Friday night on Speed at 8p.m. NASCAR Truck series – Lucas Oil 150
Saturday on ESPN2 at 5:30p.m. Nationwide series – Bashas’ Supermarkets 200
Sunday on Fox at 3p.m. Subway 500
Radio: FOX Sports Radio 1370AM and Sirius-XM NASCAR Channel 128
Last week was a wild opening to the NASCAR season and this week everyone is headed to Phoenix where there won’t be any of those two car drafts and we will see if Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin or Carl Edwards can restore order to things.
Or will we have another surprise winner?
It is hard to believe that it has been less than a week ago since Trevor Bayne won the 53rd Daytona 500 in the iconic No. 21 Woods Brothers Ford. Since Monday the 20 year old has been on a cross country media tour from New York to San Francisco. I spoke to him via conference call Tuesday from Chicago and he could finally talk about his life changing win.
Bayne on the whirlwind week he has had thus far this week:” “I am finally starting to enjoy it a little bit. At first I was nervous and didn’t know what to do and who to thank and what to say on all the interviews. I have learned to just be me. I am thankful for everything that has happened and I want to stay humble. Now it is starting to set in and I am enjoying the interviews and having a good time with all the people. It is becoming a lot of fun and I am getting to enjoy this win a lot more than I expected in the last few days. For my family, it is unbelievable how they are taking it in too. There are reporters in Knoxville calling my friends and my brother and mom and dad and sister. It is fun to see them get some credibility from it too because they are my supporting factor. They are the ones that keep me sane off the track. They are sending me pictures of billboards in my hometown of Knoxville with congratulations messages on it from the movie theatre to my elementary school. Just to see the hometown support and the national support is indescribable. It is way more than I ever expected it to be.”
Bayne on his immediate future:” I think I am going to stay with Nationwide. I think it is a great thing they are doing for the sport for the young drivers there to be able to rise up as champions. Nothing has really changed for me other than that I am the Daytona 500 champion which is really incredible. I think we are still going to have an awesome year for Roush Fenway running for that Nationwide championship. Obviously we still have a blank car and I would love to get some partners on it, but as of now we are still running for it full time over there. The Wood Brothers only have 18 races, 17 filled with Motorcraft and Quick Lane, which is really good support, but the 18th race is one we will run at Martinsville with the funds we got from Daytona. I am still not full time Cup and I am going to run for the championship in Nationwide. I don’t regret any of our decisions there. We are off to a good start in both series with a 10th and a first.”
