February 20, 2011
By Kim Roberson
Kim Roberson
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In a weekend of feel good stories, perhaps the greatest one happened as the checkered flag waved on the Daytona 500 this weekend. On a second chance at a green-white-checkered finish, the iconic red and white Wood Brother’s No. 21 car won the race, driven by the youngest winner in the 53 years of the 500.
20-year-old Trevor Bayne had been making good impressions all weekend, and as the race got underway, it was clear that he knew what he was doing behind the wheel. For someone starting only his second NASCAR Sprint Cup series race, Bayne was running like a veteran, pushing and drafting with cars with relative ease.
Bayne, known for his sunny personality and youthful appearance, put on a show worthy of a hardened veteran Sunday in Daytona, drafting with everyone from Jeff Gordon to Bobby Labonte on his way to winning the sport’s most prestigious race.
“I was going to brake, let Tony Stewart get down (ahead of me on the last restart). All of the sudden here comes the 47 car pushing away,” commented Bayne after the race Sunday. “Kinda cool to say we were leading at the start of the green-white checkered. And the -- I told somebody earlier -- I said I got to the white flag and I’m like, at least we can say I led at the white flag. We got to turn four and we were still leading the band. Man, somebody’s going to pass us, you know, what’s going to happen here? Then nobody ever did. So, you know, wow, really.”
“That last straightaway I raced defensively. I saw Carl Edwards coming up. I pulled down to get a push from him and it worked out perfect.”
“Trevor just did a good job of blocking. He just had a rocket and took off,” commented Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion for Roush Fenway Racing. “I can tell you guys that second place in the Daytona 500 feels way worse than any other position. But it is made better by listening to Trevor and how excited he is. He is really nice young man, and a great guy to represent this sport with the win.”
“It hasn’t really sunk in yet. We struggled so much in the last couple years to just make the 500, much less win it, it’s so special” commented team co-owner Eddie Wood. “Trevor Bayne did such a good job. To be 20-years old and go fender to fender with these guys. He has the composure and savvy of a veteran. Now he’s a Daytona 500 winner. I’m just so happy and proud of him.”
Len Wood added “We’re so tickled to be here. Ford Motor Company has stood behind us for -- 61 years now. It’s just unbelievable that we could keep the team; our dad and Leonard have won in seven decades now. So proud of that. We’ve been Ford all our entire racing. This is the greatest feeling you can ever had. I was part of the ‘76 win with (David) Pearson, and I think Eddie was here with (A.J.) Foyt in ‘72. Trevor did such a great job. What’s our biggest win? Well, this is the top of the stack right now
Eddie added “He’s got tremendous awareness in the car. The great ones are like that. I’ve listened to a lot of drivers on the radio. He reminds me of the great ones. He will be a great one. I told somebody the other day that I felt like he might be the next big deal, and I think he is.”
One of the first things Bayne has to do is go to New York and appear on the talk shows. It is a plan he wasn’t prepared for. “I drove down here in my F-150. I was planning on driving it back. They told me somebody else is going to have to drive it back for me,” Trevor chuckled. “It’s insane. We were kidding around. ‘Did you bring enough clothes if you win the race?’ I got this (his uniform), I got two t-shirts. I thought it was a big joke. But here we are. I guess I better call somebody up that can make me a suit and get some clothes down here for me.”
As for the appearances on TV, and whether the non-NASCAR public are ready to meet the newest Daytona 500 winner, Edwards is certain he will win new fans over to the sport.
“I think the world is going to like him a lot. I think he’s going to have a lot of fun this week. I think he’ll do a good job of representing the sport. He’s a guy that has a ton of enthusiasm. When you are competing against people you don’t always have that kind of feeling about him, that you really like being around them.”
Edwards then cracked a smile and added “Hey, who knows, if he keeps beating us, maybe we won’t feel that way about him.”
David Pearson, who is in the 2011 Hall of Fame class, was the last man to win the Daytona 500 for the Wood Brothers. He and Bayne met for the first time at Daytona this weekend. Now, they will go into the history books together as winners of the Daytona 500 for one of the sports oldest franchises. Pearson won the 500 back in 1976 -- the last time the Wood Brothers won this race, and 15 years before Bayne was born.
Pearson says he is happy to see the Wood Brothers back in Victory Lane. “Yeah, I was listening to it on the radio in the car. That's good. I'm proud of them. I figured they had a chance after seeing that boy race in the 150s (Gatorade Duel). I talked to him (Bayne) this morning. I told him to keep his head straight and not to do anything crazy. I told him to stay relaxed. That's the thing; stay relaxed. I knew he would because he was relaxed in the qualifier. I'm proud of him.”
Bayne says he followed Pearson’s advice. “You know, the first thing he said was ‘Be careful.’ That was the mindset that I had to have at the beginning. I didn’t forget that or take it lightly. We had to survive that whole race, all the crashing going on, we had to be there at the end to have a chance at that. “
At 20 years and one day (his birthday was on Saturday), Bayne becomes the youngest person to ever win the Daytona 500, and the third youngest person to win a Sprint Cup race. He was the last of 22 leaders involved in 74 lead changes, all records for the 500. (The lead change record had stood since 1974.)
As Trevor crossed the finish line, members of the media stood up and cheered in the media center, a rarity for a group who is supposed to be un-biased in our reporting efforts. Not that we were rooting against anyone else who had a chance to win the race, but we all recognized that on a weekend that had been filled with memories of a tragedy from ten years ago, this win with this talented young driver was the perfect way to kick off a new season, and move forward with memories of a great race and a and the smiling face of a young man who might just be the best thing to hit NASCAR in years.
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