“It’s Bristol, baby!” could take on a whole new meaning on Friday night if Trevor Bayne is able to score the victory in the Food City 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race.
Bayne, a native of Knoxville, Tennessee, and his wife welcomed their fifth child on Thursday evening at 7:10 p.m. local time. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver said on Friday that mother and new baby, son Jett, are doing well and resting back at the hospital while he prepares to do battle at the Last Great Colosseum.
“Timing was a little bit off, I didn’t get much sleep last night,” Bayne said with a smile. “To be able to have him come, be here – not here at the racetrack but at the hospital – to leave him was a little hard. At least it was Bristol, it was only an hour and a half away (from Knoxville). This is my favorite race. I love running here.”
Bayne is making just his second Xfinity Series start of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing, and despite being his favorite track he explained that while running part-time it takes some time to acclimate to the demanding half-mile track.
“I probably missed it a little bit in qualifying, could have been a little bit better there, but I think we have something to win the race and that’s all you can ask for in these races,” said Bayne, who will start 12th in Friday night’s race.
Standing with his other son, Levi, Bayne said the ultimate goal was to capture the sword in Victory Lane and take it back to the newly expanded family.
“We’re going to get after it,” he said. “To win a race at Bristol, that would bring things full circle to me. I started racing here at 15 years old, this is what made me a NASCAR fan was coming here, so to have a chance to race here again is really special.”
Bayne indicated he has no concrete plans for the remainder of the 2023 season or beyond, as he is on a race-by-race basis with JGR in the Xfinity Series, although he indicated he would love to be more involved.
“Hopefully our performance stirs up more opportunities,” he said. “Last year, I had a few Truck Series deals and an Xfinity team that called that wanted me to run a car at the time, but I really wanted to stay at Gibbs and work on a program there. I would still love to be racing full-time.”
Over the past two seasons, Bayne has 10 starts with JGR in the Xfinity Series, including two poles and a best finish of second at New Hampshire in July 2022.
