SBNation.com - Trevor Bayne Wins 2011 Daytona 500, Becomes Youngest-Ever Winner Of NASCAR's Premier Race

Trevor Bayne's Faith-Based Message Draws Christian Media Attention

2011-02-22T20:24:50Z

Anyone who has spent time around Trevor Bayne knows the driver is a devout Christian who enjoys discussing his faith. But after he became an overnight celebrity with his Daytona 500 victory, he's been able to spread his message to a bigger audience.

That attracted two media outlets to NASCAR's Tuesday teleconference who don't typically call in: Christianity Today and Sports Spectrum, which bills itself as the "No. 1 Christian sports magazine."

It's clear that the Christian world has a new star who is devoted to help spreading the word.

Bayne was more than happy to speak on the topic of his faith when asked by the two outlets. Christianity Today asked Bayne if he could "offer some words of encouragement to folks who are low on hope."

"There were times when I was down," Bayne answered. "There was a six-month period when I was out of a race car in what I thought were going to be the most crucial years of my career. And they were – but God had a plan for them all."

Bayne said he prayed before the race for God to "draw him closer to us" through whatever happened on the track that day, saying he would be at peace with the outcome.

Even if he had a bad day, Bayne said, "there's something greater to it if we're just faithful."

Sports Spectrum asked Bayne to expand upon his thoughts that his success was "bigger than just racing."

"The goal is not to be the best race car driver, it's not to be the most marketable, it's not to be the most popular," Bayne said. "It's to build a platform and let God use us on the platform that he's building."

Bayne's father, Rocky, spoke about his son's goals a day earlier, saying Trevor wanted his career to be about "more than just winning."

"The only thing I can say is, the Lord is in control," Rocky said. "He's watching over him and he's taking care of him. That's his platform, and that's what Trevor's using it for. It's his goal, it's his mission, and that's what he's going to do."

David Gilliland Gets No Love After Daytona 500 Third-Place Finish

2011-02-22T16:48:21Z

David Gilliland had one of the best finishes of his NASCAR career in Sunday's Daytona 500, yet it was largely overlooked.

As it turns out, apparently there's only room for one underdog – even after finishing third.

Trevor Bayne won the race – and the spotlight – so Gilliland's late charge to the finish line with Carl Edwards was somewhat of an afterthought.

FOX interviewed Gilliland after the race, but ran out of time and went off the air without showing Gilliland's comments.

So what did Gilliland think of his Daytona 500 run?

"Real excited," Gilliland said after the race. "I finished second at Infineon (in 2008) – I think this tops that. It's Daytona."

Gilliland repeatedly thanked Front Row Motorsports owner Bob Jenkins, who runs the team out of of his own pockets. Taco Bell appears on Gilliland's car because Jenkins owns more than 120 fast-food restaurant franchises, a combination of Taco Bell, Long John Silver's and A&W.

"We stepped up our motor program to run the FR-9 (Ford) motor," Gilliland said. "Bob Jenkins bought a bunch of motors from (Richard Petty Motorsports). It's taken us 10 steps ahead on the competition side.

"I'm proud to have weathered the storm last year and now have a top-three finish at Daytona for not only myself, but Bob Jenkins."

Gilliland was 22nd with just 10 laps remaining in the Daytona 500, but hooked up with Carl Edwards (who was 19th at the time) and started driving to the front.

On the final green-white-checkered, Gilliland pushed Edwards past the Kurt Busch/Juan Pablo Montoya tandem and pairing allowed both he and his fellow Ford driver to get a podium finish.

"I gotta thank Carl," he said. "We really hooked up and made some moves there at the end. He made some moves, and we were just going."

Gilliland also credited NASCAR's rules in making the races more competitive and allowing for underdog stories like he and Bayne.

"I like it," he said. "It gives us a chance."

Because Bayne isn't running for Sprint Cup points, Gilliland is now No. 2 in the point standings (his highest ever), just one point behind Carl Edwards.

Trevor Bayne's Dad Did Son's Laundry At 3 A.M. After Daytona 500 Victory

2011-02-21T16:50:23Z

Trevor Bayne wasn't kidding when he said he had no clean clothes after winning the Daytona 500 on Sunday night. The 20-year-old hadn't expected to win the race – and go on the whirlwind media tour that followed – so he didn't bring anything to wear.

Fortunately, being a Daytona 500 winner has its perks. Bayne has "people" to take care of those problems for him.

Actually, as it turns out, it's the same people he's had all along.

