Trevor Bayne wasn’t sure if he’d ever get a chance to truly show his potential behind the wheel. But that’s what he’s done in a limited Xfinity Series schedule with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2022.
Bayne, who won the 2011 Daytona 500 one day after turning 20 years old in his second Cup Series start, has had many starts and stops throughout his NASCAR career. At one time, he was a highly touted prospect in the Toyota camp, before jumping ship to Ford and competing primarily for Roush Fenway Racing.
But now, at 31 years old, he’s feeling as good as he ever has about racing.
“I came into this year saying, I need to win three to five races to revamp my career, to have people calling,” Bayne told Jayski.com at Talladega Superspeedway. “That might be true. If I had won three to five races, who knows what happens with the [Nos.] 45 car or the 18 next year; you don’t know what kind of position you put them in. And I haven’t won those three to five races.”
Bayne’s first start for JGR at Auto Club Speedway was his first series start since 2016.
But driving for JGR was a full-circle moment for the Tennessee native, as he recalls first speaking with Joe Gibbs when he was 15 years old. Devotion Nutrition, making its first national marketing push, gave him a racing budget. The choice on what to do with it was easy.
“I wanted to go to the best team and have a chance to win,” Bayne stated. “Every race I go to, I want to know I have a chance to win.”
When Bayne ran eight Camping World Truck Series races with Niece Motorsports in 2020, it scratched his itch to return to the driver’s seat. He never gave up on racing, even though he was removed from Roush Fenway Racing during the 2018 season, when he split the No. 6 car with Matt Kenseth.
But no opening came in 2021. Instead, he focused on broadcasting for Fox Sports – despite having no previous broadcasting experience and his own coffee business, Mahalo Coffee Roasters. Bayne noted he found out who he was away from racing, as he found out what “real work” was.
Being away from the sport, though, was still difficult.
“I know who I am and I’m confident in my identity outside of racing,” Bayne said, “but until you challenge that – I’d been doing this since I was five years old – you take someone from five to 28 and that’s all they know out of it, that’s tough.
“I deleted Instagram from my phone because I saw [drivers] posting photos of their helmets or new rides. I could get pretty bitter about that and had to fight that off. It’s easier to say now because I’m back in a racecar, but I came to terms with I might not be able to race at this level again.”
Fortunately for Bayne, he found the right partner in Devotion, knowing it was a one-year plan. Following the 2022 season, there hasn’t been any communication about the company continuing to support Bayne.
While Bayne has yet to see Victory Lane with JGR, he’s been sporty in every race. In his first outing at Auto Club, he won the first stage and finished third. In his second start out at Phoenix, he won the pole and led 38 laps before having a speeding penalty on pit road, though he rebounded to place fourth.
At Atlanta, he led 38 additional laps but wrecked out late and ended the race in 28th. The team didn’t execute fully at Charlotte and finished ninth, while he had a fast car at Nashville and came back from a late pit road penalty to finish second. Prior to Talladega last weekend where he led 13 laps, his last race was at New Hampshire in mid-July.
In seven starts, Bayne has four top-five and five top-10 finishes, leading a career-high 130 laps.
“We’ve had runs where we could have won races,” Bayne added. “What I do know is we have [two] races left; both of those being really good racetracks for me.
“I’ve loved working with this group. From the outside, [JGR] is a top-notch organization. It’s been all that I could have hoped to do. If you said ‘Trevor, you can run 20 races in a mid-tier car versus the [seven] races you’ve had so far,’ I would pick these [seven] races up front every time.”
Not being in the car every weekend does have its challenges. The two and a half months between New Hampshire and Talladega felt like a year to Bayne. But he stays fresh by using iRacing or the Toyota simulator. He also felt valued being on standby for Kyle Busch in May at Darlington.
“I really think we could contend for a championship with this group if we were running full time,” Bayne said. “That’s the only hard part, and that is I want to race every weekend. In 2020, I thought I was probably done forever. So to be back with this opportunity is unbelievable.”
The frequent consistency has validated everything Bayne thought his time would be at JGR. He has more tools to utilize than ever before and his preparation has upgraded.
But the two-time Xfinity race winner doesn’t feel like he had much to prove because he found an identity away from NASCAR.
“I got to experience something that not many people do,” he said. “I can’t think of anybody else that left for three years and came back and got to redo it. I’m very confident in who I am as a racecar driver. I think I’m better off now, as a driver, having that three years to gain perspective.”
With starts at Las Vegas and Homestead remaining, Bayne really wants to experience the thrill of victory once again. He also has four children now who are giving him grief about bringing home a trophy.
“I don’t take any of these [races] for granted,” Bayne said. “I know that my career could be done again at the end of Homestead. I want to come in and maximize every race and have a chance to win. I want to get my kids to Victory Lane, that’s probably the biggest factor.”
As for potentially competing in 2023, it’s looking bleak currently. Bayne says he’s been offered multiple full-time deals in the past couple of years, but turned them down because the team’s brand didn’t fit him.
Ideally, he would return to JGR because the team has speed and a few openings in its Xfinity stable.
“If I don’t race next year, I’m going to be perfectly content doing TV and being around [racing],” Bayne said. “It would be awesome if I could race Xfinity full time, do truck commentating at the racetrack and do RaceHub shows throughout the week. That would be the dream scenario.
“Whether that’s 10 races with Gibbs again or a full season. I think we can win a championship if we run the full season, but back to the same thing I struggled with for three years, it comes down to funding.”
Steve deSouza, executive vice president of JGR’s Xfinity Series and developmental team, would like to see Bayne back.
“We would very much like to have Trevor in one of our cars next year,” deSouza said in a statement. “Trevor is working with our marketing group in seeking sponsorship to try and make that happen.”
Should Bayne win one of his final two starts in 2022, he doesn’t believe it will solidify a ride for 2023.
“It’s not like I think winning will guarantee me a ride,” Bayne said. “I want to win because I want to get this group a win; the 18 team hasn’t won yet this year. I don’t feel like my career is dependent on a win this year because I know I can win and nothing may happen anyways. Pressure wise, no. Desire, 1,000%.”