500 winner Trevor Bayne to miss All-Star race?
The team is completing a deal for additional sponsorship that would push the rookie's schedule in the Sprint Cup Series to 18 regular season races and the All-Star event. The announcement could come as soon as this week. The additional sponsorship also includes the April 17 race at Talladega Superspeedway.
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| Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne may miss the All-Star race for lack of money |
04/01/11 Trevor Bayne likely will be in the Sprint All-Star Race next month as a sponsor deal has gained steam over the last two days, Wood Brothers Racing co-owner Len Wood said Friday. Wood said the deal is not done but it’s close for the team to be able to run the all-star event May 21 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The 20-year-old Bayne qualified for the all-star race with his upset victory in the season-opening Daytona 500.
“We’re working on something for the all-star [race], which is more than what we’ve talked about before," Wood said Friday at Martinsville Speedway. “I think we’ve got somebody [as a sponsor]. … I think we’ve got something that popped up in the last 36 hours for the all-star race."
“The all-star race is important," Wood said. “But if you had to pick and choose, if it paid points, it would be more important to the end goal."
03/19/11 Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne is not expected to race in the Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 21. Bayne, 20, automatically became eligible for the event with his win in the Daytona 500 last month. However, before the season the Wood Brothers scheduled only 16 races for Bayne.
The Wood Brothers added Martinsville last month and, after his early success on restrictor plate tracks, they opted to move one of the later dates to Talladega in April. The Darlington race in May has also been added to Bayne's schedule, giving him 18 for the season.
"We weren't planning on going to the Open (the all-star qualifying race) anyway," team co-owner Eddie Wood said. "Naturally, we're in it, but we weren't going to run it. If you're going to spend money, you're going to run points races. The way the new points system is now, it may be possible to stay in the top 35 and not run all the races if you're fairly consistent. Last year if we didn't show up for a race, we didn't get any points. This year, that's different."
Although a couple of sponsorship offers were presented for Bayne to run the Sprint All-Star Race, the products conflicted with current partners of the Wood Brothers. However, that doesn't mean the Wood Brothers won't entertain any and all offers. "If a sponsorship deal shows up, we can go do it," Wood said. "There's still time. It's simple enough to do. But as of now, we're not going. As things are right now, the first race we're not planning to run is Richmond (on April 30). We won't go to Dover or the all-star race, either. The schedule we have is all we got." FoxSports