Newton, Iowa (Aug. 3, 2009) - Even though an incident in the middle stages of Saturday's US Cellular 250 spoiled the makings of a top-10 finish, Trevor Bayne was able to salvage a 26th-place finish at the inaugural NASCAR Nationwide race at Iowa Speedway.

In qualifying Saturday afternoon, the 18-year-old driver toured the .875-mile oval in 23.329 seconds (135.025 mph), a lap good enough for the fourth-place starting position.  When the NASCAR Nationwide Series drivers took the green flag for the first time at Iowa Speedway before an estimated crowd of 56,000, the rookie driver of the No. 99 Aaron's Dream Machine quickly worked his way into the second spot by lap nine.

The third caution flag flew on lap 38 for a single-car incident in Turn 1.  This gave crew chief Jerry Baxter the opportunity to fix the ill-handling No. 99 Aaron's Dream Machine.  Two right-side tires, fuel and a minor chassis adjustment were in order on the blue and white Toyota.  Unfortunately, a tire got away from the over-the-wall crew and Bayne was forced to wait in the pit box for a few seconds and lost five positions.  Bayne restarted seventh on lap 46.

Great adjustments to the No. 99 Aaron's Dream Machine, coupled with great stops performed by the No. 99 pit crew, continued to aid Bayne's solid top-10 run.

However, bad luck struck the Aaron's Dream Machine team on lap 152 when Bayne and the No. 1 of Mike Bliss got together in Turn 4.  Bayne was forced to pit road for several laps to make repairs on the No. 99 Toyota.

The unfortunate incident relegated the rookie driver to 26th, six laps down to the leaders, in the final rundown. 

"Our No. 99 Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota was really good for the race," said Bayne.  "We struggled a lot during the open test session and practice but Jerry (Baxter) made some great changes and our car was super fast for the race.  I just made a small mistake and got myself into trouble and hit the wall going into Turn 4.  I just have to thank all my guys for all the hard work they put in this weekend.  We had a great car that was capable of finishing in the top five."

Brad Keselowski grabbed his second win of the season followed by Kyle Busch, Jason Leffler, Carl Edwards and Kelly Bires.

The next race for Trevor Bayne in the No. 99 Aaron's Dream Machine will be the CARFAX 250 at Michigan International Speedway on August 15.  ESPN2 will provide the television coverage, beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET.