There’s something about first-time events that seems to bring out the best in NASCAR driver Trevor Bayne.
In his first Daytona 500 in 2011, Bayne came out of the proverbial nowhere to shock the world by taking the checkered flag one day after celebrating his 20th birthday.
Earlier this week, Bayne and wife Ashton announced that they were expecting their first child in December.
And to top things off, Bayne made his first career start in the ARCA Series on Saturday at Pocono Raceway. Not only did he start the Pocono ARCA 200 from the pole, less than two hours after taking the green flag, Bayne emerged with yet another first: the checkered flag.
He dominated, leading 42 of the race’s 80 laps, including the final 11 laps en route to the victory.
Bayne competed in the race because he wanted to gain more track time at the Tricky Triangle, particularly for Sunday’s Axalta “We Paint Winners” 400 Sprint Cup race.
Ironically, even though he’s made 71 career Sprint Cup starts to date, Bayne – in his first full season in the Cup series – has never raced before on Pocono’s 2.5-mile tri-oval.
And if Saturday’s performance, driving for Cunningham Motorsports, is any indication of what happens Sunday for the Tennessee native, it could cap off arguably one of the best weeks of his life.
Bayne has had a difficult go of it in his first full-time Sprint Cup season. He enters Sunday’s race 31st in the standings, with his best finish thus far this season being back-to-back 18th-place finishes at Martinsville and Texas.
Grant Enfinger finished second, followed by Mason Mitchell, Will Kimmel and Matt Kurzejewski.
| 2015 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards Event #8 | ||||||
| Pocono Raceway, Long Pond Pennsylvania, 6-6-15 | ||||||
| Pocono ARCA 200 | ||||||
| FIN | STR | NO | DRIVER/HOMETOWN | TEAM & CAR | LAPS | STATUS |
| 1 | 1 | 22 | Trevor Bayne/Knoxville TN | Advocare-Cunningham Motorsports Ford | 80 | Running |
| 2 | 4 | 23 | Grant Enfinger/Fairhope AL | GMS Racing Chevrolet | 80 | Running |
| 3 | 2 | 78 | Mason Mitchell/W. Des Moines IA | AM Technical Solutions-MMM Chevrolet | 80 | Running |
| 4 | 7 | 69 | Will Kimmel/Sellersburg IN | 1-800 Auto Parts-Accel Ford | 80 | Running |
| 5 | 5 | 54 | Matt Kurzejewski/Mansfield PA | Costy’s Energy Services Chevrolet | 80 | Running |
| 6 | 9 | 77 | Tom Hessert/Cherry Hill NJ | Barbera’s Autoland Dodge | 80 | Running |
| 7 | 12 | 6 | Josh Williams/Port Charlotte FL | Musselman’s-Anya Cale Chevrolet | 80 | Running |
| 8 | 15 | 59 | David Levine/Highland Park IL | Ford Performance-TraqGear Ford | 80 | Running |
| 9 | 8 | 5 | Bobby Gerhart/Lebanon PA | Lucas Oil-MAV TV Chevrolet | 80 | Running |
| 10 | 30 | 52 | Matt Tifft/Hinckley OH | Federated Auto Parts Toyota | 80 | Running |
| 11 | 3 | 25 | Frank Kimmel/Clarksville IN | Ansell Hyflex INTERCEPT-Menards Toyota | 79 | Running |
| 12 | 6 | 55 | Cody Coughlin/Delaware OH | JEGS Toyota | 79 | Running |
| 13 | 19 | 42 | Bo LeMastus/Louisville KY | Crosley Brands-T&T Constr-Glad Precision Dodge | 78 | Running |
| 14 | 25 | 10 | Ed Pompa/Ballston Spa NY | Double H Ranch-Milwaukee Crusher Chevrolet | 78 | Running |
| 15 | 14 | 98 | Austin Wayne Self/Austin TX | AM Technical Solutions-Pirate Energy Ford | 77 | Accident |
| 16 | 17 | 9 | Thomas Praytor/Mobile AL | DK-LOK Ford | 75 | Running |
| 17 | 21 | 3 | Steve Fox/Hawley PA | NormHuttonRacing.com Dodge | 74 | Running |
| 18 | 11 | 12 | Tyler Audie/Orlando FL | Audie Expo-NP Properties Dodge | 73 | Running |
| 19 | 31 | 97 | Bobby Hamilton Jr./Greenbrier TN | Nitroforce Industries Titan 1000 Dodge | 60 | Running |
| 20 | 13 | 2 | Sarah Cornett-Ching/Summerland BC | Race101.net Chevrolet | 57 | Oil Leak |
| 21 | 20 | 20 | Tom Berte/New Berlin WI | CGS Premier Chevrolet | 31 | Brakes |
| 22 | 26 | 0 | Dale Matchett/Cherry Hill NJ | Wayne Peterson Racing Ford | 23 | Brakes |
| 23 | 27 | 06 | Don Thompson/Carlisle PA | Wayne Peterson Racing Ford | 23 | Suspnsn |
| 24 | 10 | 00 | Cole Custer/Ladera Ranch CA | Haas Automation Chevrolet | 18 | Axle |
| 25 | 18 | 48 | James Swanson/Clarksboro NJ | Kan Do-Radon.com Dodge | 16 | Engine |
| 26 | 16 | 58 | Michael Lira/Port Orange FL | Ford Performance-TraqGear Ford | 16 | Overhtng |
| 27 | 23 | 40 | Eric Caudell/Piedmont OK | Carter 2 Motorsports Dodge | 15 | Electrical |
| 28 | 33 | 15 | Kyle Benjamin/Easley SC | Greenworks-Cometic Gasket Toyota | 12 | Electrical |
| 29 | 29 | 95 | Scott Edwards/London England | Carter 2 Motorsports Dodge | 11 | Transmssn |
| 30 | 28 | 49 | Rick Clifton/Circleville OH | Radon.com Ford | 10 | Rear End |
| 31 | 34 | 08 | Tim Viens/Daytona Beach FL | Wayne Peterson Racing Chevrolet | 9 | Engine |
| 32 | 32 | 68 | Ray Ciccarelli/Ellicott City MD | Kimmel Racing Ford | 5 | Transmssn |
| 33 | 24 | 8 | Josh White/Charleston WV | Hixson Construction Chevrolet | 1 | Electrical |
| 34 | 22 | 07 | Brian Kaltreider/Hanover PA | Independent Graphics Ford | 0 | Accident |
| Menards Pole Award presented by Ansell: Trevor Bayne 52.842 (170.319 mph) | ||||||
| Margin of Victory: 4.579 seconds | Cautions: 4 for 22 laps | |||||
| Time of Race: 1:35:57 | Average Speed: 125.065 mph | |||||
| Lap Leaders: Mitchell 1-8, 64-68 (13); Bayne 9-17, 36-49, 57-63, 69-80 (42); Enfinger 18, 50-51 (3); | ||||||
| Kurzejewski 19-20, 22-35 (16); Williams 21 (1); Tifft 52-56 (5) | ||||||
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