one year anniversary with Diamond-Waltrip Racing this weekend at Nashville Superspeedway. The 19-year-old driver made a big splash last year in his DWR debut by qualifying on the outside pole. Since then the Knoxville, Tenn. native has made 23 starts behind the wheel of the No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota. He owns a pole (Indianapolis), two top-10 (Indianapolis and Las Vegas) and 11 top-15 finishes. Bayne has made two starts at the 1.33-mile Nashville Superspeedway qualifying second and sixth with finishes of 28th and 12th.

QUOTES

TREVOR BAYNE ON NASHVILLE: “I like racing at Nashville and it gets me back to my home state too. But I really like guitars so hopefully we can get one of those. We’re having a great second part of the season so far – as far as our speed. We haven’t gotten the finishes that we want, but we’ve been fast every weekend. I’m hoping to build on that all the way through. Hopefully we can carry the momentum from Charlotte on to Nashville. We have a great new sponsor on board and that’s always good to have a painted race car when you go to a race track. A paint scheme looks good when it’s got something on the hood. Our Toyotas have been strong for Diamond-Waltrip Racing and we’re just looking forward to building on that. I’ll have some friends and family out at Nashville Superspeedway so that will be great. I think its perfect timing to go back there. My first race last season for Michael Waltrip Racing was at Nashville. It’s going to be great to go back and see how far we’ve come in just one year.”

ON ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY WITH DWR: “It has been a great year. I have been able to learn so much from Jerry Baxter (crew chief) and all the other guys at Diamond-Waltrip Racing. We have build some fast cars and I think we are getting better and better each weekend. It’s cool to look back and see how far I have come in just one year. I think we, as a team, are really starting to gel and I think we can prove that we are a team that can win over the next 23 races.”

ON RACING ON A TRACK YOU HAVE RACED ON BEFORE: “It’s like starting on an even playing field this weekend. Normally, I have to spend the entire first practice just learning the race track before we can make adjustments to the car. That puts us behind just a little. We have made laps at Nashville so we will be able to make adjustments right off the truck. Also, Jerry (Baxter) knows what I want in a race car at Nashville so the car should be pretty close off the truck this weekend.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

Diamond-Waltrip Racing is owned by Gary and Blake Bechtel along with Michael Waltrip Racing. It fields Toyota Camry's out of the MWR shop in Cornelius, N.C. The Bechtels have owned cars in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series since 1990. The Morgan Hill, California residents’ teams have visited victory lane 10 times in the Nationwide Series.

Bayne owns 27 NNS starts. He has a pole (Indianapolis), three top-10s (Indianapolis, Richmond and Las Vegas), 11 top-15s and has led 34 laps. His average starting spot is 12th and a finishing spot of 18th.

Bayne is sixth among the drivers only competing in the Nationwide Series.

Bayne will sign autographs in the Nashville FanZone area on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

To get your dog’s picture on Bayne’s No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota go to www.outpetcare.com and register them for the next “Top Dog of the Week.”

On Tuesday, Bayne and the Diamond-Waltrip Racing team tested at Virginia International Raceway in preparation for the upcoming road course event at Road America.

OUT! Pet Care products will be on the No. 99 Toyota Camry for 17 of the final 23 races with Aaron’s on the other six races.

Trevor Bayne - Charlotte Race Report

2010-05-30T08:51:00.000-07:00

Trevor Bayne, No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota Camry - finished 17th - now 14th in points.

Trevor Bayne Race Summary: After announcing a new partnership with OUT! Pet Care products this week, Diamond-Waltrip driver Trevor Bayne qualified the No. 99 Toyota on the outside of the front row. He quickly realized he had a tight-handing Camry and was 15th when green-flag pit stops began on lap 57. Crew chief Jerry Baxter made several adjustments over the next couple of pit stops and the No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota came to life 100 laps into the race. Bayne was making his way through the field until he made slight contact with the wall and suffered a right-rear flat. The OUT! Pet Care over-the-wall crew repaired the No. 99 Toyota and Bayne was forced to restart 20th. The damage did not affect the No. 99 Toyota and he was listed 14th with 25 laps remaining. Unfortunately, the No. 43 got into Bayne with nine laps remaining in the race and he was forced down pit road for an unscheduled pit stop. The 19-year-old driver crossed the finish line 17th, one lap down to the leaders.

NNS Racing Results

Kyle Busch won the TECH-NET Auto Service 300, his 35th victory in 185 NNS starts

This is his fifth victory and ninth top-10 finish in 2010

This is his sixth victory and 11th top-10 finish in 14 races at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Kyle Busch ties Mark Martin with the series most wins at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Brad Keselowski (second) posted his fifth top-10 finish in eight races at CMS.

Joey Logano (third) posted his second top-10 finish in four races at CMS.

Justin Allgaier and Ryan Newman rounded out the top five

The race featured 10 lead changes among seven drivers.

The race was slowed by seven cautions for a total of 28 laps.

NASCAR estimated 40,000 race fans in attendance at Charlotte.

TREVOR BAYNE, No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota

Bayne started second and finished 17th

Fought a tight-handling race car for most of the race

Went a lap down to the leaders on Lap 60

Was the Lucky Dog on the lap 101 caution

Slapped the wall on lap 138 and brought out the caution

Worked his way into the top 15 before the 43 caused him to hit the was again

Crossed the finished line 17th one lap down to the leaders

BAYNE QUOTE: “Our OUT! Pet Care Toyota was a little tight at the start of the race. I started running up top about 40 laps into the race and we were really fast. However, when you run up high you have a chance on hitting the wall and that is just what we did. I learned a lot today that I can carry over to the October race here.”

OUT! PET CARE JOINS DIAMOND-WALTRIP RACING

2010-05-27T13:48:00.000-07:00

OUT! PET CARE JOINS DIAMOND-WALTRIP RACING

AS A PRIMARY SPONSOR ON TREVOR BAYNE’S NO. 99

Concord, N.C. – Diamond-Waltrip Racing announced today that OUT! Pet Care, a pet products company based in Dallas, will join Trevor Bayne’s No. 99 Toyota Camry as a primary sponsor beginning this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The OUT! Pet Care decals will adorn the No. 99 Diamond-Waltrip Racing Toyota in 18 of the final 24 races in the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series season, beginning this week in Charlotte. OUT! Pet Care along with Aaron’s gives Bayne a full season of sponsorship in his first full season driving the No. 99.

“This isn’t just great news for Diamond-Waltrip Racing,” said team owner Gary Bechtel. “It’s also a home run for the NASCAR Nationwide Series. A high quality, growth-oriented company like OUT! Pet Care choosing Diamond-Waltrip and NASCAR Nationwide Series to advance their product line is a supreme honor and speaks well for the future of our sport.”

OUT! Pet Care President and CEO, Roger Morgan, explained why the company finds Bayne, Diamond-Waltrip Racing and the Nationwide Series attractive.

“Trevor and Diamond-Waltrip Racing are a great fit for the OUT! Pet Care brand and we’re excited to partner with this great American sport. As a pet care company that produces product like pet stain and odor removers, training pads, and outdoor waste pick-up products, we’re devoted to making pet ownership easier. Knowing that NASCAR fans are loyal pet owners, we’re eager to connect with them like never before with fun promotions, contests, and product giveaways.”

Bechtel, and his son Blake, along with Michael Waltrip Racing formed Diamond-Waltrip Racing to field cars for the 19-year-old Bayne in 2010. Bayne rewarded the support with flashes of brilliance in his 26-race career including a sixth-place finish at Las Vegas in February.

“Gary Bechtel has done a great job putting this program together and he is the reason I am here,” Bayne said. “Adding such a cool company as OUT! Pet Care just makes what I do all that more fun. I love animals. My dog, Biscuit, still lives in Tennessee so I don’t get to see him as much as I want to with all the traveling we do in NASCAR. But, he’ll be riding with me on the track this week. We’ve got a photo of Biscuit on the car, as our Top Dog of the Week.”

OUT! Pet Care was started to fill a need for pet owners - a helpful way to clean up after and train your pet conveniently and practically. Specially formulated OUT! cleaning products are designed to take care of the unique accidents that pets have. OUT! also provides training solutions including the leading training pads on the market, as well as solutions for picking up after pets outdoors. Practical and easy-to-use products, for clean smelling, trained happy pets and spotless homes. Visit www.outpetcare.com to find out more.

###

Trevor Bayne - Charlotte Preview

2010-05-25T13:42:00.000-07:00

CORNELIUS, N.C. — Diamond-Waltrip Racing driver Trevor Bayne believes he will end his recent run of late-race, bad luck this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The 19-year-old owns a top-10 and five top-15 finishes in six races on the high speed 1.5-mile ovals like Charlotte. Bayne earned a career-best finish of sixth at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas track in February.

The Knoxville, Tenn. native said he will put extra effort into surviving the closing laps of Nationwide Series races. He saw a top-10 finish slip away at Dover when an accident dropped him to 29th. A week before at Darlington a collision with another car in the closing laps saw him fall the top six to a 16th-place finish.

Bayne is Nationwide Insurance’s “Driver of the Week” and will participate in a live web chat at noon on May 26. Log on to www.nascarnationwideseries.com to join the chat and ask Bayne questions about his adventures on and off the track.

QUOTES

TREVOR BAYNE ON GETTING A SOLID FINISH THIS WEEKEND: “Our goal this week is to finish the race in one piece. Diamond-Waltrip Racing and Jerry Baxter have built some really fast race cars. We just need to start getting the finishes we deserve. We have been running really strong lately but just haven’t been able to be there at the end. We have put ourselves in some bad situations but I think we need a little luck on our side as well. I think if we can stay in the top 10 throughout the entire race that will keep us out of a lot of trouble. So our main goal this week is to qualify strong and try and stay as close to the top 10 as possible.”

TREVOR BAYNE ON CHARLOTTE: “I grew up going to races at Charlotte so it’s really cool to finally get to race there. I took a Richard Petty car around the track once but it doesn’t really compare. It’s going to be awesome to take the No. 99 Toyota out there and make some laps. I think Charlotte is going to fit my driving style. I really like Atlanta and Texas and Charlotte seems to be another one of those fast mile-and-a-half race tracks.”

ON BEING NATIONWIDE DRIVER OF THE WEEK: “I think this is a really cool opportunity that Nationwide is giving each of the drivers. I have been able to give a little behind the scenes of my life with the flip camera they proved me. I believe you can see some of that footage on www.NASCARnationwideseries.com. I can’t thank Nationwide enough for all the support they give our teams each week.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

Diamond-Waltrip Racing is owned by Gary and Blake Bechtel along with Michael Waltrip Racing. It fields Toyota Camry's out of the MWR shop in Cornelius, N.C. The Bechtels have owned cars in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series since 1990. The Morgan Hill, California residents’ teams have visited victory lane 10 times in the Nationwide Series.

Bayne will sign autographs at Nationwide Insurance’s display at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s fan interactive area on Saturday at 11:50 a.m.

Bayne will again wear rookie stripes on his No. 99 Diamond-Waltrip Racing Toyota this weekend in Saturday’s 300-mile Nationwide race. Bayne is making his first career start at the 1.5-mile oval.

Bayne owns 26 NNS starts. He has a pole (Indianapolis), three top-10s (Indianapolis, Richmond and Las Vegas), 11 top-15s and has led 34 laps. His average starting spot is 12th and a finishing spot of 18th.

Bayne is seventh among the drivers only competing in the Nationwide Series.

Trevor Bayne New Car Transcripts

2010-05-19T12:39:00.000-07:00

TRACEY JUDD: We're now joined by Trevor Bayne in our NASCAR Nationwide Series, one of our series' only regulars driving the No. 99 Diamond Waltrip Toyota. Trevor, it's been an exciting day and a half for you out here so far in the NASCAR Nationwide Series new car, so why don't you tell us about how things have gone for you.

TREVOR BAYNE: It has. It feels hot today, but I can promise you it was hotter inside of my race car when it was on fire. You know, luckily it didn't really mess anything up too bad because we've got it back in action today.

We missed out on a lot of practice time yesterday in the draft, so we kind of started at square one today where everybody else had already had laps and kind of dialed their cars in. And I heard all the drivers in the garage, even Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards are saying things are loose, so I'm like, all right, they must be pretty loose, and I got out there and saw for myself, and they are sideways.

So we've been working on it. I think we're a couple steps behind just because we didn't get that practice yesterday, but we're dialing it in pretty good now.

Q. In regards to the fire, drivers are thought sometimes to be fearless, and you're a little bit different than the rest of us chickens out here, but as far as that goes, I've interviewed a lot of drivers over the years, NHRA, IndyCar, and the one comment, they really are fearless, but the one common fear that they have is fire, so could you explain a little bit about that?

TREVOR BAYNE: I don't think anybody likes fire, except Joe Balash; he said he was going to make s'mores next time, just let him know. I mean, I got out of there fast luckily. They've made these cars, the window openings in these new cars so wide that you can get out pretty quick. I didn't get caught up on anything luckily.

But I was getting out of there so fast I ripped the radio harness off my helmet, so that tells you I was a little bit scared. Luckily my left foot and everything is good from last week, so no problem there. But yeah, fire will get to you in a hurry.

