OneDirt

Trevor Bayne at the 2012 Brickyard. Image Credit: TrevorBayne.com

While most dirt racing fans were glued to what was happening in Knoxville and Florence over the weekend, a Daytona 500 winner was making his dirt late model debut in Tennessee.

On Saturday, Trevor Bayne competed at Smoky Mountain Speedway’s Ole Smoky Moonshine Classic.

The Southern Regional Racing Series super late model event was on tap as the feature attraction but Bayne drove in the Limited Late Model class in a CVR Race Car furnished by east Tennessee regular John Cobb.

Those that were on hand explained that it was obvious that Bayne was just trying to get some experience and put some laps under his belt.  “With as limited number of laps as I have in these things, every lap’s going to make a big difference,” Bayne explained.

Bayne would qualify 7th out of the 24 cars in attendance, and would run in the top ten for most of the feature event. However a green white checkered would bunch up the field and Bayne would catch the wall on the final lap and lose a couple of positions and finish in the 12th position. Not to bad at all for his first time in a dirt late model.

Trevor at Smoky Mountain on Saturday. Image Credit: RacingWithRich.com

“I was just trying to learn,” Bayne explained. “I wasn’t driving it really hard enough(earlier in the race) and I tried to on the restart and it wasn’t the time to try it. There were marbles up there and it didn’t work out real good.”

Bayne also hinted at his next appearance in the dirt late model, “I was here for the opposite of appearances,” Bayne explained of his trip to Smoky Mountain. “I came here to learn and try to get some seat time before we go to Bulls Gap.”

The limited late model feature was won by Mike Weeks.