NASCAR Sprint Cup - Bayne, Motorcraft/Quick Lane Crew Score A Solid 17th At Texas

Fort Worth, April 10, 2011: After stumbling a bit in the weeks following their Daytona 500 victory, Trevor Bayne and the crew of his No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion turned in a solid performance in Saturday’s Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Bayne finished 17th in a race dominated by Ford Fusions as Roush Fenway Racing’s Matt Kenseth led the most laps in winning the race and five of the top seven finishing positions went to Ford drivers.

Eddie Wood, co-owner of the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion, said the entire Wood Brothers team had a race to be proud of.

“It was a really good night,” Wood said. “We had great pit stops and gained positions on every stop. [Crew chief] Donnie Wingo had a good race strategy, and Trevor drove a smart race.

“We needed a good solid night to get back to where we need to be, and we got it.”

Bayne, racing for the first time at a track where he’d driven a Sprint Cup car before, showed the same maturity that played a key role in his Daytona 500 victory. He ran hard when the situation called for it and backed off when he was in vulnerable positions.

He skillfully avoided the race’s worst crash, on Lap 215, when Martin Truex Jr., Mark Martin and Regan Smith crashed on the backstretch. Bayne, running just behind the three drivers in the crash, steered his way through the spinning cars and escaped without damage.

Bayne also got on and off pit road smoothly and without mistakes.

“Trevor drove a really good race, just like the first time he was here,” Wood said.

“We were a little free all night,” Wood said. “But Donnie and the crew got it better and better as the race went on.”

The strong run at Texas couldn’t have come at a better time as Bayne and the Wood Brothers team now head to Talladega Superspeedway, the sister track to Daytona International Speedway, for the first restrictor-plate race since the Daytona 500.

Bayne will be among the favorites there based on his and his team’s performance in the draft at Daytona in February.

“We’re back where we need to be,” Wood said.