Q. What was Carl apologizing to you for?

TREVOR BAYNE: It was just racing incidents. Last week at Dover when we were -- it was late in the race, my car was getting tight, so I was having to run the top and he was loose on the bottom, and it seemed like every straightaway we'd just be at the same speed and we'd come out right together; we'd go into the next corner, and it happened for like five, ten laps, and finally something happened and he got into my door on the straightaway and said he didn't mean to do it that hard. So it's all good; it's just racing.

Normally I have to go apologize to people for something stupid I did. It happens in racing. We're so close, we're running 180 miles an hour at tracks like that, and things are going to happen. So no hard feelings, and we'll just keep racing.

Q. As a follow-up to Dwight's question, would there have been a difference in terms of your ability to get out of the old Nationwide car versus this one?

TREVOR BAYNE: Yeah, I believe so. They're making them safer all the way around, every aspect. That window opening in these cars now is so much wider. I could have seen myself getting caught up in the old car. Something -- I've never been on fire before, so I don't know that. But it seems like that old style car would have been a lot harder to get out of it.

Q. Trevor, the way the track is now, they're going to repave it next year. This is the last go-around on this track. Has the patch been a concern for you at all?

TREVOR BAYNE: No, I mean, I was just talking to Mr. Bragg, and I was telling him that over the patch everything has got the same grip level as the rest of the track. I wish they'd just pave over the surface they've got now and let it get the same bumps and all that stuff because it is fun, like Carl was talking about. This track's characteristics are awesome, and I'm sure over time that it will probably come back to this somehow.

I guess they have to repave because of what happened during the Cup race last year. But the patch is holding up good right now. These cars are hitting the earth pretty good right now, too, so for it to hold up that well is awesome.

Q. Do you like the way the track is now with all the bumps and ruts and this and that?

TREVOR BAYNE: I love it. I love any kind of track where you really have to get up on the wheel because that's what I've done my whole career with short track racing up until this point. So I love the Atlantas and the Daytonas and stuff like that where you have the characteristics where you have to drive the car.

Q. At this point in the season I'd just ask you to reflect where you're at now and where you'd like to be and how you'd like to finish out.

TREVOR BAYNE: Well, last year when we qualified second at Nashville, I thought that was pretty cool. We ran seventh there and got crashed late in the race. That whole season I kind of set a high standard for myself after that. It's easy to do when you have that good of a run. I went into this whole Nationwide deal thinking, all right, top 15s will be great, and then all season long it seemed like we ran top 10. So now I came into this season thinking, all right, we're going to be top 5 every weekend, and I found out how tough this competition really is and how much it steps up every season.

I think we're on par to where we should be being our first full season in the Nationwide Series. I would like to run a little bit better myself, and I know the whole team would. I know we're capable of top 10s every weekend, but we just haven't got those finishes due to silly things taking us out of the race.

It seems like the last two weeks we've run top 10 all day and something small just takes us out right at the end. So I know we deserve to run better.

The guys are working hard at Diamond Waltrip Racing. They've got our Toyotas dialed in awesome. Now we've just got to get those finishes. I'm really fortunate to be in this situation, being 19 years old and being able to run a full-time season in the Nationwide Series, though.

Q. How cool is it for you to be riding around in a cool-looking car with a bunch of other cool-looking cars?

TREVOR BAYNE: It's really cool, man. They did a good job at Toyota of making it look like their Camry on the street, and I think that's what's pretty sweet about these new cars is they look like the street cars a lot better on the front end. The tail end of them, not so much, but the front ends are cool. Everybody did a great job of that. So it's pretty nice to see.

Trevor Bayne Dover Race Report

2010-05-16T09:09:00.000-07:00

Trevor Bayne, No. 99 Diamond-Waltrip Racing Toyota Camry - finished 29th - now 14th in points.

Trevor Bayne Race Summary: Diamond-Waltrip Racing driver Trevor Bayne had a fantastic run come to a screaming halt with just two laps remaining in Saturday’s Heluva Good! 200 from Dover International Speedway. The 19-year-old driver started the race 23rd but with a solid race car and great pit stops worked his way into the top 10 with just under 100 laps remaining in the race. Bayne continued to climb the leader board and was shown fifth with 50 laps to go. Unfortunately, on the next-to-last restart, Denny Hamlin got into Clint Bowyer triggering a nine-car accident that collected the No. 99 Diamond-Waltrip Racing Toyota. The accident brought out an 11-minute, 42-second red flag and ended the day for the youngest fulltime driver in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Bayne finished the event 29th seven laps down to the leader. He is now 14th in the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship point standings.

UPDATE: Bayne was send to local hospital for further evaluation on his left foot. X-ray's were negative and Bayne is scheduled to be in the No. 99 during the Daytona New Car test on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.

NNS Racing Results

Kyle Busch won the Heluva Good! 200, his 34th victory in 184 NNS starts

This is his fourth victory and eight top-10 finish in 2010

This is his second victory and seventh top-10 finish in 12 races at Dover International Speedway

Ryan Newman (second) posted his second top-10 finish in five races at Dover International Speedway.

Jamie McMurray, Reed Sorenson and Jason Leffler rounded out the top five

The race featured four lead changes among three drivers.

The race was slowed by six cautions for a total of 25 laps.

NASCAR estimated 33,000 race fans in attendance at Dover.

TREVOR BAYNE, No. 99 Diamond-Waltrip Racing Toyota

Bayne started 23rd and finished 29th

Worked his way into the top five with just under 50 laps remaining in the race

Ran inside the top 15 for the majority of the race

Great pit stop by the over-the-wall crew during the second pit stop helped Bayne pick of five spots on pit road

Involved in an incident on the final restart received major damage and was forced behind the wall

Finished 29th, seven laps down to the leaders

BAYNE QUOTE: “Our Diamond-Waltrip Toyota was pretty good today. My pit crew did an awesome job for me this weekend. However, we just got tangled up in someone else’s mess. That was probably one of the hardest hits I have taken in a race car. My ankle was a little sore after but it’s going to be okay. Just going to rest it a little over the next couple of days.”

Trevor Bayne Dover Preview

2010-05-11T12:29:00.000-07:00

CORNELIUS, N.C. — Diamond-Waltrip Racing driver Trevor Bayne welcomes new associate sponsor Hershey Milk & Milkshakes this weekend when he makes his first Nationwide Series start on the “Monster Mile” at Dover International Speedway. The familiar Hershey Milk & Milkshakes logo will adorn the rear quarter-panels of the No. 99 Toyota Camry and the company will donate $99 to the Autism Speaks Foundation for every lap Bayne completes in Saturday’s race. The youngest fulltime NASCAR Nationwide Series driver has jumped from 17th to 11th in the championship point standings in the last four weeks by grabbing two consecutive top-15 finishes. Bayne owns one start on the concrete oval in the NASCAR K&N Pro Cup East Series when he started third and finished 21st.

TREVOR BAYNE ON HERSHEY MILK AND MILKSHAKES: “I am really excited to have Hershey Milk and Milkshakes on the car this weekend. I did a few things with them during Daytona so it’s really cool they are coming back on board at Dover. It’s also awesome they are going to donate money to Autism Speaks for every lap I complete. Hopefully, I finish every lap so they will donate $19,800 to the foundation.”

ON DOVER: “The good thing about Dover is that I have been there before. I don’t have a ton of experience there but I do have some track time. For us to be successful this weekend we have to be able to get to the throttle hard and fast up off the corners. I remember in the East Series cars we were almost wide open during qualifying and I don’t think the Nationwide Series cars will be far off that. One thing Martin (Truex Jr.) told me was to make sure you get to the throttle wide open. If you have to get to the gas easy and wait on the car a little off the corners you will get your butt kicked at Dover.”

MOMENTUM AFTER A SOLID RUN AT DOVER: “I think we gained a lot of momentum this weekend. For the past couple of months I think we have been over thinking everything. Jerry Baxter has been in the sport for a long time and he knows what he is doing and I think I have done pretty well behind the wheel. At Darlington we decided to go back to the basics. I focused on driving the race car and Jerry concentrated on making the adjustments. I think that strategy really helped a lot. I never felt like we were chasing our tails. Our car was really strong during the race and we made adjustments to keep up with the track. We didn’t get the finish we deserved but we gained a lot of momentum and confidence for this weekend at Dover.”

PREPARING FOR NEW RACE TRACKS: “The biggest thing is to find someone you can rely on that will give you information you can use. I have some really great teammates at MWR. In the past couple of weeks Martin (Truex Jr.) has really given me some good advice. I also try and bounce around the Nationwide Series garage and ask other drivers. I normally go and talk to some of the guys that ran well at that track in the past. I think talking to some of the veterans of the sport helps me gain their respect on and off the race track.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

Crew chief Jerry Baxter led Scott Speed to two top-10 finishes in 2009 at Dover. Last season with five different drivers (Bayne, Patrick Carpentier, David Reutimann, Speed and Michael Waltrip) Baxter grabbed 10 top-10 finishes.

Bayne is the fourth highest series-only regular in the driver point standings. He is only two points behind Tony Raines and Jason Leffler, and just 359 points away from Justin Allgaier.

Bayne owns 25 NNS starts. He has a pole (Indianapolis), three top-10s (Indianapolis, Richmond and Las Vegas), 11 top-15s and has led 34 laps. His average starting spot is 12th and a finishing spot of 18th.

Bayne will sign autographs 8 -9 a.m. Saturday at the NASCAR trackside merchandise trailer in Dover’s FanZone.

2010-05-10T07:29:00.000-07:00

Trevor Bayne, No. 99 Diamond-Waltrip Racing Toyota Camry - finished 16th - now 11th in points.

Trevor Bayne Race Summary: Rising star Trevor Bayne almost had the track “too tough to tame” tamed in Friday night’s Royal Purple 200. After qualifying the No. 99 Diamond-Waltrip Racing Toyota in the top 10 for the second consecutive week, the 19-year-old driver settled into the top 12. When the first pit stops rolled around on lap 27, crew chief Jerry Baxter made several adjustments to help with a tight-handling condition. As the race progressed, the No. 99 Toyota continued to gain ground and found itself inside the top-10 racing in fifth with just 50 laps remaining. Unfortunately, Bayne made contact with Matt Kenseth on lap 129 and brought out the eighth caution of the night. The No. 99 Toyota was forced to pit road for right-side tires and had to restart 23rd with just under 15 laps remaining. Bayne was able to grab seven spots in the final laps to finish 16th. He also jumped another spot to 11th in the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship point standings.

NNS Racing Results

Denny Hamlin won the Royal Purple 200, his 10th victory in 121 NNS starts.

This is his first victory and second top-10 finish in 2010

This is his third victory and fifth top-10 finish in five races at Darlington Raceway

Kyle Busch (second) posted his third top-10 finish in seven races at Darlington Raceway.

Jamie McMurray, Kasey Kahne and Jason Leffler rounded out the top five

The race featured nine lead changes among seven drivers.

The race was slowed by nine cautions for a total of 42 laps.

NASCAR estimated 26,000 race fans in attendance at Darlington.

TREVOR BAYNE, No. 99 Diamond-Waltrip Racing Toyota

Bayne started ninth and finished 16th

One of only three NNS regulars to start in the top 10

Second consecutive top 10 start

Ran inside the top 10 for the majority of the race

Worked his way into the top five on lap 96

Was involved in an incident with Matt Kenseth on lap 129 and was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop for left side tires. Bayne restarted 23rd

Grabbed seven spots in the closing laps to finish 16th

BAYNE QUOTE: “The Diamond-Waltrip Toyota was really good all day. We got into Matt (Kenseth) there so we had to come down pit road and took tires and lost track position. We didn’t get the finish we deserved today but it’s definitely a step in the right direction for our team. I just have to thank my guys for all there hard work today.”

Martin Truex Jr. Asks For Your Vote

2010-05-06T06:05:00.001-07:00

Trevor Bayne Darlington Preview

2010-05-05T05:42:00.000-07:00

CORNELIUS, N.C. — NASCAR’s youngest fulltime Nationwide Series driver Trevor Bayne enjoyed his first real look at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., on Monday during a NASCAR media tour. The Nationwide Series will hold its inaugural race at the road course on June. 19.

The Knoxville, Tenn., native raced the track several times on his IRacing (computer) simulator but he said nothing compares to actual track experience. The 19-year-old Diamond-Waltrip Racing driver along with Brian Scott gave several Wisconsin media members rides around the four-mile road course in a Toyota Camry pace car. The drivers showed the media how they planned to race the track and pointed out potential trouble spots. To cap off the event the two young drivers raced go-karts with Bayne grabbing the fast lap of 40.31 seconds. Scott wasn't far behind with a lap of 40.82 seconds.

This weekend is sure to be a learning experience as Bayne makes his first appearance at Darlington Raceway in Friday’s Nationwide Series race. Bayne said he hopes his Darlington performance is the first step toward developing the consistency needed to climb from 12th-place in the championship standings.

QUOTES

BAYNE ON DARLINGTON: “I am not sure what to expect at Darlington. I am pretty sure I will have a Darlington stripe before the first practice is over. I am really excited about racing there. It has such a rich history. It’s one of those tracks that all the drivers seem to talk about. Since we get an extra set of tires this weekend we are going to try and make the most laps we can. I think track time is going to be really important for us this weekend. We need to get a good starting spot and just try and stay out of trouble.”

