Trevor Bayne Wins Daytona: Wood Brothers Get First Win Since 1976

Trevor Bayne, the youngest driver to ever win the Daytona 500, brought history from one of the oldest teams to Victory Lane.  Wood Brothers racing is in its seventh decade with NASCAR.

Bayne piloted the famous Wood Brothers No. 21 Motorcraft Ford across the finish line first in only his second NASCAR Sprint Cup race.

The fresh-faced young man from Knoxville, TN turned 20 years old on Feb 19.  Now he will forever be known as a winner of the Daytona 500.

Bayne is running for a series title in the NASCAR Nationwide Series behind the wheel of the No. 16 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing.

As of now, Bayne is only scheduled to run 16 other Cup races for Wood Brothers Racing, with funding and sponsorship a problem.

Little does the young Cup race winner know of the visual impact of seeing the iconic Wood Brothers No. 21 in Victory Lane.

David Pearson drove a heavily damaged No. 21 to the same place in 1976, some 15 years before Trevor Bayne was born.

This morning, Bayne met 2011 NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductee David Pearson for the first time.  Pearson was headed back to his South Carolina home before the end of the race.

The retro paint scheme on the No. 21 was unveiled by Wood Brothers Racing during the NASCAR Sprint Media Tour hosted by Charlotte Motor Speedway in January.

The beautiful car had the metallic gold No. 21 adorning the sides of the car and lettering that honored David Pearson as an inductee this year at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Those fortunate enough to witness the 1976 Daytona 500 saw one of the most memorable finishes between two drivers who shared an intense rivalry.

On the last lap, Petty pulled alongside Pearson as they got through turn three on the last lap.  Petty went high and Pearson went low, as Petty inched ahead going into the tri-oval.

The cars touched, Pearson was headed for pit road where he crashed into the wall while Petty slid into the grass.

Petty's car stopped so close to the finish line he could have probably pushed it across it.  Suddenly a slow moving, badly damaged No. 21 crept from pit road to the lower tri-oval apron.

Pearson had kept the clutch engaged and was able to keep the car running, though he had to look out the window to see where he was going.

It was likely the slowest finish of any Daytona 500.  Pearson rolled across the finish line with an angry Petty sitting yards away watching Pearson take a victory he felt should have been his.

Pearson was the fourth driver to win the Daytona 500 for the Wood Brothers, and Trevor Bayne did it for the fifth time for them.

Throughout Speedweeks, the young Bayne proved he is the real deal behind the wheel.  In the Gatorade Qualifying race, he pushed Jeff Gordon around the track like a pro.

Bayne could not believe he had the opportunity to interact with Gordon, a driver he had idolized as he was growing up.

The young man never backed off and showed his potential as a superstar in the sport of NASCAR.  With all the crashes, bumping and banging and the damaged race cars, Bayne brought the No. 21 to Victory Lane unscathed.

The win with a Ford was the 600th for Ford Racing.  It was quite the sight to see Edsel Ford, Glen Wood, Leonard Wood, Richard Petty and the legendary No. 21 in Victory Lane with the latest Daytona 500 winner, young Trevor Bayne.

Congratulations to everyone at Wood Brothers Racing and of course to Trevor Bayne.