Bayne's father, Rocky, found himself in a Daytona Beach laundry room in the middle of the night – just hours after his son had won NASCAR's biggest race.

"His laundry wasn't done to go on his trip, because he'd used it all up in the last 10 days," his dad said. "So I had to go out at 3 o'clock in the morning and do his laundry for him."

With only a couple hours of sleep, you'll have to forgive Rocky if he was still a little shocked over what his son had achieved.

"It's just amazing what this kid has done," he said, looking around at a room full of reporters. "I just can't believe we're here. It just hasn't really sunk in yet.

"Even sitting here listening to people talk, I kept looking around wondering, 'What are we doing here? What does all this really mean?'"

Rocky and his wife, Stephanie, watched their son's historic win from the Daytona grandstands instead of pit road (Trevor said his dad's vocal enthusiasm was better served away from the team's pit box).

So after the race, the couple ran down to the crossover gate and tried to convince the security guard to let them through.

"Who are you?" the security guard asked.

Rocky Bayne showed his credentials and said, "I'm Trevor's dad! I need to get to Victory Lane!"

Not only did the security guard let Bayne pass, but he gave Rocky the checkered flag to bring to his son in Victory Lane.

By the time Trevor climbed from the car, his parents were there.

"I don't know how they got down there so fast," Trevor said. "They must have hurdled the fence!"

---

As a side note, if you're wondering if you were sitting near Bayne's parents in the stands yesterday, they were in the Sprint Tower, Section U, Row 38, Seats 13 and 14.

Were you nearby?

Hendrick Motorsports, Richard Childress Racing Find Disappointment In Daytona 500

2011-02-21T16:23:35Z

Here's a look at how some of the multi-car NASCAR Sprint Cup teams fared in Sunday's Daytona 500:

HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS (Highest finisher: 10th)

Nothing much went right for Hendrick Motorsports on Sunday. Jimmie Johnson (27th) and Jeff Gordon (28th) both sustained damage in the "Big One" at Lap 29, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s chance at a Daytona 500 victory disappeared when he got a flat tire avoiding a wreck, then was wrecked himself just a few laps later.

Mark Martin did rally from a couple laps down to finish 10th, but overall, it wasn't the kind of day Hendrick hoped for.

RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING (Highest finisher: 9th)

Paul Menard was the team's only top-10 finisher, which likely says a lot in itself. A once-promising Speedweeks literally went up in smoke for Kevin Harvick (42nd) and Jeff Burton (36th) after both drivers blew an engine.

Clint Bowyer looked like a serious contender to win the Daytona 500 until he was part of a late crash and finished 17th.

JOE GIBBS RACING (Highest finisher: 8th)

Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin both had a shot to win, though Joey Logano's chances took a hit when he was caught a piece of Brad Keselowski's crash.

Hamlin had a real chance at his first Daytona 500 victory, but was sustained damage when Regan Smith was turned by a too-fast bump-draft by Kurt Busch.

Kyle Busch was spun early, but rallied to contend for the win.

ROUSH FENWAY RACING (Highest finisher: 2nd)

It was a banner day for Fords, as the manufacturer went 1-2-3 in the Daytona 500. But only one of those was a Roush Fenway Racing car – Carl Edwards.

Still, given that Trevor Bayne is more or less a Roush driver (he races for the team in the Nationwide Series and is likely to get a Cup ride with Roush at some point), it was overall a good day.

Edwards nearly won the race, while David Ragan surprised many by running up front for most of the day until an ill-advised move before the start/finish line on a restart earned him a black flag. He finished 14th.

The day wasn't all good, though. Greg Biffle (35th) was involved in two incidents – one of which when he accidentally wrecked teammate Matt Kenseth (34th).

Trevor Bayne Still Stunned By Daytona 500 Victory

2011-02-21T15:27:24Z

The morning after his historic Daytona 500 victory, Trevor Bayne still can't believe it even happened.

The race's youngest winner ever, Bayne told reporters on Monday morning that he's "not a big enough sponge to soak all this up." So what exactly does a 20-year-old do after winning NASCAR's biggest race?

First of all, he eats.

After his media obligations at the track were finished on Sunday night, Bayne and his family went out to dinner at the BJ's Restaurant across from Daytona International Speedway (his team owners, Len and Eddie Wood, celebrated at a nearby Steak 'n Shake).

Bayne then returned to the track, where he played basketball in the Daytona infield with his hometown buddies from Knoxville, Tenn. The game was H-O-R-S-E, and Bayne lost.

That was OK. After all, he still had a trophy from some big race that took place earlier in the day.

