His goal was simple during the recent interview at Bristol Motor Speedway.

All Trevor Bayne wanted was to show he is wise beyond his 19 years, that he is a mature race-car driver as he continues in his first full season of driving the No. 99 Toyota full-time in the Nationwide Series for Diamond Waltrip Racing. All was going well until about two-thirds of the way through the interview session, when Bayne, who had been munching on a chocolate muffin, suddenly realized he had chocolate all over his hands.

“

I remember having a Jeff Gordon coloring box when I was in kindergarten, and all that stuff. I don't want to tell him that -- it might make him feel old.

”

-- TREVOR BAYNE

A crew member working nearby handed over a napkin without being asked and without missing a beat added: "We have to do this kind of stuff for him all the time."

At least they didn't have to wipe his face for him. It is a refreshing face, one that quickly breaks into an easy smile in obvious appreciation of his current station in life. Bayne talked at Bristol about breaking into the Nationwide Series, where he earned his first career pole and two top-10 finishes in just 15 starts last year at the age of 18, what he does for fun away from the track, and how much he enjoys mixing it up with his racing heroes now at places such as Bristol.

Question: The idea of this 1-on-1 feature is to show some of your personality away from the track ...

Bayne (laughing and smiling that smile): I don't really have one.

Q: That's not what we hear. Why don't you start out by telling why it was so special for you to run in the Nationwide race at Bristol?

Bayne: To me, coming to Bristol is like going to the Daytona 500 is for most drivers. It's the same thing to me. This is where I started watching racing. I would get out of kindergarten and come up here and watch the races. These guys [on his crew] would say that was last year that I was in kindergarten.

But I remember watching the Cartoon Network car racing [at Bristol] and all that stuff. So there are a lot of memories here for me, and it's fun to come to Bristol to race. (Continued)