Trevor Bayne showed what he can do this season, and it deserves a 2023 payoff.
Bayne has run a grand total of nine NASCAR Xfinity Series races during the 2022 season.
In those races, he has an average finishing position of eighth and an average starting position of 4.3. The veteran can drive, and maybe he’s always been able to.
In 2010, the Knoxville, Tennessee native ran his first-ever full season in the Xfinity Series and ended the season seventh in the driver standings. The next year, Bayne had a higher average start and finish, but found himself just outside of the top 10 in the driver’s standings, as he ended the season in 11th. That was in part due to a massive amount of time he spent sidelined due to illnesses he suffered after a spider bite.
Trevor Bayne – Charlotte 2011 pic.twitter.com/KpdqBIzVu6
— NASCAR PICTURES (@Nascarpixtures) August 31, 2022
After some sponsorship troubles in 2012, Bayne returned full-time to what was then the Nationwide Series (sorry if that makes some fans feel gray-haired) the following year, as he replaced reigning champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who moved up to the NASCAR Cup Series.
In 2013 and 2014, it was relatively smooth sailing for Bayne and his fast Roush Fenway Racing Ford (now RFK Racing), as he placed sixth in the driver’s standings both years. That was enough for Bayne to get the call up to the Cup Series to drive the prestigious Roush No. 6 Ford.
Bayne’s Cup years in the No. 6 were marred by inconsistency all the way up to his departure in 2018. At times, Bayne had pace. However, when he did, it usually ended up with him facing the wrong direction at some point during the race.
Bayne was defeated, citing that he had offers to drive, but not the sponsorship required to fill the seats. He returned home to Knoxville with his family and began to settle into what looked to be the life of a retired professional racecar driver — until he got a phone call.
Bayne ran nine races for Niece Motorsports in the Camping World Truck Series in 2020, one in the No. 40 Silverado and eight in the No. 45. He even finished as high as second at the fall Talladega Superspeedway race that year, losing to Raphael Lessard in a race that ended under caution.
That was enough to get a shot to run Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 Xfinity car in select races throughout the 2022 season, and that brings us up to speed.
The question now is what’s next, and I’m here to tell you it should be a…
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