BAYNE ON ROAD AMERICA: “Road America was awesome. It’s a very high speed road course. There are a lot of elevation changes and some spots that could potentially be dangerous. The part of the track that stuck out to me the most were turns five and six. You have to get your car slowed down to get through five and then you have to remember the blind turn that is after the hill on six. The car is going to get really light coming up the hill. You have to slow down heading up the hill or you won’t make it. I think if you can stay on the race track at Road America you can bring home a top-10 finish.

BAYNE ON THE 2010 SEASON: “We have run OK this season. We have had some really good runs and some really bad runs. We need to find some consistency. Right now, we are a top-10 team and we need to find a way to become a top-five team. I feel like we have made a lot of progress as a team since last season but we still need to keep moving forward. I get frustrated because we haven’t made it to victory lane yet but I need to remember most of the guys that are beating us each week have a lot more experience than I do. Our goal at the beginning of the year was to finish in the top five in the point standings so we aren’t to far off.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

Bayne will again wear rookie stripes on his No. 99 Diamond-Waltrip Racing Toyota this weekend in Friday’s 200-lap Nationwide race. Bayne is making his first career start at the track “too tough to tame.”

Crew chief Jerry Baxter led David Reutimann to a third-place finish in the 2008 race at Darlington Raceway. That season the duo grabbed a pole (Chicago), eight top-fives, 15 top-10s and finished seventh in the championship point standings.

Bayne is the fifth highest series-only regular in the driver point standings. He is only 12 points behind Tony Raines, 23 points back of Brian Scott, 44 points away from Brendan Gaughan and just 357 points away from Justin Allgaier.

Bayne owns 24 NNS starts. He has a pole (Indianapolis), three top-10s (Indianapolis, Richmond and Las Vegas), 11 top-15s and has led 34 laps of competition. He has a starting average of 12th and a finishing average of 18th.

This weekend, Bayne’s No. 99 Toyota will run a plain hood with Diamond-Waltrip logos on the quarter panels in hopes to show potential sponsors inventory is available. Currently, Aaron’s is scheduled to sponsor the No. 99 in six of the final 27 races. Those races include: Kentucky, New Hampshire, Chicago, Iowa, Gateway (2) and Phoenix.

Trevor Bayne Previews Road America

2010-05-04T07:26:00.001-07:00

Trevor Bayne - Richmond Preview

2010-04-28T06:27:00.000-07:00

CORNELIUS, N.C. — Trevor Bayne, one of NASCAR’s rising young stars, is building momentum in the 2010 season. The 19-year-old driver has finished in the top 15 in three of the last four Nationwide races and has jumped from 17th to 13th in the points standings.

The Knoxville, Tenn. native hopes to continue that momentum this weekend at Richmond International Raceway where his seventh-place finish in September is one of three top-10 finishes in his 23-race career. Bayne also posted a seventh-place finish at Indianapolis last year but topped that with a sixth-place finish at Las Vegas in February.

During last year’s run at Richmond, he enjoyed a driver rating of 107.2, an average running position of 6.6, four fastest laps run, while running all 250 laps in the top 15. If history repeats itself, Bayne could be on the path to another career day. Bayne and his Diamond-Waltrip Racing teammates tested on the quarter-mile oval at Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson, Ga. on Monday.

QUOTES

BAYNE ON RICHMOND: “Richmond is a cool track. It’s a track that I have experience on. I love racing on short tracks like Indianapolis and Richmond. I have been racing on short tracks since I was 13 years old. I think I can excel at Richmond more than I have on the mile-and-a-half tracks this season. I think Richmond is a good place to turn around our luck and hopefully grab our first top-five finish of the year.”

BAYNE ON RACING UNDER THE LIGHTS: “Racing under the lights brings me back to my roots. Everything from racing go-karts to the East Series has been night races. It’s really cool for the fans as well. They can see our brakes glowing and see sparks fly when we make contact. It’s a lot cooler at night so it makes for a good day in the race car.”

BAYNE ON TESTING AT GRESHAM MOTORSPORTS PARK: “Anytime I can get in the race car is good. It keeps things fresh on my mind. We learned a lot about the car at Gresham. I also learned a lot as a driver. I worked with Martin Truex Jr. He got in the race car and drove some and worked with me on a lot of stuff. I think that was a great opportunity for me. He taught me a tremendous amount about braking and rolling the center of the corners which is going to be a big help at Richmond.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

Currently, Bayne is the sixth highest series-only regular in the NNS driver point standings. He is only six points behind Brendan Gaughan, 11 points back of Tony Raines, 22 points away from Scott Lagasse Jr., 44 points behind Brian Scott and just 339 points away from Justin Allgaier.

The 19-year-old driver owns 23 NNS starts. He has one pole (Indianapolis), three top-10s (Indianapolis, Richmond and Las Vegas), 11 top-15s and has led 34 laps of competition.

Michael Waltrip enters the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame Wednesday night joining notable inductees such as: Muhammad Ali, Tubby Smith, Adolph Rupp, Phil Simms, Johnny Unitas, Secretariat and other Bluegrass state heroes. Proceeds from the banquet benefit Kosair Charities. Tickets are $75 and may be obtained through Jo Barrett at Kosair Charities: (502) 637-7696, ext. 104. MWR cars will carry a special decal this weekend honoring Waltrip’s induction.

Steve Hallam, executive vice president and director of competition at MWR, will receive a degree of Honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Huddersfield in England on July 12. The university has a globally respected automotive engineering department. Hallam, who worked in Formula 1 from 1982 to 2008 with Lotus and then McLaren, joined MWR in 2009.

This weekend, Bayne’s No. 99 Toyota will run a plain hood with Diamond-Waltrip logos on the quarter panels in hopes to show potential sponsors inventory is available. Currently, Aaron’s is scheduled to sponsor the No. 99 in six of the final 27 races. Those races include: Kentucky, New Hampshire, Chicago, Iowa, Gateway (2) and Phoenix.

Trevor Bayne - Talladega Race Report

2010-04-26T07:38:00.000-07:00

Talladega, Ala. — Trevor Bayne narrowly missed the “Big One” at Talladega Superspeedway but was still able to muster up a 13th-place finish. The No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine started the Aaron’s 312 in the 39th spot and didn’t push the envelope during the first 75 laps of the 120-lap event. With just over 40 laps remaining, Bayne began making his charge toward the front of the field. He cracked into the top five on lap 98. With just two laps remaining in the event a multi-car incident occurred on the frontstretch forcing the race into overtime. Bayne restarted eighth and was on the move toward the front until he got collected in an accident in turn four on the final lap. The Knoxville, Tenn., native was able to limp to the finish line and finish 13th.

NNS Racing Results

Brad Keselowski won the Aaron’s 312, his seventh victory in 112 NASCAR Nationwide Series races

This is his first victory and seventh top-10 in 2010

Joey Logano (second) posted his second top-10 finish in two races at Talladega Superspeedway. It is his sixth top-10 finish in 2010.

Kevin Harvick, Jason Keller and John Borneman III rounded out the top five

The race featured one Green-White-Checkered

The race featured 33 lead changes among 14 drivers

The race was slowed by five cautions for a total of 16 laps

NASCAR estimated 71,500 race fans in attendance at Talladega

DWR NNS Race Results

Trevor Bayne, No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry - Finished 13th

DWR Driver Standings

Trevor Bayne, No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry - 124 points, ranks 13th

492 points out of the lead

TREVOR BAYNE, No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota

Bayne started 39th and finished 13th

Ran in the top 25 for the most part of the race

Bayne made his move to the front of the field with just over 40 laps to go

Cracked into the top five one lap 183

Was involved in the “Big One” on the final lap but was able to limp to the finish line and finish 13th

Gained three spots to 13th in the NNS championship point standings

This was Bayne’s fourth top-15 finish in 2010

BAYNE QUOTE: “Our Aaron’s Dream machine was awesome in the race. I was a little nervous after our qualifying effort by Jerry Baxter brought an awesome car to Talladega. I think I was able to gain some respect from some of the veteran driver today. We weren’t very good out front but we were a really good pusher. I was able to make some really good moves near the end of the race and get myself in the top five. We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time on the final lap and I had know where to go.”

Trevor Bayne - Talladega Nationwide Series Preview

2010-04-20T13:01:00.000-07:00

CORNELIUS, N.C. — Diamond-Waltrip Racing driver Trevor Bayne gets some help this weekend from a seven-year-old Alexander Kovach of Wilson, N.C. who designed the No. 99 Toyota Camry’s paint scheme. Kovach won the grand-prize in the Aaron’s “2010 Color Your Way to Talladega” contest. He and three guest will attend the Aaron’s Dream Weekend in Talladega to watch Bayne drive his design in Saturday’s Aaron’s 312 NASCAR Nationwide race.

Bayne hopes this special paint scheme brings him luck when he makes his first start on the 2.66-mile famed Alabama track. The 19-year-old driver’s only restrictor-plate start came in the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway. The youngest fulltime driver only made six laps before he was wrecked and finished 41st.

QUOTES

BAYNE ON TALLADEGA: “I haven’t race at Talladega yet. However, I did get to make some laps there last season at the new car test. It was cool to get to make laps there and see how smooth the track was compared to Daytona. I really don’t know what to expect because I hear it’s a lot different than Daytona. I know that Diamond-Waltrip Racing will have a good car for me to drive. They always tend to bring really strong race cars to superspeedway tracks.”

BAYNE ON THE AARON’S DREAM WEEKEND: “I think its really cool that Aaron’s did a coloring contest to get the paint scheme for my car this weekend. It’s a really cool weekend for Aaron’s and I am just glad to have them back on the car. We don’t get the pleasure of having them on the car every weekend so it would really be cool to bring home a win for them this weekend.”

BAYNE ON WHAT HE LEARNED IN DAYTONA: “Honestly, I didn’t get to learn a lot at Daytona since we got wrecked on lap six. I kind of see this as my superspeedway debut again. I really didn’t get to learn a lot in Daytona. We didn’t get to qualify we didn’t get to race so I am going to Talladega kind of blind. I think the best spot to run is out front. If you are one of the lead cars 90 percent of the time you will stay out of the wrecks. I know am going to be relying on my spotter Brett Griffin a lot this weekend to just keep me out of trouble.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

The 19-year-old driver’s only experience at Talladega Superspeedway came last season when he tested the new Nationwide car. The Knoxville, Tenn., native was one of eight drivers to participate in this test. The majority of the time the teams worked on single-car runs, but Bayne joined in some drafting practice at the end of the test session.

Bayne is tenth in points among the fulltime Nationwide Series drivers. He is only 31 points out of the top five.

Bayne owns 22 NNS starts. He has one pole (Indianapolis), three top-10s (Indianapolis, Richmond and Las Vegas), 11 top-15s and has led 34 laps. The youngster owns an 11.9 starting average and has qualified in the top 10 in 12 of his 22 starts.

Bayne will be the In Race Report for the Aaron’s 312 that will air on ESPN2 at 3 p.m. ET.

Aaron’s, sponsor of the No. 99, will give away an autographed hat to a lucky race fan through Facebook and Twitter following any top-10 finish. Follow Aarons on Twitter (@AaronsSports) and become a fan on Facebook (Facebook.com/AaronsSports)

Bayne Scores Top-15 Finish at Texas

2010-04-19T19:38:00.000-07:00

Fort Worth, Texas — After waiting for two extra days to race at Texas Motor Speedway, Trevor Bayne and the No. 99 Diamond-Waltrip team grabbed it’s fourth top-15 finish of the season. The Knoxville, Tenn., native started the 200-lap event in the 14th position. He was able to crack the top 10 by lap 32 but a tight-handling condition halted his progress. Crew chief Jerry Baxter made several major adjustments during the race to help ease the ill-handling conditions on the No. 99 Toyota but nothing really corrected the problem. The 19-year-old driver was able to race in the top 15 all day despite the handling issues. Bayne and the No. 99 Diamond-Waltrip team crossed the finish line 14th and gained one spot, to 16th, in the NASCAR championship point standings.

NNS Racing Results

Kyle Busch won the Texas Motor Speedway 300, his 33nd victory in 180 NNS starts

This is Busch’s fifth victory and 10 top-10 finish in 11 races at TMS. He joins Jack Ingram and Dale Earnhardt as winners of five straight races at the same track.

Joey Lagano (second) posted his second top-10 finish in four races at TMS. It is his fifth top-10 finish in 2010.

Reed Sorenson, Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five

The race featured 13 lead changes among eight drivers

The race was slowed by four cautions for a total of 24 laps

NASCAR estimated 44,500 race fans in attendance at TMS

DWR NNS Race Results

Trevor Bayne, No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry - Finished 14th

DWR Driver Standings

Trevor Bayne, No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry - 121 points, ranks 16th

446 points out of the lead

TREVOR BAYNE, No. 99 Diamond-Waltrip Racing Toyota

Bayne started 14th and finished 14th

Suffered from a tight-handling race car for the majority of the race

Great pit stop by the over-the-wall crew on the lap 28 pit stopped allowed Bayne to gain six spots

Cracked the top 10 on lap 32

Bayne ran in and around the top 15 for the majority of the race

This was Bayne’s fourth top-15 finish in 2010

BAYNE QUOTE: “The No. 99 Diamond-Waltrip Toyota was just a little off today. However, we were a lot better today then we were during Thursday’s practice. We aren’t where we want to be right now but we keep making improvements each weekend so I think we can be a top five car soon. I just have to thank all my guys for all the hard work they put in this weekend. We made a lot of changes to the car during practice on Thursday and Friday and we were able to make it a lot better for the race today.”