Bayne and his friends then broke out their skateboards and rode around "for a minute," he said, but everyone was still dazed by what had happened a few hours earlier.

"We were standing around the motorhome lot last night, and one of the motorhome drivers comes up – and we were all just staring at each other," Bayne said. "He was like, 'What is this? Y'all look numb! Why aren't you all going crazy?'

"We didn't know what to say. And that's the first time I've ever seen my friends without something to say, that's for sure."

He also fielded congratulatory phone calls, of course. Like one from Carl Edwards, who asked, "What could I have done to win this thing?"

Bayne didn't have an answer.

The Wood Brothers Racing driver figured he had a long few days ahead with his upcoming media tour, so he went to sleep around 1 a.m. – well before his team owners, who stayed up until 4:30 returning congratulatory text messages from people they hadn't heard from in years.

When Bayne woke up this morning, he stepped outside his motorhome and looked up at the scoring pylon, which was still illuminated with the running order from the Daytona 500.

And the No. 21 was still on top. He realized it wasn't a dream.

"It keeps hitting you over and over again," he said, "so it's like you win a bunch of times."

Bayne's life has been changed forever, but he hopes the Daytona 500 victory won't change him as a person. He prides himself on staying grounded, claiming he's just a normal kid who likes wakeboarding on the lake with friends and enjoys teaching himself how to play guitar.

"I don't want to change because of any of this," he said. "I hope if (my ego) starts rising up, these guys will pop the bubble."

Though Bayne didn't earn any points for Sunday's race because he "declared" to run for the championship in the Nationwide Series, NASCAR said he can still switch if he wants. But if he does, he still won't get points for his Daytona 500 win.

So even if the Wood Brothers find sponsorship to run a full season (he's only scheduled for 18 races as of now), Bayne said he and the team will "probably just stick with what we planned" and run for the Nationwide title.

With that, it was off to begin his media tour: First, Bayne greeted fans as his car was inducted into the Daytona track tour exhibit. Then, he was scheduled to travel to ESPN's studios in Connecticut, followed by stops in Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles in the coming days before arriving in Phoenix.

He'll do countless interviews along the way.

"I like to talk," he said. "But after this week, I might be drained."

Daytona 500 Results: How Much Money Did Trevor Bayne, Other Drivers Win?

2011-02-21T11:42:22Z

Somewhat overlooked in the great story of Trevor Bayne's upset Daytona 500 victory on Sunday was that the 20-year-old is now rich.

Well, richer than you or I, at least. Ca-CHING!

The Daytona 500 purse was nearly $18.7 million, and the winner took home a healthy $1.46 million of that. Of course, drivers don't get to keep 100 percent of their winnings – typically, they are awarded somewhere between 30 and 50 percent of the prize money in addition to their base salary, with the team keeping the rest.

Bayne is a rookie, so he probably wasn't in position to negotiate for anywhere close to 50 percent of the prize money. But even assuming he got one-third of it, that's still more than $480,000.

Not bad for a dude who began the weekend as a teenager.

Last-place JJ Yeley, who was only in the race for 10 laps before his motor blew, earned $268,550.

Anyway, here's how Bayne and the other NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers divided up the Daytona 500's $18.7 million purse:

Trevor Bayne: $1,462,563
Carl Edwards: $1,081,413
David Gilliland: $831,061
Bobby Labonte: $667,769
Kurt Busch: $582,077
Juan Pablo Montoya: $454,064
Regan Smith: $414,328
Kyle Busch: $393,314
Paul Menard: $327,413
Mark Martin: $318,413
AJ Allmendinger: $309,463
Bill Elliott: $324,978
Tony Stewart: $305,863
David Ragan: $350,188
Terry Labonte: $334,263
Robby Gordon: $313,211
Clint Bowyer: $315,813
Jamie McMurray: $335,003
Martin Truex Jr.: $341,963
Steve Wallace: $291,638
Denny Hamlin: $300,538
Ryan Newman: $297,013
Joey Logano: $290,363
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: $350,813
Kasey Kahne: $311,719
Dave Blaney: $304,736
Jimmie Johnson: $300,713
Jeff Gordon: $287,588
Brad Keselowski: $310,742
David Reutimann: $318,219
Brian Vickers: $313,861
Travis Kvapil: $304,242
Andy Lally: $282,863
Matt Kenseth: $320,668
Greg Biffle: $289,713
Jeff Burton: $311,451
Marcos Ambrose: $312,414
Robert Richardson Jr.: $270,313
Joe Nemechek: $292,998
Michael Waltrip: $282,113
Brian Keselowski: $273,663
Kevin Harvick: $300,013
JJ Yeley: $268,550

Trevor Bayne: Daytona 500 Winner's Press Conference Highlights

2011-02-21T02:02:04Z

Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne isn't exactly prepared for the media blitz he's about to undergo. Over the next few days, he'll fly all over the country, making stops in San Francisco and Los Angeles before ending up in Phoenix.

