| DRIVER | Trevor Bayne |
| CAR | #21 Ford Fusion |
| SPONSOR | Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Centers |
| CREW CHIEF | Donnie Wingo |
| Team | Wood Brothers Racing |
| HOMETOWN | Knoxville, Tenn. |
| BIRTHDAY | Feb. 19, 1991 |
Hollywood couldn’t write a script this good. It goes like this:
A kid who turns 20 years old the day before the biggest NASCAR race of the season has made only one previous start at the sport’s highest level. He’s landed a ride driving for one of the most storied teams and gets a vote of confidence from a four-time champion who decides to work with him during one of the mid-week qualifying races. That helps get him noticed so when race day rolls around, everyone knows he’s fast and wants to work with him.
The kid spends most of the day pushing his fellow competitors until the final two laps when he finds himself in the lead with all of the other drivers pursuing him. He holds them all off and wins the race with thousands screaming in the grandstands and millions more doing the same from their homes while watching it on national television.
That’s the true story of how Trevor Bayne won the 2011 Daytona 500 for the Wood Brothers and set the tone for one of the most memorable seasons in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history.
Bayne basked in the glow of winning “The Great American Race” as he appeared on national television shows and rode the media wave that accompanies stardom. He was a breath of fresh air and gave the sport a needed jolt among younger viewers.
Even though Bayne was not eligible for the championship in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series since he was driving a limited schedule and competing full-time for Roush Fenway Racing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, it didn’t stop him from being one of the most popular drivers at the track.
The only thing that really slowed him down in 2011 was a mysterious illness that may have been triggered by a spider bite, forcing him into the hospital, where he stayed and missed the next six weeks of action. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. filled in for him in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Motorcraft Ford Fusion at Charlotte in May, but the time off took him out of contention for the Nationwide Series championship.
Still, Bayne persevered and managed a 15th-place finish at Talladega for his best Cup finish following Daytona, and won his first Nationwide Series race at Texas late in the year to clinch the manufacturer’s championship for Ford.
Overall, Bayne made 17 starts in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and 29 in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Despite missing five NNS races, he still managed to finish 11th with one win, five top-5 and 14 top-10 finishes.
Bayne’s rise to prominence in NASCAR happened seemingly overnight and after a hectic 2010 season that saw him change teams late in the year. He started the year with Diamond-Waltrip Racing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and was in the midst of a solid top-10 season when the team couldn’t guarantee him full sponsorship for 2011. It only took hours for Ford’s Jack Roush to ink him to a multi-year deal.
Bayne ran the final seven races under the Roush Fenway banner and ended up finishing seventh in the final NNS point standings. He made his first start for the team at Kansas and posted his best finish in the season finale Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway (fifth). Overall, he managed six top-five and 11 top-10 finishes while registering three poles. That marked his first full NASCAR season after competing in 15 events in 2009 with three different teams.
Bayne made his first NASCAR start at his home track – Bristol Motor Speedway – for car owner Jimmy Means at the age of 18. He started 26th and finished 23rd in that event, and parlayed that opportunity into 12 starts for Michael Waltrip and two for Bryan Mullet. He earned his first series pole at O’Reilly Raceway Park with Waltrip, which led to his first top-10 finish (seventh).
Bayne began racing at the age of five and rapidly started racking up trophies and championships. He was a go-kart wizard who won three world championships and more than 300 events in eight years before graduating to the Allison Legacy Series. Bayne was just as successful there, winning rookie of the year honors at the age of 13. In two seasons, he had 14 wins, 19 poles and 30 top-five finishes and came away with the 2005 series championship.
His next challenge was the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series Southern Division, where he was the youngest to win rookie of the year recognition at 15 years of age.
Bayne’s big NASCAR break came in 2008 when he was signed by Dale Earnhardt, Inc. as a development driver. He ran in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and recorded his first win at Thompson International Speedway in Connecticut en route to a fourth-place points finish at age 17.
A native of Knoxville, TN, he currently resides in Mooresville, NC.