Trevor Bayne, No. 99 Diamond-Waltrip Racing Toyota Camry Texas Preview

2010-04-13T12:36:00.000-07:00

CORNELIUS, N.C. — In Trevor Bayne’s 21-race NASCAR Nationwide Series career he has excelled on the fast 1.5-mile tracks. He’s started five races on these types of tracks and grabbed a top-10, four top-15s with an average qualifying spot of 10th. The Knoxville, Tenn., native earned his career-best finish of sixth at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas track earlier this season. Additionally, Bayne’s only finish outside the top 15 came in the September race at Atlanta Motor Speedway where he finished 16th. The 19-year-old Diamond-Waltrip Racing driver hopes to continue that success at the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway this weekend and pad those already impressive statistics.

QUOTES

BAYNE ON TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY: “I really like Texas a lot. I think Texas and Atlanta are two of my favorite tracks. It’s a really fast track. Last year we were really free on entry and I think if we can fix that we can be competitive. We are going to go to Texas with a setup similar to what we had at Las Vegas. We had a lot of success at Vegas so I think we will be able to unload pretty good this weekend. I think I learned a lot a Vegas that will translate to a good run at Texas. If we can stay out of trouble, we have a really good chance of finishing in the top 10 this weekend.”

BAYNE ON 1.5-MILE SUCCESS: “I attribute a lot of my success to my crew chief Jerry Baxter. He has been to these types of tracks a ton and really knows how to set up the cars. I am also competitive on these tracks because it reminds me of short track racing that I am used to but just a little faster. At Texas, Vegas, Charlotte and Atlanta you can drive your car from the white line to the wall. This gives you the ability to find the fast line for your race car. I just hope we can continue our success on these types tracks and move up a little in the point standings.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

Bayne is the youngest fulltime racer in the Nationwide Series. He was born Feb. 19, 1991.

Bayne is tenth in points among the fulltime Nationwide Series drivers.

The 19-year-old driver owns 21 NNS starts. He has one pole (Indianapolis), three top-10s (Indianapolis, Richmond and Las Vegas), 10 top-15s and has led 34 laps of competition.

In November’s race at Texas Motor Speedway, Bayne qualified the No. 99 Toyota in the 11th position. He ran in the top 15 for the majority of the race. The young driver grabbed a solid 13th-place finish.

This weekend, Bayne’s No. 99 Toyota will run a plain hood with Diamond-Waltrip logos on the quarter panels in hopes to show potential sponsors inventory is available.

Last weekend at Phoenix International Speedway, Bayne and the No. 99 Diamond-Waltrip team thought they had a car that could compete for a top-five finish after practice. However, once the race started the handling on the No. 99 machine went away. Crew chief Jerry Baxter tried several adjustments and nothing seemed to work. To add insult to injury, the 19-year-old driver was involved in an incident on lap 136 that caused major damage to the No. 99 and he was forced behind the wall for major repairs. Bayne eventually crossed the finish line 32nd.

Diamond-Waltrip Racing is owned by Gary and Blake Bechtel along with Michael Waltrip Racing. It fields Camrys out of the MWR race shop in Cornelius, N.C.

Bayne Gets Caught Up In Accident and Finishes 32nd

2010-04-10T15:04:00.000-07:00

Avondale, Ariz. — Wrong place, wrong time for Trevor Bayne and the Aaron’s Dream Machine Racing team. On the lap 136 restart, everyone checked up on the restart except for the cars behind Bayne and the No. 99 machine received major damage. The Aaron’s Dream Machine was forced behind the wall for repairs. The Diamond-Waltrip team was able to get the No. 99 Toyota Camry back on track in just under 10 minutes and Bayne was able to pick up several positions and gain valuable points. The Aaron’s team crossed the finish line 32nd, 24 laps down to the leaders.

NNS Racing Results
‪·‬ Kyle Busch won the Bashas’ Supermarket 200, his 32nd victory in 179 NNS starts
‪·‬ Kevin Harvick (second) posted his 13th top-10 finish in 16 starts at PIR. It’s his fifth top-10 finish in 2010
‪·‬ Brad Keselowski, Brendan Gaughan and Greg Biffle rounded out the top five
‪·‬ The race featured seven lead changes among three drivers
‪·‬ The race was slowed by seven cautions for a total of 37 laps
‪·‬ A red flag stopped the action for 9 minutes and 36 seconds during the second caution of the race
‪·‬ NASCAR estimated 31,000 race fans in attendance at Phoenix International Raceway

DWR NNS Race Results
‪·‬ Trevor Bayne, No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry - Finished 32nd

DWR Driver Standings
‪·‬ Trevor Bayne, No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry - 67 points, ranks 17th
‪·‬ 387 points out of the lead

TREVOR BAYNE, No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota
‪·‬ Started 24th and finished 32nd
‪·‬ Fell back to 26th before the first caution flag flew on lap 14
‪·‬ Restarted fourth on the lap 35 restart because he did not hit pit road with the majority of the field
‪·‬ Was bothered by a loose handling-condition for the majority of the event
‪·‬ Raced in and around 20th for the most of the day
‪·‬ Was part of the lap 136 caution that brought out a 9 minutes 36 seconds red flag and involved 10 cars
‪·‬ Bayne crossed the finish line in 32nd 24 laps down to the leaders

BAYNE QUOTE: "I felt like I was in a superspeedway race for a second. There were cars everywhere. You just see them piling up. Brett Griffin (spotter) came over the radio and said, 'Check up. Check up.' So I slowed down and people behind me I guess couldn't see it all happening because we had just pitted and we had been moved to the back so they were trying to dig up through there and they got into us and pushed us right into it. We had been working on this thing hard all day trying to get it dialed in. It was awesome in practice and for some reason, it just had a different attitude to start the race. We had been working on it and came in to try to short pit to get our fresh tires for the end and get some track position because it's so important and then we just got pushed into that mess. Not much you can do about it."

Trevor Bayne, No. 99 Diamond-Waltrip Racing Toyota Phoenix Preview

2010-04-06T11:08:00.000-07:00

CORNELIUS, N.C. — Diamond-Waltrip driver Trevor Bayne owns three top-10 finishes in his first 20 NASCAR Nationwide Series starts and sits 13th in the championship point standings. But those numbers only tell part of the 19-year-old’s 2010 story.

Bayne posted top-12 finishes in each race except at Daytona and Bristol where accidents caused by other drivers led to poor finishes. Still, Bayne is seventh in the standings among the series regulars despite those drivers (Justin Allgaier, Paul Menard, Mike Wallace, Michael Annett, Steven Wallace and Scott Lagasse Jr.) owning 539 more career starts.

This weekend, the Knoxville, Tenn. native travels to Phoenix International Raceway where he’ll drive the No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Camry in Friday night’s race. He drove from 37th starting spot to 14th in his PIR debut in November.

QUOTES

BAYNE ON GOING TO PHOENIX: “I really like Phoenix – I think Phoenix is a cool city. I don’t know why I like it so much. Ever since I’ve been going out there, I went out there for the Bondurant Driving School a couple years ago when I was driving for DEI (Dale Earnhardt Inc.) and I just really liked the city. It’s the only place I’ve ever played golf, too. Scared every prairie dog out of the bushes in Phoenix that day -- it was bad. They turned the sprinklers on me and everything, it was pretty bad. It’s a cool city, it’s really clean with a lot of new stuff. It seems like a younger crowd out there so I think that’s why I like it. Being 19, it’s just more my style out there I guess.”

CREW CHIEF JERRY BAXTER ON BAYNE’S PROGRESS: “Trevor has progressed a lot since last year at Nashville. He has a lot more confidence about himself now. He has been able to gain that confidence by logging laps and just getting behind the wheel during practice and the races. I think he always had the ability to driver the race car he just needs to keep gaining confidence.”

BAXTER ON HOW BAYN’ES COMPARES TO THE OTHER YOUNG DRIVERS: “When you compare Trevor to all the other young drivers running the Nationwide Series he is above the curve. If you look at the points right now, even though it’s early in the season, he would be leading the Rookie of the Year points. He doesn’t have any more experience than they do. I think that alone shows you he is above average. Trevor is a very talented driver and I think by the end of the season he will be competing for top fives every weekend.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

MEDIA OPPORTUNITY AT PIR: On Thursday at 12:20 p.m. Bayne will meet with another young athlete backed by Diamond-Waltrip majority owner Gary Bechtel. Bayne will show Michael Flores, a 15-year-old member of the 2010 Junior Olympic Shooting team, a few tips on how to race around PIR in a pace car. Afterwards the pair plan to visit a local shooting range where Flores will give shooting lessons.

On Tuesday and Wednesday Bayne attended the Bondurant School in Chandler, Ariz. to prepare for the three upcoming road course events on the Nationwide Series schedule. The Knoxville, Tenn., native also received private road course instruction from driver Michael McDowell.

Bayne made his first start at the one-mile desert oval in November. He started the race 37th but moved to 13th by lap 37. He continued working his way through the field climbing into the top 10 by the halfway mark. With just 50 laps remaining, the car’s handling began to slow his progress and he crossed the finish line in 14th.

Trevor Bayne, No. 99 Diamond-Waltrip Racing Toyota Nashville Post Race Report

2010-04-05T07:01:00.000-07:00

Lebanon, Tenn. — Solid pit stops by the No. 99 Diamond-Waltrip Racing over-the-wall crew allowed Trevor Bayne to stay in contention during the Nashville 200 at Nashville Superspeedway. The 19-year-old driver qualified 10th for Saturday’s main event. He fell back to 13th before the competition caution flew on lap 30. Major adjustments were made during this pits stop to help with the loose-handling condition which was the theme of the day. Despite the ill-handling condition, Bayne was able to race in and around the top 15 all day. He crossed the finish in line 12th place and moved up four positions to 13th in the NASCAR Nationwide Series point standings.

NNS Racing Result

Kevin Harvick won the Nashville 300, his 36th NNS win in 241 starts

Reed Sorenson, Kyle Busch, Justin Allgaier and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top-five finishers

The race featured 13 lead changes among seven drivers

The race was slowed by eight cautions for a total of 43 laps

A red flag stopped the action for 14 minutes

NASCAR estimated 17,000 race fans in attendance at Nashville Superspeedway

DWR NNS Race Results

Trevor Bayne, No. 99 Diamond-Waltrip Toyota Camry - Finished 12th

DWR Driver Standings

Trevor Bayne, No. 99 Diamond-Waltrip Toyota Camry - 127 points, ranks 13th

300 points out of the lead

TREVOR BAYNE, No. 99 Diamond-Waltrip Racing Toyota

Started 10th and finished 12th

Fought a loose-handling race car for the majority of the race

Gained four spots on pit road during pit stop on lap 36

Nearly got involved in the caution that collected four cars on lap 115

Worked his way into the top five by lap 151

Went to the tight side with 25 laps remaining in the race

Bayne crossed the finish line 12th

BAYNE QUOTE: “We did a lot of talking on the radio today trying to figure out how to make our car better. We came here from Bristol with a really strong car and I was expecting a lot more out of the weekend. That pit crew we have is phenomenal. I felt like all day we were going backwards, but that’s because they would get me to the top-five every pit stop. Then we didn’t have a good enough car to run top-five so we just dropped back to about 10th. We ended up 12th. That’s not a bad day after some of the bad races we’ve had this year, but it’s not as good as we’d hoped to do either. I know these guys are going to work hard on it. They’ve been working on these Toyotas a lot to get them into the top-five and I know we can do it. We just didn’t hit it right this weekend. We’ll be back at Phoenix with maybe a better car. We’ll give them a run for their money there.”

Trevor Bayne, No. 99 Aaron's Dream Machine - Nashville Preview

2010-03-30T11:45:00.001-07:00

CORNELIUS, N.C. — Tennessee driver Trevor Bayne heads to Nashville Superspeedway for Saturday night’s Nationwide Series race that promises an extra $25,000 in the winner’s purse for any series regular. The Knoxville native qualified second at Nashville in June in just his second start. Bayne’s qualifying effort and performance the rest of the season led owners Michael Waltrip, Gary Bechtel and Blake Bechtel to select Bayne as the driver for the newly created Diamond-Waltrip Racing team for the 2010 season. The new team enjoys partial season sponsorship from Aaron’s but is aggressively pursuing additional sponsorship opportunities. Bayne, one of NASCAR’s rising stars, already posted three top-10 finishes in just 19 career starts including a sixth-place finish in Las Vegas this season.

