A Sixth for the No. 6 at Bristol

Bristol, Tenn. – Returning to what he considers his “home track”, Trevor Bayne and the No.6 Ford EcoBoost team left Bristol Motor Speedway with another top-10 finish; the 14th of the season for the Tennessee native. Bayne ran consistently in the top-10 for the entirety of Friday night’s race at Bristol, eventually crossing the line in sixth.

“That’s better than the last time we were here,” said Bayne. “We want to get a win at this place and run top-five, but that’s as close as you can be to a top-five, I guess. We had to battle really, really hard tonight. I felt like defense most of the night, but we were good enough to hold them off and my guys did a great job in the pits.”

Starting eighth for Friday night’s race, Bayne and crew chief Mike Kelley were looking for a little redemption after a tough run in the spring for the team.

From the drop of the green flag Bayne went to work in front of his hometown crowd, reporting in that his car would tighten up on longer runs. Crew chief Mike Kelley was waiting for the first caution to make the adjustments needed for Bayne.

On lap 65 the yellow flew and Bayne was called into the pits. After four tires, two cans of fuel and a track bar adjustment, Bayne was sent out.

Bayne fought a tight race car until midway through the race, when Kelley took a big swing at the car under a yellow flag pit stop. Two rounds out, and left side tires only. The stop gained Bayne five positions on the track, moving him up to second.

Bayne reported in the adjustments had made the car too loose, but Kelley, a veteran crew chief, knew that the car would tighten up. Bayne lost several positions on the restart, but began his march back to the front once the car settled in.

The yellow flag flew once again on lap 158, which turned out to be the last time Kelley would get a chance to work on the car for his young driver. A track bar adjustment and four tires and two cans of fuel was the call.

Bayne continued to battle traffic and a tight racecar until the checkers flew, finishing in the sixth position.

“Mike Kelley worked on a package here this time that would turn and it actually did, so we’re going to get it better next time,” said Bayne. “We were still too tight there and think we were on the splitter, but this Ford EcoBoost Mustang was definitely an improvement from last time and we can work from that.”