Bayne was originally slated to drive a fifth car for Roush Fenway Racing, the team he recently signed with, at Texas with Donnie Wingo serving as his crew chief. When WBR was looking for a crew chief, they contact RFR owner Jack Roush who agreed to lend them Wingo’s services. As a logical result, Bayne was put in the car.

WBR’s regular driver, the legendary Bill Elliott, will be at the track to help mentor Bayne. Elliott will return to the car in the season-finale at Homstead-Miami Speedway.

Bayne began the season driving for Diamond-Waltrip Racing in the Nationwide Series. Despite being in the top 10 in points, Bayne was released from DWR due to a lack of sponsorship. He was replaced by Martin Truex Jr and his brother, two-time K&N Pro Series East Series champion Ryan Truex. Bayne signed with RFR shortly thereafter.

Bayne, who was released by Diamond Waltrip Racing due to a lack of funding, and currently sits seventh in points, will drive one of Roush’s Fords for the remainder of the season. He will also drive a Roush Ford in 2011.

Bayne is also a candidate to drive Richard Petty Motorsport’s No. 19 in 2011.

Jack Roush said:

We are pleased to be able to sign a driver of both Trevor’s caliber and character. Trevor has exhibited a distinctive ability to run fast, up front and compete side by side with veteran drivers in a relatively short amount of time. We feel that he possesses all of the tools necessary to grow into a top-level driver and we look forward to working with him to hone his skills as we move forward down the road.

They will race against each other for the first time in their racing careers in this weekend’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway. Ryan Truex will drive DWR’s No. 99 OUT! Pet Care Toyota, while Martin Truex will drive the team’s No. 00 OUT! Pet Car Toyota.

The truex brothers are replacing Trevor Bayne, who was released from the team earlier this week.

Bayne, who currently sits seventh in Nationwide Series points, was let go due to a lack of sponsorship.

DWR majority owner Gary Bechtel said:

The root of the issue regarding Trevor and his future with DWR is simply economics. DWR held an option on Trevor’s contract, but without appropriate funding, we could not match the provisions of that contract extension by guaranteeing him a full-time ride in the No. 99 car next year. We could not commit to the demands of the agreement.

Bayne’s release is a little bit shocking because he has been running pretty well. While he lacks a win, he does have three poles, five top 5s, and 10 tops 10s in 28 races so far this season.  

Bayne’s release is the latest indicator of teams’ increasing need to land sponsorship dollars to stay in the sport. Earlier this season, Justin Allgaier, who sits fourth in the Nationwide  Series standings, was given permission to speak with other teams because his sponsor, Verizon, is expected to leave his car at season’s end.

With the release of Bayne, and the impending release of Allgaier, half of the Nationwide-only drivers in the top 10 in driver’s points will have been released. Steve Wallace and Jason Leffler are the other two Nationwide-only drivers currently in the top 10.

Update: Jim Utter tweeted that he is hearing that Bayne may pilot Roush Fenway Racing’s No. 16 N’wide Series Ford at this weekend’s Kansas race. This has yet to be confirmed.