QUOTES

BAYNE ON NASHVILLE: “Nashville is where I made my debut for Michael Waltrip Racing so it’s going to be cool to go back there where it all started. We qualified on the outside pole last year which was way over our expectations. During the race we raced in the top 10 until we got wrecked. I know we can run good there and I really love the race track. It really fits my driving style. I have a lot of confidence in our team after the car they brought me in Bristol. I am really excited to see what kind of car the Diamond-Waltrip team will bring for me this weekend. The Bechtels and Michael are giving me a great opportunity here and I think we have a chance to do really well and hopefully bring along some corporate support in the coming days. We’ll be a great deal for a sponsor for sure.”

WHAT IS YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING THE DASH 4 CASH AT NASHVILLE? “I really like the Dash 4 Cash program. I think it gives us and extra incentive go out there and try and win the race. It also bring some extra attention to the NASCAR Nationwide Series. I think we have a good shot at winning the extra money. We have had some really good race cars lately and we have proven that we can run up front. Now we just need to be around the top five at the end of the race. I am really excited for this weekend and hopefully we can come home a little richer.”

BAYNE ON THE NASHVILLE TROPHY: “The Gibson Guitar is probably one of the coolest trophy’s that you can win. I think everyone wants to win at Nashville just so they can get a guitar. I don’t think I could smash the trophy like Kyle Busch did last year. Sam Bass does such a great job painting the guitar I just don’t think I could see all that hard work go to waste. It’s a one of a kind trophy that I would really like to hang on my wall one day soon.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

• For the non-Aaron’s races, the Diamond-Waltrip team will alter its paint scheme running a plain hood and moving the Diamond-Waltrip logo to the quarter panel.

• Bayne made his Michael Waltrip Racing debut last June at Nashville Superspeedway. He started the race second and was involved in an incident with just under 100 laps remaining and finished 28th.

• Last weekend, Bayne and driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. visited Jackson Hole, Wyo. to snowboard and snowmobile in Yellowstone National Park. For additional pictures contact Stacie Fandel at sfandel@michaelwatlrip.com.

• This weekend Bayne has a chance to win an extra $25,000 for his team thanks to Nationwide Insurance’s “Dash 4 Cash” program. This program is a bonus program implemented to develop and support NNS regulars, up-and-comers and those who compete part-time in the series (Sprint Cup drivers must compete in every Nationwide event in order to qualify for the individual race payout. Should a winner not be eligible for the $25,000 bonus, the prize money will roll over to the next “Dash 4 Cash” race.

• Bayne will sign autographs and participate in a Q & A at the Nashville Race Fan Festival. The event will take place at the Camping World on 2633 Music Valley Dr in Nashville, Tenn. from 5-8 p.m. local time.

Trevor Bayne on SPEED-TV's Race Hub

2010-03-05T20:09:00.000-08:00

Trevor Bayne looks ahead to Bristol Motor Speedway

2010-03-04T20:10:00.000-08:00

Diamond-Waltrip Racing - Sam's Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway - Post Race Report

2010-03-03T22:21:00.000-08:00

as Vegas, Nev. — A great two-tire pit call by crew chief Jerry Baxter and impressive driving skills by rookie Trevor Bayne equaled a career-best NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) finish of sixth at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Bayne qualified the No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine in the 18th spot, but quickly worked his way into the top 15. The Tennesse native remained in and around the top 15 until Baxter called for a two-tire stop with just over 50 laps remaining in the Sam’s Town 300. The call gave the Diamond-Waltrip team great track position. The young phenom was able to remain in the top seven over the last 50 laps and passed Justin Allgaier for sixth with four laps to go. The sixth-place finish helped the No. 99 Aaron’s Toyota move 11 spots to 13th in the NNS championship point standings.

NNS Racing Results

Kevin Harvick grabbed his 35th NNS victory by winning the Sam’s Town 300

Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski and Brian Vickers rounded out the top-five

The race was delayed by an hour and a half for rain

The race featured 14 lead changes among 10 drivers

The race was slowed by eight cautions for a total of 39 laps

NASCAR estimated 45,000 race fans in attendance at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

DWR NNS Race Results

Trevor Bayne, No. 99 Diamond-Waltrip Toyota Camry - finished sixth

DWR Driver Standings

Trevor Bayne, No. 99 Diamond-Waltrip Toyota Camry - 150 points, ranks 13th

Gained 11 spots in the NNS championship point standings

Sits just 185 points out of the lead

TREVER BAYNE, No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota

Started 18th and finished sixth

Was the highest-finishing NNS regular

Passed Justin Allgaier for sixth with four laps to go

A key caution flew on lap 84 allowed Bayne to stay on the lead lap

A two-tire pit stop with 55 laps to go bolstered Bayne into the top five

Grabbed his career-best NNS finish of sixth

Recorded his third top-10 finish in just 18 NNS starts

BAYNE QUOTE: “It’s pretty awesome, man. I’m pumped up. Good deal -- good momentum for this team. We said we want to get better every week and we’ve done that so far. If we continue to do that every week, we’ll be in victory lane before too long. Before we get ahead of ourselves, we just got to race every weekend. We got to go to the next track and be prepared. We gained a lot in our Monday morning meeting last week and we have to do the same this week — just keep getting better and better. These guys are awesome. Pit road was unbelievable and we were right there with all the best of the best. I couldn’t ask for anything better. Jerry Baxter (crew chief) is doing a great job of adapting to my style of driving.

“I think track position was a big thing. We took two tires and that got us track position so we could hold them off because when you’re back about 10th place, you can’t make up any track position against the frontrunners. That was a big step in our race to get us up in track position.”

Trevor Bayne, No. 99 Aaron's Dream Machine - Sam's Town 300 Preview

2010-02-23T22:24:00.000-08:00

CORNELIUS, N.C. — After surviving only six laps at Daytona before another car ended his day, Trevor Bayne raced every lap and finished 11th at Auto Club Speedway last weekend. The 19-year-old Knoxville, Tenn. native—the Nationwide Series youngest fulltime driver—hopes to continue gaining valuable experience this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In his brief career, Bayne has demonstrated an ability to qualify well despite only 17 Nationwide starts. He already owns a pole in Indianapolis, four top-five and 11 top-10 qualifying spots despite racing against several of the Sprint Cup series biggest stars.

QUOTES

BAYNE ON RACING AGAINST THE CUP DRIVERS: “I like racing against the cup guys every week. If you want to be the best you have to compete against the best. Being able to run against some of the cup guys will help our transition to the next level. We might lose out on some wins but the experience you get from racing with them is much more valuable.”

BAYNE ON QUALIFYING: “Jerry (Baxter) gives me the confidence I need to go out and qualify good each week. He makes some really good adjustments from practice to qualifying. Right now, I don’t know the limits of the cars so I just go out there and hold it wide open and it has equaled some good qualifying laps. I am also pretty young and I haven’t developed fear yet. I mean there is some skill to qualifying fast but holding that pedal down equals some fast qualifying runs as well.”

BAYNE ON LAS VEGAS: “I’ve never been to Las Vegas before. If it’s anything like Atlanta I am really going to like it. I’ve heard that you can hold it wide open there during qualifying so hopefully that will equal a top five starting spot for us. I’ll lean a lot on my cup teammates to help me out during practice. My spotter Brett Griffin will also help me out a lot during practice. He will let me know the lines that the fast guys are running.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

• Last weekend at Auto Club Speedway, Bayne was the fifth fulltime NASCAR Nationwide Series regular to cross the finish line. Only Steve Wallace, Kelly Bires, Justin Allgaier and Brian Scott finished higher than the 19-year-older driver. Wallace, Bires and Allgaier have a combined 217 more NNS starts than the young phenom Bayne.

• Bayne will once again have rookie strips on his No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine this weekend. The Knoxville, Tenn., native is making his first career start at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas track.

• Bayne will be making two appearances this weekend in Las Vegas. He will be at the NASCAR Café located inside the Sahara Hotel and Casino on Thursday, Feb. 25th from 8-9 p.m. and will be at The Pub located inside the Monte Carlo on Friday, Feb. 26th from 7-7:30 p.m.

• Aaron’s, proud sponsor of the No. 99, will give away an autographed hat to a lucky race fan through Facebook and Twitter following any top-10 finish. Follow Aaron’s on Twitter (@aaronssports) and become a fan on Facebook (Facebook.com/AaronsSports)

• Sirius XM listeners can tune into channel 128 every Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. to hear Bayne’s weekly visit on Sirius Speedway with Mike Bagley and Pete Pistone throughout the 2010 season.

Michael Waltrip Racing - California Race

2010-02-21T20:12:00.000-08:00

Michael Waltrip Racing drivers finished the Auto Club 500 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., as follows:

MWR NSCS Race Results
· David Reutimann, No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry - Finished 15th now 8th in points.
· Martin Truex Jr., No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry - Finished 39th now 20th in points.

NSCS RACE NOTES:
· Jimmie Johnson held off Kevin Harvick over the final 30 laps to take the victory by 1.523 seconds
· Jeff Burton, Mark Martin and Joey Logano rounded out the top-five
· Johnson’s win at Auto Club Speedway is his 48th Sprint Cup victory in 293 starts
· Johnson now matches Herb Thomas for 12th on the all-time win list
· The race featured 26 lead changes among 13 drivers
· The race was slowed by six cautions for a total of 30 lap
· The race lasted just over three and a half hours
· NASCAR estimated 72,000 people attended today’s race

MICHAEL WALTRIP RACING NSCS DRIVER NOTES AND QUOTES:

David Reutimann Race Summary:
The No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry charges into 2010 with back-to-back top-15 finishes to start the season. Reutimann and crew were impressive in the early going of the Auto Club 500 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. as he carried momentum from his 11th place qualifying effort from Friday afternoon. Reutimann raced as high as seventh on lap 38 before coming to pit road under green flag conditions. The No. 00 team removed a rubber from the right rear that caused Reutimann to report a tight-handling condition following the stop. The team struggled to return the car to winning form following the adjustment, but managed to continue a solid effort over the remained of the race. Reutimann battled over the last 30 laps to move from 18th into the top-15.

David Reutimann, No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota
· Started 11th and finished 15th
· Reutimann immediately moved into the top-10 as the race went green and was up to ninth by lap 7
· Lap 29, Reutimann reports minor damage to the right rear after a brush with the wall
· The minor damage caused the No. 00 to be “loose off”
· Reutimann came to pit road on lap 38 under green for four tires and fuel in seventh position
· The No. 00 was back in the top-10 by lap 42 and in ninth by lap 52
· Came to pit road under caution on lap 58 to repair right rear fender, four tires, fuel and removed a rubber out of the right rear restarted 18th on lap 61
· Caution flew again on lap 94 as Reutimann reported a tight handling condition and said the rubber needed to be replaced in the right rear. Reutimann restarted 20th on lap 98
· By lap 125 Reutimann was passing Joey Logano and Kyle Busch for 13th
· Lap 139, the No. 00 comes to pit road for two tires and minor chassis adjustments
· Reutimann brushed the wall again on lap 147, but reported no damage. He reported that the No. 00 would not run the bottom line.
· On lap 151 crew chief Rodney Childers reported rain in the forecast, but still about 50 miles out.
· On lap 167 the No. 1 car runs into the back of the No. 00 causing minor damage, but both cars continue
· Reutimann comes to pit road early under green on lap 180 for four tires and fuel—restarts 24th.
· Rain caused a caution on lap 197 as Reutimann was in 19th
· After a short rain delay the No. 00 restarts 16th and moved up to 11th by lap 206
· On lap 210 the No. 00 and the No. 12 start beating banging as they battle for 12th position
· Reutimann restarted 13th on lap 230, but struggled on the restart to fall to 18th, before working his way back up to 15th.

REUTIMANN QUOTE: "It's just disappointing. We started out OK in our Aaron's Dream Machine. For the better part of the day we were just okay. We made one adjustment there and the car just really, really didn't like it. That just got us behind a little bit. It just seemed like our car wouldn't get going on a restart. It was taking eight, 10, 12 laps for us to get going. A lot of the other guys were able to get out and get away from you. Overall I'd have to call today just a bit of a disappointment. I really felt like we were going to have a better car. We still have our Aaron's Dream Machine in one piece. Not a great finish, but an okay finish and now we'll go on to the next one."

Martin Truex Jr. Race Summary:
The opening laps of the California Auto Club 500 presented by NAPA saw Truex climb from 34th to 12th before the team’s first green-flag stop. However, just 64 laps into the event, the No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota suffered an engine failure. Truex, coming off of a top-10 run at Daytona was relegated to a 39th-place finish. He currently ranks 20th in the championship points standings.

Martin Truex Jr., No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota
· Started 34th and finished 39th after the engine expired on lap 64.
· Truex climbed to 15th by lap 24.
· Crew chief Pat Tryson informed his driver on lap 24 that he was the fastest car on the track.
· Truex, running in 12th, made contact with the wall on lap 46. The car was OK and Truex opted to bide his time as there was plenty of laps left in the race to challenge for the win.
· The NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota was competitive despite needing to turn better. It was tight in traffic, but neutral when Truex ran by himself.
· The No. 56 lost power on lap 64.
· Car owner Michael Waltrip encouraged his driver and told him that he saw quite a few cars hit the wall.
· Tryson said after the race, “We had a car that could’ve won the race. I’ve got myself a wheel man.”

