LOUDON, N.H. — Most people look at the season Roush Fenway Racing is having and view it as a resurgence. Not Trevor Bayne.
After finishing 21st and 22nd, respectively, in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings last season, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Bayne currently sit fifth and 18th, respectively. Highlighted by Stenhouse’s victory at Talladega Superspeedway, RFR’s performance this season is far too improved to write off as a fluke.
But the team still has a long ways to go, in Bayne’s opinion.
“I think we’re getting finishes that are better than where we probably should, just through execution and not making mistakes,” the 26-year-old driver, who was at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Wednesday for a testing session, told NESN Fuel. “But we’ve just got to get our potential better so we can qualify better, run top 10 and get those stage points that people are racking up, because we’re kind of falling behind in that department.
“Obviously, Ricky has a win, so he’s not so concerned with that.”
Bayne’s sentiment is that the No. 6 team has overachieved and gotten a few breaks — many, admittedly, of its own making. Although Stenhouse is a virtual lock to make the playoffs, Bayne has more work to do if RFR is to have both of its drivers racing for a championship in the fall.
“For the (No. 6) team, we’re trying to race our way in on points right now, unless we can win a race this year,” Bayne said. “Those stage points add up fast. So we just got to get faster, but so far we’ve done a really good job with execution. … We don’t have the speed we want yet, though. We’re working pretty hard at Roush Fenway to get our speed better. We’ve made big gains this year, but still looking to improve on that.”
Like any NASCAR team, RFR is always looking for ways to get better. Still, it’s hard to argue the group’s offseason shake-up hasn’t paid off.
Thumbnail photo via John David Mercer/USA TODAY Sports Images
