Roush, Bayne bringing back No. 6 car for Charlotte

Bayne, who is a regular in the Nationwide Series for RFR, is set to make the move to a full-time Sprint Cup ride with the organization in 2015. Carl Edwards is leaving for Joe Gibbs Racing, while Greg Biffle and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will make up the rest of the Sprint Cup team.

For the Bank of America 500, Bayne will have the primary sponsorship of AdvoCare, which will also serve as his primary sponsor for 2015. Veteran pit boss Bob Osborne, who won 18 races at Roush Fenway Racing with Edwards will be atop the pit box for the first time since 2012 as Bayne’s crew chief.

The No. 6 car made a brief return with Stenhouse Jr. making four starts in it in 2012. It was last driven in a full-time capcity by David Ragan in 2011, but the number is best known for being driven by Mark Martin from 1988 to 2006. Martin will be back with the organization in 2015 as a driver development coach.

When the announcement was made in May at Charlotte that Bayne would be moving full-time to the Sprint Cup Series, Roush Fenway Racing president Steve Newmark indicated that there was a strong likelihood that Bayne would run a handful of Sprint Cup races with the team toward the end of the season.

Newmark said at the time, “I still think that you’ll see us try to position something where you’ll see the 6 roll out the latter part of this year.”

There is no word if Charlotte will be the only Sprint Cup event that Bayne will run with Roush Fenway in 2014.

The importance of the No. 6 car to team co-owner Jack Roush was something he discussed at the May announcement.

“I remember when I started with Mark Martin in 1988 and NASCAR gave us the No. 6,” Roush said. “Of course, we had trials and tribulations, we were up-and-down that year and actually won our first race in 1989. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to make it, but as we’ve gone through the years — 26 years this fall — this No. 6 DNA has worked its way throughout the organization. It’s been really great to think about getting the No. 6 back on the track.”

Bayne has made nine Sprint Cup starts for Wood Brothers so far this season with best finishes of 19th place at Texas in April and at Michigan in June. He also won the 2011 Daytona 500 for Wood Brothers Racing. He has two career Nationwide Series victories and is currently sixth in the season standings.

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