TRUEX QUOTE:
“It’s really unfortunate for the NAPA Toyota. We had a really good car and had something to build on. My best year ever in NASCAR Sprint Cup, the same thing happened. We went to Fontana and blew up. Hopefully this will be good for us too because we have to look at the silver lining in all of this. The sport is too tough not to.

“The guys did a good job all weekend. I am really proud of Pat Tryson. To come from where we did on Friday with the race car was a big, huge improvement. We have something to work on. It is pretty disappointing after starting the way we did last week.”

DIAMOND-WALTRIP RACING NNS NOTES AND QUOTES:

Trevor Bayne, No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota, finished 11th in Saturday’s Stater Bros. 300 NNS race. Bayne is now 24th in NNS championship point standings.

Trevor Bayne, No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota
· Started 10th and finished 11th
· Fought a tight-handling race car for the majority of the race
· A great pit stop by the over-the-wall crew on lap 121 allowed Bayne to pick of three spots on pit road
· Raced inside the top 14 for all 152 laps of the Stater Bros. 300
· Grabbed his 8th top-15 finish in only 17 NNS starts

BAYNE QUOTE: “At the beginning of the race we were a little bit tight so we made some good adjustments. We never got the front end turning any better but we just unhooked the rear where I could get it set in a little bit better. That was a good change. We found the high line late after following Brendan Gaughan and Carl Edwards and a couple people that really ran the top well. That rocketed us towards the front. The middle of the race we got on the top and ran down people in front of us by four-tenths of a lap. That was what set us apart in that center section of the race because we could make some moves to get up towards the front. That put us in position to get good pit stops and everything that followed. Very last stop, we were one of the first teams to pit for four tires and I thought we’d be digging to the front and I got trapped in the middle. The 88 (Kelly Bires) barely got his nose outside of us coming to the green flag and that just trapped us in the middle and we had to fight back. We got through turn two and had a big run but they got the high line and got back around us. We’ll take an 11th-place finish, especially after coming out of Daytona. Our Aaron’s Dream Machine is pretty in the garage, no marks on it so that’s a good thing. We can make our cars better because they’re not on a wrecker. We’ll come back next week and try to do even better.”

Diamond-Waltrip Racing Stater Bros. 300 Qualifying Report from Auto Club Speedway

2010-02-20T22:24:00.000-08:00

NASCAR Nationwide Series qualifying for the Stater Bros. 300 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. is now complete.

Diamond-Waltrip Racing’s Trevor Bayne and the No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry qualified 10th with a time of 40.568 seconds. Joey Logano won the pole position with a time of 39.717 seconds.

Saturday Recap
- Trevor Bayne will line up 10th on the outside of Row 5 for today’s event.
- This is Bayne’s first top-10 qualifying effort of 2010 and the 10th out of 17 career starts.
- MWR’s David Reutimann is entered in the No. 10 Beringer Toyota Camry for Braun Racing. Reutimann will start 11th on the inside of Row 6.
- Joey Logano won the Coors Light Pole Award for the Stater Bros. 300 with a lap of 39.717, 181.283 mph.
- This is Logano’s eighth pole in 43 NNS races.
- Kyle Busch, Brian Scott, Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle round out the top-five.
- ESPN2, MRN and SiriusXM 128 will broadcast Saturday’s races beginning at 5 p.m. Eastern time.

TREVOR BAYNE, No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry: “The Aaron’s Dream Machine was pretty good during qualifying. The sun came out when we got ready to hit the track so the track lost some grip. The car got a little tight coming off turn 4, but I think a top 10 starting spot will keep us from getting into trouble.”

Diamond-Waltrip Racing Stater Bros. 300 Qualifying Report from Auto Club Speedway

2010-02-20T20:13:00.000-08:00

Bayne Qualifies 10th at Auto Club Speedway

2010-02-20T12:06:00.000-08:00

Watch Trevor Bayne's NASCAR Nationwide Series Commercial

2010-02-19T22:24:00.000-08:00

Trevor Bayne California Speedway Nationwide Preview

2010-02-16T22:25:00.000-08:00

CORNELIUS, N.C. — Trevor Bayne and the No. 99 Diamond-Waltrip Racing team endured a rough start to the 2010 season last week at Daytona when their race ended in a lap seven accident caused by another car. Bayne put those bad memories behind him as he prepares to celebrate his 19th birthday on Friday with a good performance in Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. It marks the second start on the two-mile oval for the Knoxville, Tenn., native who finished 19th on Oct. 10.

QUOTES

BAYNE ON FONTANA: “I got to run there last year for CJM Racing. I think it’s going to help me out that I am not going in there blind. I kind of know what to expect at California. I know what the car and the track are going to do as the race goes on. I know that you have to carry a lot of momentum there to run fast laps. It’s also kind of cool how you can feel the draft when there is a car beside you. At Fontana you can defiantly feel the aero and mechanical sides of the car.”

BAYNE ON DAYTONA: “It was a frustrating situation. However, we can’t start chasing our tails now . Daytona is a crap shoot anyway. You expect to go there and wreck and it’s an awesome day if you don’t. It’s just disappointing that we wrecked so early. I was hoping to be able to log some laps there but was only able to get seven under my belt. Kevin Manion (Bono) and Martin Truex Jr. both texted me after the race and said they wrecked at Daytona and won the championship. I still think we have a chance to win the championship. Every team is going to have a bad weekend. It’s the team who has the least amount of bad weeks that will bring home the championship.”

BAYNE ON EARNING REPECT: “It’s hard to get respect when you have rookie strips on your car. I think the best way to get respect from your competitors is to race them like you want to be raced. I think the more races I get under my belt the more respect that I will get from some of the veterans of the sport. “

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

· Bayne is the youngest driver competing full-time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series this season.

· Bayne will celebrate his 19th birthday Friday, Feb. 19. He was born in Spartanburg, S.C and moved to Knoxville, Tenn., when he was two months old.

· Last weekend at Daytona International Speedway, Bayne and the No. 99 Diamond-Waltrip Racing team had a car that could compete with the leaders. Unfortunately, early contact by the No. 40 of Mike Bliss sent the young rookie into the outside retaining wall and ended the day for the No. 99 team on lap seven. The team finished 41st in the final rundown.

· Last fall Bayne started the race at Auto Club Speedway in the 11th spot and finished 19th. He worked his way into the top 10 before contact by another competitor on pit road caused damage to the Toyota Camry and forced him to make several up scheduled pit stops.

· The 18-year-old driver’s has driven in 16 NNS races. He has one pole (Indianapolis Raceway Park), two top-10’s (IRP and Richmond) and has led total of 34 laps.

· Sirius XM listeners can tune into channel 128 every Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. to hear Bayne’s weekly visit on Sirius Speedway with Mike Bagley and Pete Pistone throughout the 2010 season.

Tough Start for Bayne, Diamond-Waltrip Racing at Daytona

2010-02-13T22:25:00.000-08:00

Trevor Bayne and the Diamond-Waltrip Racing team’s day ended early after contact by another competitor on lap seven. Bayne started the Drive4COPD 300 from Daytona International Speedway in 17th after rain cancelled qualifying Friday afternoon. He worked his way up to 15th before contact by the No. 40 of Mike Bliss sent him into the outside retaining wall. The incident caused major damage to the No. 99 machine and they were forced to end their day early. The No. 99 team finished the race in the 41st position.

DWR NNS Race Results
• Trevor Bayne, No. 99 Diamond-Waltrip Toyota Camry - Finished 41st

DWR Driver Standings
• Trevor Bayne, No. 99 Diamond-Waltrip Toyota Camry - 40 points, ranks 41st

DWR RACE NOTES:
• Tony Stewart won his fifth NNS race at Daytona
• Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Justin Alllgaier and Brian Vickers rounded out the top five
• The race featured 16 lead changes among 12 drivers
• The race was slowed by seven cautions for a total of 32 laps
• NASCAR estimated 80,000 race fans in attendance at DIS

DIAMOND-WALTRIP RACING NNS NOTES AND QUOTES:

Trevor Bayne, No. 99 Diamond-Waltrip Toyota
• Started 17th and finished 41st
• Raced into the top-15 before contact by the No. 40 of Mike Bliss
• Bayne and the No. 99 Toyota were unable to continue following the incident.

BAYNE QUOTE: ““I really don’t know. I hate that happened so early in the race. We were just riding. It was lap five or something and I got a big shove through the middle of turn three and four here, I got under the 7 (Danica Patrick), came down the frontstretch and I was still getting a huge push. I started waving off, checking up – I got shoved into the 15 (Michael Annett), still getting the push and then I get into the center of the corner and the push never stopped. I don’t know what happened with the 40 (Mike Bliss) car or what in the world was going on to be that aggressive this early in the race. I guess he was trying to push us to the lead on lap one. It’s disheartening for this team to see something like this happen. Sometimes we pray right before the race to keep us safe and that happened, but our prayer to win, sometimes that doesn’t happen. It was with all the right intentions. We have to stay strong here and fight back. We’ve got a long season ahead of us here. It’s unfortunate to see something like this happen this early in the season, this early in the first race. We’ll see what we can do with it.”

Tough Start for Bayne, Diamond-Waltrip Racing at Daytona

2010-02-13T14:29:00.001-08:00

MWR Daytona Nationwide Qualifying Report

2010-02-12T20:18:00.000-08:00

Rain cancelled qualifying for the NASCAR Nationwide Series Friday afternoon and the field will be set by the 2009 Owner point standings. Trevor Bayne and the Diamond-Waltrip Racing team will line up on the outside of row nine in the 17th position. Kyle Busch, the 2009 NNS champion, will start on the pole.

Friday Recap

• Trevor Bayne will line up 17th for Saturday’s event.
• ESPN2, MRN and SiriusXM 128 will broadcast Saturday’s races beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern time.

TREVOR BAYNE, No. 99 DIAMOND-WALTRIP Toyota Camry: “I was really looking forward to qualifying today and trying to grab our first pole of the 2010 season. However, your starting spot really isn’t that important at Daytona. You can start second and fall back to 20th in just one lap. I think we have a really good car for the race tomorrow and I think we are really good in the draft. I just hope my rookie strips do not scare some of the veterans from working with me.”

POS DRIVER
1 Kyle Busch
2 Carl Edwards
3 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
4 Kevin Harvick
5 John Wes Townley
6 Joey Logano
7 Brian Vickers
8 Kasey Kahne
9 Colin Braun*
10 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.*
11 James Buescher*
12 Justin Allgaier
13 Steve Wallace
14 Scott Lagasse Jr.
15 Danica Patrick
16 Brendan Gaughan
17 Trevor Bayne
18 Michael Annett
19 Kenny Wallace
20 Tony Raines
21 Mike Bliss
22 Jason Leffler
23 Mike Wallace
24 Brad Keselowski
25 Michael McDowell
26 Eric McClure
27 Robert Richardson Jr.
28 Brian Keselowski
29 Josh Wise
30 Joe Nemechek
31 Greg Biffle
32 Tony Stewart
33 Jeff Green
34 Brad Teague
35 Chrissy Wallace
36 Danny Efland
37 Brian Scott
38 Johnny Sauter
39 Scott Riggs
40 Morgan Shepherd
41 Stanton Barrett
42 Bobby Gerhart
43 Paul Menard

Trevor Bayne Daytona Nationwide Preview

2010-02-09T22:26:00.000-08:00

CORNELIUS, N.C. — Trevor Bayne will make his first career start at the famed Daytona International Speedway in the Camping World 300 on Saturday. The 18-year-old driver has never raced on a track bigger than two-miles and knows he has something to prove to his team, competitors and fans. Additionally, the newly-formed Diamond-Waltrip Racing will make its NASCAR Nationwide Series debut this weekend.

QUOTES

BAYNE ON DAYTONA: “Daytona is a place where every kid dreams of racing. It’s going to be a different experience for me. I know I have a lot to learn when I get on the track Wednesday. I think the biggest thing I am going to have to work on is drafting. I plan to get behind some of the veterans and learn from them. My main goal is to survive. If I have to push someone across the line and finish second instead of wrecking that will be fine with me.”

BAYNE ON 2010: “Our ultimate goal is to win the NNS championship for Diamond-Waltrip Racing. I would also love to grab a win or two in the first handful of races. My other goal is to gain the respect of my competitors. I want them to know that I’m going to race them like they race me. I want them to respect the No. 99 machine when they are racing around me. I also want the NNS garage to know we are a force to be reckoned with this year and we plan to be racing for a win in the final laps of every race.”

CO-OWNER MICHAEL WALTRIP ON BAYNE: “Trevor has been fun. He just got in the car last year and started running up front. He kind of reminds me of when Martin (Truex Jr.) jumped onto the scene. His youthfulness, enthusiasm and willingness to listen and learn brings a special spark to this team. He wants to know what he is suppose to do in each situation. He wants the respect of his competitors.

“Also, for being 18-years-old he is respectful and appreciates what we’re doing for him. He has the respect for the sport and life in general which shows a whole lot for the way he was raised. I think his mom and dad should be very proud of him. We’re also very proud to be associated with him and we think he’s capable of competing for a win every weekend.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST

· Bayne will make his 16th NNS start this weekend at DIS. He has a seventh-place finish at Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP) and at Richmond International Speedway to call a career-best.