While most of the big-name drivers pack an extra bag in case they win the Daytona 500 – and therefore don't return home for several weeks – Bayne didn't take his chances seriously.

"I got two T-shirts," he said. "I thought it was a big joke. But here we are. I guess I better call somebody that can make up a suit and get some clothes down here for me."

That was just one of the highlights from Bayne's entertaining post-race press conference. Among the others was his admission that he drove himself down to Daytona for the race instead of fly – in his personal pickup truck.

"I drove down (to Florida) in my F-150," he said. "I was planning on driving it back. They told me somebody else is going to have to drive it back for me."

Bayne said he felt like he was in a dream, and he even acted like it. At one point, after switching from subject to subject, he apologized to the media.

"Sorry if I'm bouncing around on questions and answers," he said. "I figure I can do whatever I want to, since this is just a dream anyway."

Having just turned 20 years old one day before the Daytona 500, Bayne said he celebrated his birthday in quiet fashion. He and his friends rode around in the Daytona infield on a golf cart, and "a couple of my buddies got in a wheelbarrow race."

"They won, too," he said, then cracked: "That's what inspired me to win the race."

Bayne said after the race, he had no clue where Daytona's Victory Lane was. He had to put the car into reverse and back it up when he made a wrong turn.

He saw one of his former crewmen and asked, "How do I get to Victory Lane?" The crewman pointed him in the right direction.

"I'm glad we made it all right," Bayne cracked.

Even when he was leading on the last lap, Bayne said he didn't think he would actually win the Daytona 500. During the final caution, he told himself that even if he lost the race, "It would be kind of cool to say we were leading at the start of the green-white-checkered."

"I got to the white flag and I'm like, 'At least we can say I led at the white flag,'" he added. "We get to Turn 4 and we were still leading. (I thought), 'Man, somebody's going to pass us is what's going to happen here.'

"Then nobody ever did. So, you know, wow, really."

One of Bayne's biggest priorities, he said, is to stay humble.

"I definitely think humility is something to hang onto for everybody," he said. "All the young kids that are doing their sports or whatever, just stay grounded. Remember that if it wasn't for somebody else helping you, you wouldn't be sitting where you are.

"I've had so many people help me along the way that kept me grounded."

Wood Brothers Racing Gets 'Biggest Win' In Long History

2011-02-21T01:23:49Z

Sunday's Daytona 500 was an incredible blend of old and new. Rookie Trevor Bayne somehow stole the show with an amazing and unexpected run, and he did so while driving for Wood Brothers Racing.

Wood Brothers Racing is one of NASCAR's oldest and most legendary teams, but the family-run team has fallen on hard times in recent years. Very hard times, in fact.

With dwindling sponsorship and a lack of recent success, the Wood Brothers cut back to a partial schedule in 2009. The team seemed like it was on life support as of late, with little hope for the future.

But everything seems to have turned around in just one race.

The team took a chance on putting Bayne in its car, which has already paid off more than anyone ever imagined. Prior to that, longtime manufacturer Ford stepped up and gave the Wood Brothers direct support.

And legendary driver David Pearson's approval, the team unveiled a car with a retro No. 21 paint scheme, bringing back memories of what made that number one of NASCAR's greatest.

On a gorgeous afternoon in Daytona, a new driver helped the Wood Brothers bridge the gap to the past.

Here's what we mean:

WOOD BROTHERS RACING DAYTONA 500 VICTORIES

1963 – Tiny Lund

1968 – Cale Yarborough

1972 – A.J. Foyt

1976 – David Pearson

2011 – Trevor Bayne

"I was part of the '76 win with Pearson," co-owner Len Wood said. "(Brother) Eddie was here with Foyt in '72. What's your biggest win? Well, this is the top of the stack right now."

Said Eddie Wood: "When we kind of started downhill, you begin to think you can never get back. But you keep trying. Just the fact that you want one more trophy – one more trophy – you can't quit. And we never quit. We just kept trying."

In the 53rd Daytona 500, Wood Brothers Racing added both a new chapter to its legacy and opened the door to its future.