Trevor Bayne will be defending his Daytona 500 title for the Wood Brothers as the team made Bayne's return to the No. 21 in 2012 official on Thursday.
From the Wood Brothers Racing site:
"It's taken a long time to get to this announcement, but it's good to be back together," team co-owner Eddie Wood said. "We all wanted to do what was best for Ford Motor Company and its young drivers, and to be sure everybody had a place to race."
While Bayne won the Daytona 500, Ricky Stenhouse won the Nationwide Series title and there was speculation that Stenhouse could inherit the ride in 2 012. Both drive for Roush-Fenway Racing in the Nationwide Series, and when Bayne, 20, was sidelined with lyme disease for part of the 2011 season, Stenhouse replaced him in the Coca-Cola 600. (Stenhouse will race in the 500 in the Roush Fenway No. 6.)
Motorcraft/Quick Lane also returns to the No. 21, but it's unclear how many races the team will attempt in 2012. Last year, the team had enough funding after the Daytona win to run 18 races.
Believe it or not, that Daytona win was Bayne's only top 10 in 17 Cup starts in 2011. In 29 starts in the Nationwide Series last year, Bayne won the fall race at Texas Motor Speedway and had 14 top 10s.