· Last season, the Knoxville, Tenn., native had an impressive 10.1 starting average. The young phenom only started two of his 15 races outside the top 12. He grabbed his first career NNS pole position at IRP in only his seventh career start.

· The 18-year-old driver’s only experience on a superspeedway came last season when he tested the new NNS car at Talladega Superspeedway. The Knoxville, Tenn., native was one of eight drivers to participate in this test. The majority of the time the teams worked on single-car runs, but Bayne was able to get in a little drafting practice during the end of the test session.

· Sirius XM listeners can tune into channel 128 every Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. to hear Bayne’s weekly visit on Sirius Speedway with Mike Bagley and Pete Pistone throughout the 2010 season.

Media Day Quotes - TREVOR BAYNE, No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Diamond-Waltrip Racing

2010-02-05T05:36:00.000-08:00

Are you excited to start your season?

“We couldn’t be happier to be here in Daytona. We’re a little bit nervous, I’ve never been to Daytona before so we have a whole new learning game in front of us. I think we can do it. It’s going to be good to get out here and do some drafting and learn this new ball game. This is the kind of racing that I’ve always looked forward to doing and just haven’t had the opportunity to do it because of my age. Now that I’m 18, I can finally race here at Daytona and we’re really excited.”

Does the ability to show your personality give you an advantage in this sport?

“You have to be so well-rounded in this sport. I still have things to work on, but fortunately I’ve been able to speak a little bit and drive too -- so that’s been good for us. It’s not just driving anymore. You see these drivers that are all out running eight miles a day like Jimmie Johnson, getting in shape and they’re working in front of a camera. You have to be well- rounded in this sport for sure.”

Do you worry about your personality changing as you progress in NASCAR?

“It’s something you have to keep in check. It’s definitely easy to fall into that hole, being in Mooresville (N.C.), that’s ‘Race City’ so that’s all you see all the time is racing, racing, racing. I love to go back home to Knoxville (Tenn.) and keep grounded. Actually, I got baptized this off-season and I think that was something that I was really looking forward to and finally got that done and got the weight off my shoulders. You have to stay grounded and keep the same person that you are. It’s easy to be in that cookie-cutter mold, but I think different people are what make this sport. When you look at Motocross or anything like that, they’re not all the same dudes getting off the dirt bike and we don’t want to be all the same person getting out of that race car. I think NASCAR has something to offer for everybody -- there’s a driver for everybody out there, for sure.”

How competitive is the Nationwide Series?

“I think your top-15 (teams) in the Nationwide Series are really, really stout. Whether it’s Nationwide drivers or Cup drivers because of the team support that they have. Those cars are so good -- you’ve got Joe Gibbs, Penske, Paul Menard is running full-time this year -- you’ve got some really good teams and hopefully we can be grouped into that category with Diamond-Waltrip Racing. Hopefully, we can be one of those teams that they know they have to watch out for each and every weekend. That’s our goal is to be a top-five team. I think we have the resources and the capability, now we just have to do it and try to get better every weekend. By the end of the year I would like to say that we are a top-three team every week. I think going into the season we may be top-10. It’s kind of hard to say because we changed so much in the off- season with engineers and tire guys -- we tried to make the best group that we possibly could. Jerry Baxter is still the crew chief on the car and I’m still the driver. Hopefully, we can keep working together like we did last year and just get better every race.”

What is it like to work for Michael Waltrip?

“He’s a great guy and he’s really good with sponsors and that’s really important in this day and time. That’s something I want to learn from him every week -- how to keep these sponsors happy and he definitely knows that. Michael Waltrip Racing had 100 percent renewal this season -- they brought back every single sponsor they had last year and that’s huge. I’ve never seen an owner more dedicated. He’s in the shop almost every single day. He works out with the drivers because he still has that mentality of a driver and I think that’s going to make him a really successful owner.”

Can you finish in the top-five in points?

“That’s our goal. We talked about it and Jerry (Baxter, crew chief) did an interview and he called me to tell me that he told them what our expectations were and that I needed to tell them the same. We both said top-five without even talking. In our minds, that was our goal. If you look at some of the teams that ran up there this year, I definitely think we’re on par with them, if not a little better. I think we can be up in the top-five by the end of the season.”

AARON’S, INC. ADDS SIX ADDITIONAL NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

2010-01-20T10:37:00.000-08:00

ATLANTA (Jan. 20, 2010) – Aaron’s, Inc. announced today it will add six more Sprint Cup races, plus the Sprint All-Star Race to its 2010 schedule. The additional races increase Aaron’s total to 24 races as the primary sponsor of the Michael Waltrip Racing No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine driven by David Reutimann.

The six additional point races coming in the first half of the season include: Auto Club Speedway, Dover International Speedway, Pocono Raceway, Michigan International Speedway, Infineon Raceway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

“We are pleased that Aaron’s expanded our involvement with David and the No. 00 team this season,” said Robin Loudermilk, Chief Executive Officer for Aaron’s, Inc. “We have developed an excellent relationship with David, Michael Waltrip and this organization over the years and they have continued to delivere solid results for Aaron’s. Adding these six races reinforces our commitment to this team and confidence in this sport. We look forward to another exciting year on the track.”

Reutimann said solid sponsorship is one of the most important ingredients to success in 2010.

“I feel like a Lucky Dog every time I get to work with the folks at Aaron’s,” said Reutimann. “They’re a great group of people and we have an amazing relationship that continues to grow. I take a lot of pride in my relationship with Aaron’s and I am excited to have Aaron’s and Lucky Dog on board for six more races. Michael introduced me to Aaron’s and into the MWR organization and I’m very thankful for all the people that support me. In 2010 we plan to reward that support.”

“I'm so lucky to have great partners like Aaron’s. We asked them to step up and they did again!,” said team co-owner Michael Waltrip. “We've been fortunate to win races with them over the years. Aaron’s business has grown exponentially since we joined forces in 2000. We couldn’t be prouder of their continued support of our organization and look forward to the relationship for years to come.”

Aaron’s is in the second year of a three-year Sprint Cup sponsorship agreement with Reutimann and MWR after serving as the team’s Nationwide sponsor since 2000.

In addition to Reutimann’s 24 Sprint Cup races, Aaron’s plans to sponsor nine races on the No. 99 Toyota for newly-formed Diamond-Waltrip Racing and 18-year-old Trevor Bayne in the Nationwide Series. Aaron’s will also sponsor Waltrip’s return to the Nationwide Series at the Aaron’s 312 at Talladega Superspeedway on April 24.

About Aaron’s, Inc.
Aaron’s, Inc. (NYSE: AAN), the nation’s leader in the sales and lease ownership and specialty retailing of residential and office furniture, consumer electronics, home appliances and accessories, has more than 1,695 Company-operated and franchised stores in 48 states and Canada. Founded in 1955 by entrepreneur R. Charles Loudermilk, Sr. and headquartered in Atlanta, Aaron’s has been publicly traded since 1982. For more information, visit www.aaronsinc.com.

###

NASCAR TO REPRESENT MICHAEL WALTRIP RACING LICENSING BUSINESS

2010-01-13T09:13:00.000-08:00

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Jan. 13, 2010) – NASCAR and Michael Waltrip Racing announced today a new partnership in which NASCAR will become the sole licensing representative for the race team. The agreement includes all driver marks within the Michael Waltrip Racing team, including David Reutimann, Martin Truex Jr., Michael Waltrip, as well as young future stars Trevor Bayne and Ryan Truex.

With this agreement, NASCAR’s licensing business, headquartered out of Charlotte, N.C. at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, will utilize its assets to grow the licensed product business and provide retailers with new and more comprehensive product options for the MWR team, including track merchandise opportunities, e-commerce channels and national retail outlets.

“The depth of NASCAR’s licensing group is only matched by its collective experience,” said Ty Norris, Vice President and General Manager of Michael Waltrip Racing. “The licensing and merchandising world is dramatically changing for teams and drivers, and this partnership has positioned MWR properly for the future. Our on-track success has led to off-track demand. This strategic move will increase the offerings and value to our fans.”
NASCAR will also provide retail development, new business, marketing, public relations and media assets in expanding the licensed product portfolio that includes apparel, collectibles, novelty, gifts, headwear and other non-traditional licensing concepts.

“NASCAR is very pleased to have the opportunity to work with Michael Waltrip Racing. We feel confident that we can leverage our resources to provide them with a comprehensive solution that addresses all of their licensing needs, including a complete merchandise and retail strategy, as well as additional exposure for their team and sponsors,” said Blake Davidson, managing director of licensed products for NASCAR. “There is a ton of opportunity with Michael Waltrip Racing in 2010, especially given Michael’s historic career and their strong driver pool of David, Martin, Trevor and Ryan.”

About NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for one of North America’s premier sports. NASCAR is the No. 1 spectator sport – holding 17 of the top 20 highest attended sporting events in the U.S. and is the No. 2 rated regular season sport on television. NASCAR races are broadcast in more than 150 countries and 20 languages. NASCAR fans are the most brand loyal in all of sports, and as a result more Fortune 500 companies participate in NASCAR than any other sport.

NASCAR consists of three national series (the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series,) four regional series, and one local grassroots series, as well as two international series. Also, part of NASCAR is Grand-Am Road Racing, known for its competition on road courses with multiple classes of cars. NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races at 100 tracks in more than 30 U.S states, Canada and Mexico. Based in Daytona Beach (Fla.), NASCAR has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Charlotte (N.C.), Concord (N.C.), Bentonville (Ark.), Mexico City and Toronto.

About Michael Waltrip Racing From its 140,000-square-foot shop in Cornelius, N.C., Michael Waltrip Racing fields Toyota Camrys in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for Waltrip, David Reutimann and Martin Truex Jr. as well as a NASCAR Nationwide entry for Trevor Bayne and a Camping World East Series entry for Ryan Truex. The team also maintains JTG-Daugherty’s No. 47 Toyota Camry driven by Marcos Ambrose. MWR began more than a decade ago as a modest family-owned NASCAR Nationwide Series team in Sherrills Ford, N.C. and has posted five NASCAR Nationwide victories. In 2007, MWR served as a flagship team for Toyota Racing Development, USA’s entry into both NASCAR Sprint Cup and NASCAR Nationwide competition. Reutimann earned MWR its first NASCAR Sprint Cup victory in May 2009 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. MWR announced the formation of Diamond-Waltrip Racing with majority owners Gary and Blake Bechtel for the 2010 season. The NASCAR Nationwide team will help develop young drivers for MWR’s Cup effort.

Michael Waltrip Racing Wraps Two-Day Test with Salo and Trulli

2009-11-18T13:16:00.000-08:00

Michael Waltrip Racing officials were pleased with the outcome of a two-day test with Formula One drivers Jarno Trulli and Mika Salo behind the wheel of the No. 55 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota at New Smyrna Speedway in New Smyrna, Florida.

"Both Jarno and Mika have done really well," said Steve Hallam, Executive Vice President of Competition for Michael Waltrip Racing and a 27-year Formula One veteran. “They have both delivered competitive lap times. They bring a different perspective to our ears. We are able to hear about the cars in a different way. Also, Trevor (Bayne) being here is very useful because he is articulate and able to relate their experiences to reality. It has been a really positive test and has brought good value to us."

"They wanted to test our NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota and see what our sport is all about," Waltrip said. "They did an outstanding job and were turning some pretty quick times. We were just as serious about this two-day test as they were. We brought down an entire crew. Toyota, our team and engineers fully supported this effort. We were 100% committed to giving it our all just like we would at any of our tests.”

On Tuesday, Diamond-Waltrip NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Trevor Bayne climbed into the No. 55 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota seat to shake down the car before Salo took to the wheel for the first time during his one day of testing. For over two years, Salo searched for an opportunity to test a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car. Ironically, Salo knew MWR co-owner Rob Kauffman for a little over a year, but what he did not know was that he co-owned multiple NASCAR teams until recently.

“Thanks to Rob, I was able to test a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car for the first time in my life,” said Salo, who turned 208 laps in the No. 55 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota. “I was very comfortable out there and had a lot of fun. I was quick and I know that if I had today to test, I would be a lot quicker. Now, I want to have 42 other cars around me and see what it is really like.”

“I have never raced on an oval before and New Smyrna is a good place to do my first run,” Salo said. “I would be scared if we were at a high speed circuit. I was just trying to get the feel of the car with the changes they were making. At the beginning, I was running to get comfortable. The car is a lot heavier and has a lot of power. I was comfortable in the car and that’s basically what I wanted. They made different changes. They changed springs, bars and so forth. We tried different things so I could understand what everything does.”

As Salo tested, Trulli observed. Midday the two were surprised when they had a visit from one of the locals - - Mark Martin.

“All of a sudden, Mark Martin was here at New Smyrna,” Salo said. “He sat down in front of me and I listened. I learned some things from him during his time here. I also learned some things from Michael, David (Reutimann) and Marcos (Ambrose) when I attended the race at Phoenix International Raceway.”

Trulli turned his first laps Wednesday morning. Climbing out of the car for the first time he said he was shocked by the differences between Formula One and NASCAR.

