Trevor Bayne Tag

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief FORT WORTH, Texas – Fate did not play in the hands of Trevor Bayne on Saturday night at Texas Motor Speedway. Bayne refused to pit during a sequence of green flag stops, inheriting the lead on lap 260 and throwing a strategic wrench in an otherwise uneventful race to that point. The Roush Fenway Racing driver led 12 laps before the relinquishing the lead to a race-dominant Martin Truex Jr. Tire wear was at a premium at the 1.5-mile oval, with many teams electing to pitRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service It’s a home game for the Wood Brothers. But the April 3 STP 500 is a home game the Wood Brothers haven’t experienced as a full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team with a single driver since Ken Schrader filled the seat of the vaunted No. 21 Ford in 2006. We’re talking about Martinsville, of course, the shortest track on the Sprint Cup circuit at .526 miles, the closest to the Wood Brothers’ family home in Stuart, Va., and the next race on the SprintRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer The last leg of the “NASCAR Goes West” tour at Auto Club Speedway proved to have mixed results for Roush Fenway Racing and it’s three drivers. Trevor Bayne was the star of qualifying for Roush Fenway in the Auto Club 400, posting a seventh place starting spot. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. qualified 18th, with Greg Biffle 22nd. The weekend quickly started going downhill for Biffle in Saturday’s final practice, where he slammed into Kyle Larson’s Chevrolet off of turn four with just 24 minutes left inRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service FONTANA, Calif. – Austin Dillon delivered a parting shot that turned out to be a called shot. After taking questions from reporters after Friday’s opening NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice at Auto Club Speedway, Dillon paused to watch the last minute of Middle Tennessee State’s upset victory over Michigan State in the NCAA basketball tournament. On his way out the door, Dillon was asked about his prospects for Sunday’s Auto Club 400 (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX) at the two-mile track. “Ask me tomorrowRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Atlanta Motor Speedway saw the dawning of a new competition package in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and after all was said and done it was Jimmie Johnson taking a late lead en route to winning and tying Dale Earnhardt with his 76th career victory. Without any more delay, here are some of my key takeaways from Sunday’s race. 1) Phenomenal Racing If you didn’t like what kind of racing was on display then there’s something wrong. The package complemented by lower downforce and greater tireRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor It’s no secret that Roush Fenway Racing has struggled mightily to rejoin the conversation of being one of NASCAR’s elite teams over the last couple of years. Roush was a perennial championship contending team year-in and year-out from the 1990s until the early 2010s. However, in the last two seasons the team has struggled to keep up with the powerhouse organizations in the sport: Hendrick, Penske, Gibbs and Stewart-Haas. The organization, which has seen its marquee drivers (Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards) jump ship inRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HAMPTON, Ga. – Kurt Busch fell just short of beating brother Kyle Busch on the track during Friday’s time trials at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Kyle Busch covered the 1.54-mile distance in 28.925 seconds 191.668 mph) in the money round of knockout qualifying for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (1 p.m. ET on FOX), beating his older brother by .013 seconds. But the reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota failed post-qualifying inspection, and his time was disallowed. ThatRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – In Saturday’s final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice for the Daytona 500 (on FOX at 1 p.m. ET), it was time for Greg Biffle to turn a few laps with his new race engine. Biffle and new crew chief Brian Pattie opted out of Friday’s two practice sessions, preferring to wait until Saturday for their final shakedown. “This is our first laps on our race engine and race gear and race driveshaft – all of our driveline components – soRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Roush Fenway Racing President Steve Newmark concedes that, in January, every executive of every organization competing in the NASCAR Spring Cup Series will be singing the same tune. In other words, in January, before any cars actually hit the race track, everyone is excited and optimistic about the coming season. This year, however, to hear the drivers and principals of Roush Fenway tell it, the happy talk isn’t just lip service. To be sure, Newmark’s attitude stood in stark contrast toRead More

At what point does a restart take place? This is the question running through my mind as I attempted to digest what has taken place at Talladega Superspeedway at the end of NASCAR’s Camping World 500. A caution came out for Jamie McMurray blowing an engine and the field was lined up for a green/white/checkered finish. The difference was that NASCAR had stated heading into the week leading up to Talladega that there would only be one attempt while other races had three, due to the nature of restrictor-plate racing.Read More