Newton, IA – Five days after he got married, Trevor Bayne received a huge wedding gift by winning Sunday's DuPont Pioneer 250 Nationwide Series race at Iowa Speedway, which was delayed one day due to rain.
Bayne, who married his long-time girlfriend, Ashton Clapp, on Tuesday in Asheville, N.C., passed Austin Dillon for the lead with 12 laps remaining in the 250-lap race. The 22-year-old Roush Fenway Racing driver claimed his second victory in his 97th career Nationwide start.
"Just getting the victory would be awesome but to do it like this on such a special week for me," Bayne said. "I was teared up on the altar on Tuesday, and I about teared up in victory lane on Sunday. It is such a great week and to have her here supporting me, not many women would be willing to get married on a Tuesday and come to Iowa as part of their honeymoon."
Bayne's first win in the series came in November 2011 at Texas Motor Speedway. He also won the Daytona 500 that year, becoming the youngest driver to win NASCAR's most prestigious race at age 20. Bayne gave Ford its 200th Nationwide victory. He drove the same car, the No. 6 for Roush Fenway, that Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was in when he won three consecutive races at Iowa from 2011-12.
"I am so proud of this team and what they accomplished here today, not giving up even until the end," said Bayne, who led three times for a total of 19 laps. "I was so far back I could barely see the lap car. I got caught in some lap traffic. I raced pretty hard and caught a door on the straightaway. I got (Dillon) loose once. We raced clean, and I got by him. I was able to drive away. This team here at Iowa has been so good."
Dillon, who started on the pole and dominated the race by leading 207 laps, finished two seconds behind Bayne.
"We could get a big lead but started fading fast at the end of those runs," Dillon said. "That's just part of it. That was good racing. Nothing wrong there. We'll keep improving. It was a good points day."
Elliott Sadler posted his fifth consecutive top-five finish at Iowa with a third-place run. Sam Hornish took the fourth spot, and rookie Kyle Larson was fifth.
Brian Scott, Regan Smith, the current points leader, Justin Allgaier, Ryan Blaney and Mike Bliss completed the top-10.
This race was scheduled for Saturday night, but persistent rain forced NASCAR to postpone it until Sunday morning. Joey Logano was slated to drive the No. 22 car for Penske Racing, but Logano had to return to Pocono Raceway for Sunday afternoon's 400-mile Sprint Cup Series race there. He finished 10th in that event.
Just after a five-car accident occurred on lap 156, a brief but heavy shower moved over this 0.875-mile racetrack, causing a 70-minute delay.
Brian Vickers, Travis Pastrana and Max Papis, as well as rookies Alex Bowman and Nelson Piquet Jr. were involved in the crash. Bowman got loose and bumped into Vickers, who then hit the wall and collected Pastrana. After making contact with the wall, Pastrana's car slid down the track and slammed hard into the on-coming vehicle of Papis.
"I just locked it up and thought I could get away, and then I just got creamed and took out the whole front," Pastrana said.
The back end of Papis' car lifted up in the air before it spun around.
"I was minding my own game and trying to get back on the lead lap," said Papis, who drove the No. 33 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing in this race. "(Pastrana) came down the racetrack really hard. I was down on the flat, and he hit real hard that almost rolled me over. That was a pretty big hit."
Smith now holds a 23-point lead over Hornish.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.