"In the beginning, it was a big shock for me," said Trulli, who turned nearly 300 laps today. "It was the first time in my life I was leaving pit road in a closed cockpit. I needed to get used to that feeling of not having my head out. I'm used to being in a stiff car on the ground. The Cup car moves around a lot. It requires skill, feeling and understanding. There are so many different factors and you need to be a smart person to be aware of what is happening around you."

By the one hour lunch break, Trulli had a better feel for the NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry.

"Running here at New Smyrna is easy and very exciting, but racing here might be difficult," Trulli said. "It would take a lot of experience. I prefer a high speed circuit, but at least I have a taste and know the feeling. Today, was important for me to understand what I have to do to get better. In driving the car, I must understand the car. I have to trust it. The center and exit of the corner are important. Braking is crucial here."

Trulli is thankful to MWR and Toyota for the opportunity and admitted his interest was sparked when Juan Pablo Montoya made his move to NASCAR.

"I didn't know about NASCAR until Juan Pablo Montoya made his move," Trulli said. "The world has changed and everyone is looking at different Series. I haven't signed with anyone yet and I've talked to teams. My door is open right now."

MWR benefited just as much from the test as did Salo and Trulli.

"We have two enormously talented drivers that showed interest in trying NASCAR," said Ty Norris, Vice President and General Manager for Michael Waltrip Racing. "MWR wanted to participate because we are always interested in recruiting talent and we have a great desire to expand to a fourth NASCAR Sprint Cup team in the near future. We know the talent pool currently racing in NASCAR, so it is of great interest to us to evaluate talent from other racing disciplines. It just adds another international element to our organization.”

Bayne, Aaron’s Racing Team Take Top-15 Finish at Phoenix

2009-11-16T07:07:00.000-08:00

Event/Date: Able Body Labor 200/Nov. 14, 2009

Venue: Phoenix International Raceway – Avondale, Ariz.

Starting Position: 37^th

Finishing Position: 15^th

Avondale, Ariz. (Nov. 14, 2009) – Trevor Bayne and the No. 99 Aaron’s team overcame a poor qualifying effort to finish 15^th in the Able Body Labor 250 at Phoenix International Raceway.

While the end result just missed the mark in terms of expectations, the 15^th-place effort earned the Knoxville, Tenn., native his seventh top-15 finish in only 15 starts.

On Saturday morning, Bayne announced he would drive the No. 99 NASCAR Nationwide Series Toyota fulltime in 2010 for the newly-formed Diamond-Waltrip Racing.

The good news off the track didn’t transform to good news on the track when Bayne struggled in qualifying and started the 200-lap event 37^th. However, the young driver didn’t let the poor qualifying effort discourage him as he picked up nine spots before the first caution flag flew on lap seven.

He hit pit road two laps later for four fresh Goodyears, fuel and a minor chassis adjustment to help with the tight-handling conditions. The 18-year-old driver restarted 33 on lap 12.

Bayne began picking his competitors off one-by-one and by lap 37 he was listed in the 13^th spot. His forward progress came to a halt when tight-handling conditions returned to the No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota.

The second caution flag of the day flew on lap 77 for debris. Veteran crew chief Jerry Baxter summoned his driver to pit road for another round of adjustments to hopefully cure the tight-handling conditions. A solid pit stop by the over-the-wall crew allowed Bayne to restart 10^th on lap 83.

The rookie driver worked his way up to the ninth before the tight-handling conditions returned. Over the final 100 laps Bayne raced in and around the top 15. The young phenom crossed the finish line 15^th in his final start for 2009.

Carl Edwards grabbed his fifth NNS victory followed by Kevin Harvick, Reed Sorrenson, Clint Bowyer and Brad Keselowski.

Next weekend, NASCAR’s junior circuit will close out the 2009 season at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

ESPN2’s live coverage of the 300-lap event will begin Saturday, November 21 at 4 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The race will also be broadcast on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying will air live the same day beginning at 11:30 a.m. EST on SPEED. MRN and Sirius XM Satellite Radio will also provide live updates of time trials.

TREVOR BAYNE QUOTE:

“We got to pass a lot of cars, that’s for sure. We started 37th after qualifying and going out first, that killed us. I love this race track. It’s one of the most fun places I’ve been just because you get to drive it. It’s not riding around holding the steering wheel. We had a pretty good car at the beginning. We followed the 18 (Kyle Busch) and the 29 (Clint Bowyer) all the way up through the field. Once we got to about 12th we leveled off with everybody. We kept trying to adjust it and made some good adjustments and we made some bad adjustments and unfortunately some bad adjustments were at the very end. We had to try something, we were maintaining where we were at and we needed to try moving forward. We just lost too much rear grip and fell back a couple extra spots. I think if we would have left it alone we could have stayed in the top 10, but you know you have to try stuff. You have to keep moving forward because you know everyone else is going to be. It was a good run, I guess. Good job in the pits. The car was halfway clean until about 20 (laps) to go and then they got in the right side of us in the wreck in turn four. It was a decent day and we learned a lot.”

Good Weekend for Waltrip at Phoenix Despite Being Caught Up In Wreck

2009-11-16T06:02:00.000-08:00

AVONDALE, Ariz. – Michael Waltrip Racing had a prosperous weekend at Phoenix International Raceway. The organization announced contract extensions with Toyota and Best Western along with a multi-year partnership with Gary and Blake Bechtel that puts driver Trevor Bayne in the No. 99 Nationwide Series Toyota in 2010. The same held true for driver Michael Waltrip as his team had solid practice sessions and an 11^th-place starting spot for Sunday’s main event. His NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota was fast in the race but, a wreck on the restart on lap 119 ended the team’s chance for a top-15 finish. The two-time Daytona 500 champion was able to get back on track after repairs to finish in 36^th position.

“It was a great week for MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing),” said Waltrip. “We announced our Toyota extension and Best Western coming back to our team as a sponsor. I’m really proud of the effort our team put together, but disappointed in the end result, obviously.

“We lost power steering so we pitted twice during the caution to try and fix it. It put us midway in the pack. The guys in front of me messed up and got together. I slowed down and because I still didn’t have any power steering, I tried to turn right at the last second to miss the 96 (Erik Darnell), but I couldn’t turn. A couple guys passed me and it caused them to get in it. Ty, my spotter, said it wouldn’t have mattered if I had power steering or not. I was doomed. That’s what happens when you get caught in the back. It’s a shame, but the NAPA Toyota was strong.”

Martin Truex Jr., who will be driving the No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota next season, led the field to the green flag. Waltrip was in close pursuit during the first green-flag sequence. His only complaint was the right-side tires had too much air in them. Waltrip ran comfortably in the top 15 before making his first stop for four tires and fuel on lap 70.

Not long into the next run, Waltrip lost his power steering. It was a handful, but he persevered until the first caution of the day was thrown for debris. Crew chief Gene Nead brought Waltrip in for service on laps 116 and 117. The team put on four fresh tires and added fuel. The second stop saw the crew add power steering fluid. Waltrip returned to the track in 24^th position.

The race returned to green on lap 119, but the restart was anything but clean when Brad Keselowski was hit from behind. Waltrip had nowhere to go and was collected in the mess. The NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota sustained significant damage to the front of the car and was forced to go behind the wall for repairs. The NAPA team’s hard work enabled Waltrip to refire the engine on lap 171.

For the remainder of the race, the NAPA Toyota was on track going from 39^th to a 36^th-place finish.

As for Waltrip’s teammates, David Reutimann and Marcos Ambrose, their finishes reflected the type of car Waltrip had before his accident. They finished 10^th and 11^th, respectively,

Meanwhile, points leader Jimmie Johnson rebounded from last weekend’s crash to win his third victory of the season. His lead over teammate Mark Martin is 108 points heading into the final race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Following Johnson to the finish line to round out the top 10 were Jeff Burton, Denny Hamlin, Mark Martin, Martin Truex Jr., Kurt Busch, Clint Bowyer, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jeff Gordon and David Reutimann.

Next Sunday, it’s NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It gets underway at 2:30 p.m. ET on ABC, MRN and Sirius XM Satellite Radio.

Trevor Bayne to Drive the No. 99 Diamond-Waltrip Racing Toyota in 2010

2009-11-16T06:00:00.000-08:00

PHOENIX, Ariz. (November 14, 2009) – Diamond-Waltrip Racing (DWR) announced today that Trevor Bayne has signed a multi-year contract to drive the No. 99 Toyota Camry in the NASCAR Nationwide Series beginning in 2010. Additionally, MWR has signed a contract with Bayne to run a minimum of seven NASCAR Sprint Cup races in 2011 with an eye on full-time Sprint Cup competition by 2012.

Currently, Diamond-Waltrip Racing has limited sponsorship from Aaron’s for the 2010 season and is still searching for additional sponsor support for the remaining races.

“We are extremely excited to have Trevor behind the wheel of the No. 99 Toyota,” said Gary Bechtel, co-owner of DWR. “Even though the No. 99 team is not fully sponsored, we are committed to running Trevor in the entire season so he can compete for the championship. He has shown a lot of promise this season and we expect him to be one of the frontrunners next year.”

“From the first lap he took in our car this past summer, we knew Trevor was special,” remarked Michael Waltrip. “Thanks to Gary and Blake Bechtel, we now have the opportunity to show the rest of the world what we already know about Trevor – he is young, smart, talented and will be an impact player for MWR and Diamond-Waltrip Racing. Some sponsor is going to want to grow through the ranks with him and we’re ready to deliver a winner.”

The Knoxville, Tenn., native joins DWR with an impressive résumé that includes more than 20 championships in go karts, Allison Legacy Series and the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series.

Bayne’s on track success continued when Dale Earnhardt Inc. signed the youngster to its driver development program in 2008. That year he began competing in the NASCAR Camping World East where he grabbed his first series win at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway on July 21. He went on to earn six top-five and seven top-10 finishes and finished fourth in the NASCAR Camping World East point standings.

In 2009, the young phenom debuted in the NASCAR Nationwide Series at Bristol Motor Speedway in March where he finished 23^rd. Since jumping onto the Nationwide Series scene, Bayne has grabbed one pole (Indianapolis Raceway Park), two top-10 and six top-15 finishes.

“This is what I have worked my entire life for,” remarked Bayne. “I am excited to finally make it to this level of competition. I have been dreaming of this moment since I began racing go karts. I am very grateful to Gary and Blake Bechtel and the entire MWR organization for giving me this awesome opportunity. I can’t wait to get to Daytona next year to begin a race for the championship.”

Bayne and the new Diamond-Waltrip Racing team will begin their quest toward a NNS championship next year at Daytona International Speedway.

Gary and his Son Blake Bechtel Join Forces with MWR to Form Diamond-Waltrip Racing

2009-11-16T05:59:00.000-08:00

PHOENIX, Ariz. (November 14, 2009) – The principals of Diamond Ridge Motorsports and Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) announced today the formation of Diamond-Waltrip Racing which will enter a full-time NASCAR Nationwide Series team starting in 2010 for driver Trevor Bayne.

Diamond-Waltrip Racing, co-owned by majority owners, Gary and Blake Bechtel and owners, Michael Waltrip and Rob Kauffman, has purchased the assets and associated car owner benefits of Michael Waltrip Racing’s No. 99 Toyota Camry team. Drivers Scott Speed, Michael Waltrip, David Reutimann, Patrick Carpentier and Bayne have shared the No. 99 Camry this year. The No. 99 team’s best year was 2007 when Reutimann finished second in the Nationwide Series Driver points standings.

Diamond-Waltrip Racing will field its team for Bayne out of Michael Waltrip Racing’s Cornelius, N.C., facility and will continue to be managed by MWR personnel. The team has secured limited sponsorship and is seeking additional race sponsors for 2010.

“I am really excited to get back on the team ownership side with MWR,” said Bechtel. “MWR seems to be one of the fastest growing and most successful teams right now in NASCAR. They have been able to prove their success on and off the race track and have excelled in sponsor relations.”

“The Nationwide team is very important to me because it started in my garage behind my house and it’s where I first developed my relationship with Aarons,” stated Waltrip. “Having someone as passionate about that team as me is why I’m honored to have Gary and Blake Bechtel as my partners. They are all in for this team’s success and have given us the opportunity to race Trevor Bayne full-time. This is just another way Michael Waltrip Racing is securing its future with great sponsors and partnerships.”

Bechtel jumped onto the NASCAR scene in 1990 when he formed Diamond Ridge Motorsports. Bobby Hamilton was slated as the first driver for Bechtel’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team. His first race was in the 1990 Coca-Cola 600.

Bechtel’s success on the race track didn’t come until he started his NASCAR Nationwide Series program in 1995. Steve Grissom was tabbed as Bechtel’s first Nationwide Series driver. In only 15 races, he notched two wins, four top-five and seven top-10 finishes.

The success continued over the next five years. All told, he earned 10 wins, 30 top-five and 54 top-10 finishes in 174 NASCAR Nationwide Series starts. At the end of the 1999, Bechtel sold his entire operation to Joe Gibbs and moved to California.

The new Diamond-Waltrip Racing team will make its debut next season during the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. Bayne will be behind the wheel of the DWR No. 99 Toyota machine as he makes his bid for the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series championship.