Trevor Bayne came to Daytona International Speedway for February’s Daytona 500 with a soon to be 20-year-old rookie’s modest goals: run all the laps, stay out of trouble and post the best possible finish.
Bayne of course did much, much more than that, becoming the youngest winner of NASCAR’s biggest race in just his second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start, going from virtual unknown to stardom in just under four hours.
For Bayne – fairly or unfairly – the pressure is on to prove he belongs in the upper echelon of contenders to win Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola. Was February’s performance a matter of skill meeting opportunity or the randomness of right place, right time?
In February, his Wood Brothers team had a guaranteed owner spot in the Daytona 500. That won’t be the case this week. Bayne must make the field on speed, always a roll of the dice proposition in which factors outside the driver or team’s control – say a cut tire – can be the difference between racing and going home.
Since then, Bayne’s season has been one of extremes. Health issues, which sidelined Bayne from competition for more than a month, and his team’s part-time schedule haven’t produced any sort of rhythm.
In the eight races following Daytona, Bayne has logged three top-20 finishes, his best a 16th in the team’s most recent start several weeks ago at Michigan International Speedway. He’s finished three of nine races on the lead lap.
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