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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Bayne, Wood Brothers Team For 17 Races
NASCAR notes from Sprint Cup Series testing at Daytona International Speedway…
Mike Hembree  |  Posted January 20, 2011   Daytona Beach, FL
Trevor Bayne will drive the iconic No. 21 Ford in the first five races of the new season and in at least 12 other events. (Photo: Getty Images)
Bayne, Woods To Run 17 Races – The Wood Brothers racing team, one of the oldest in NASCAR, will race this year with one of the sport’s youngest drivers.

Trevor Bayne, 19, made his Sprint Cup debut in the Wood Brothers’ No. 21 Ford last year at Texas Motor Speedway. He finished 17th.

The Woods, in their 61st year of NASCAR racing, announced Thursday that Bayne will drive the No. 21 in the first five races of the new season and in at least 12 other events – most at intermediate tracks.

The team has sponsorship from Ford’s Motorcraft and Quick Lane divisions and has an engineering relationship with Roush Fenway Racing. Bayne remains under contract with Roush, and Roush-based crewmen will pit the No. 21 this year.

Donnie Wingo, who formerly worked at RFR, returns as the team’s crew chief.

Bill Elliott, who has driven the No. 21 on a part-time schedule for the past four seasons, will drive a partial schedule for team owner James Finch this year.

“Bill did a great job for us,” said team co-owner Len Wood. “He drove our cars when at times they weren’t the best cars. He helped us through a difficult period.”

Hmiel Might Be Released Soon – Former NASCAR driver Shane Hmiel is expected to be released from an Atlanta rehabilitation center in the next two weeks to continue his recovery from serious race-accident injuries at home.

Steve Hmiel, Shane’s father and the competition director at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, said Shane has shown significant improvement from the head injury he suffered in a brutal crash during a USAC Silver Crown race last October in Indiana.

Hmiel suffered head and spinal cord injuries in the wreck. Swelling in his brain was brought under control, his father said, and the family hopes that his rehabilitation can continue to progress when he returns home.
Shane Hmiel continues to recover from injuries suffered in a racing accident last year. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

“The doctors say most rehabilitation gets better when you get back at home, and we’re counting on that,” Hmiel said Thursday. “He’s going to have to learn how to walk again, first with a cane and then hopefully without it.”

Shane Hmiel was trying to build a new career in USAC after being banned for life from NASCAR because of repeatedly failing drug tests.

Tweeting, Anyone? – About a dozen NASCAR drivers shared parts of the first day of Daytona testing Thursday with their followers on Twitter.

“It’s crazy how much waiting we have at Daytona for single car runs,” offered Juan Pablo Montoya to his 251,534 followers on the social media site.

Among others “tweeting” during the day were Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman and Brian Vickers.

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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