Pocono, Pa. – Trevor Bayne knew it was going to be a long shot to pull an upset win in Sunday’s Axalta “We Paint Winners 400” at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, but the Roush Fenway Racing driver was still hopeful to maneuver a top-20 finish a day after winning in his ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards debut.
On Sunday, the Knoxville, Tennessee native fell four positions short of his goal, continuing to struggle with the handling of his race car to finish 24th, his fifth top-25 finish of the season.
“We got through it and that was the main part for our first run here at Pocono,” said Bayne. “I felt at times we had a really good car and then the sun came out at the end and I just got way
too tight off of turn three. I was really fast through one and really fast through the tunnel turn and I’d get to three and it would just give up the nose, so I couldn’t make passes.
Bayne drove Cunningham Motorsports to their third ARCA victory of the season Saturday after starting on the pole in a backup car, after Roush Fenway Racing development driver Kyle Weatherman crashed Bayne’s primary car during testing Wednesday.
While Bayne said he learned a lot about Pocono’s unique characteristics from the ARCA race, he kept reality in check of what his Cup team has been able to deliver on Sunday afternoons.
“Early in the race I thought we had a top-15 car and Logano ran behind us for a while and they got their car better and were able to finish fourth, so if we could get on a roll like that it would be nice. But, overall, we kept a clean car and for the first time here I learned a ton. From where I started this week and getting to where we finished I think we made big gains. We got back on the lead lap there at the end and we just needed to be a little bit better off turn three and we would have had something for a top-15 run.”
After 14 races, Bayne sits 30th in the championship standings with a season-best effort of 18th at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway respectively.
Follow Chris Knight @Knighter01.
