Life never will be the same for 20-year-old Trevor Bayne, who Sunday became the youngest driver to win the Daytona 500.
“The White House called. That was pretty incredible,” Bayne told us on Tuesday. “I didn’t know who it was because it was a private number. I said: ‘Who is this?’ They said: ‘This is such-and-such from the White House.’ I thought someone was playing a prank on me. But they said the president wanted to talk to me in the next couple of days. I thought that was really, really neat. Then Jimmie Johnson called and Carl Edwards and all of the guys that I race against have been calling. So it has been nice to see their support.”
Bayne made the media rounds in Chicago on Tuesday between stops in Connecticut and San Francisco.
“It has been a whirlwind. That’s the best way to describe it,” Bayne said. “I’ve done interviews, I’ve done TV shows, I’ve done press conferences, I’ve done fan meetings. … I have enjoyed every second of it.”
Sights seen: Cubs catcher Geovany Soto, who looks muscled up and in great shape, dining at Benihana and at Sapporo in Scottsdale. … Rich Melman stopping by Greg Olsen’s table at the Paris Club on Monday night in Chicago. … Pistons guard Ben Gordon at LuxBar with his family for brunch on Sunday. … Bulls center Omer Asik at Gold Class Cinemas in South Barrington watching “Just Go With It.”
