In a wild Sunday afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway, Trevor Bayne was able to hang tough and salvage a 12th-place finish despite being caught up in two cautions.
“We were making a lot of gains on the car and getting better, and we got back on the lead lap and I was really pumped,” Bayne said following the race. “That restart, I saw them all sliding and checking up, and the 11 turned and I got slowed down, but they tried to drive through the smoke behind us and wrecked us. We got damage, but fortunately the car was still okay after that. To finish 12th after being involved in two cautions and taking damage, I’ll take that result.”
After rolling off 13th in a solid qualifying effort, the nose of the No. 6 Performance Plus Ford Fusion stayed clean throughout the first stage, ending the segment 17th due to a tight-handling car. After going a lap down to the leader, the Knoxville, Tennessee, native finished stage two in the 14th position earning the free pass position to get back on the lead lap.
Just after the restart, Bayne got caught up in a multi-car accident on lap 178, suffering left side damage. A red flag was displayed allowing the team to evaluate the damage and make a game plan once the red flag was lifted. Once lifted, the crew worked feverishly to repair the damage on the Performance Plus Ford sending Bayne out in the 18th position.
The Roush Fenway Racing driver had worked his way up inside the top-15 before being collected in another on-track incident which sent his Ford spinning through the grass on the front stretch.
Despite the two accidents, Bayne and the team battled back to earn a 12th place finish; his best finish of the 2018 season.
Bayne and the No. 6 team return to action next weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Food City 500 on Sunday, April 15. Race coverage begins at 2 p.m. ET on FOX, and can also be heard on PRN and NASCAR Sirius/XM radio channel 90.
RFR PR/Photo Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images
