Ricky Stenhouse Jr – Toyota/Save-Mart 350 Advance
Team: No. 17 Ford Ecoboost Fusion
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Primary Chassis: RK- 816 – last raced at Watkins Glen by the No. 99 – finished 14th.
Backup Chassis: RK- 758 – back-up chassis for road course races in 2012.
ADVANCE NOTES
· Stenhouse Jr. at Sonoma Raceway
o Stenhouse will make his debut at Sonoma Raceway this weekend; the Sprint Cup rookie has never raced in any series at this road course.
o Last year in the three road course races on the Natiowide schedule, Stenhouse finished 12th or better.
· The Car
o Chassis RK-816 is the same chassis that the No. 99 team ran last year at Watkins Glen finishing 14th.
· Ford
o Last week’s win at Michigan marked Ford’s 1,000th NASCAR win.
o Delivering up to 20 percent better fuel economy than conventional engines, EcoBoost uses smaller overall size combined with turbocharging and gasoline direct injection to bring customers the power they want and the fuel economy they need.
Stenhouse Jr. on racing at Sonoma:
“I don’t know what to expect going into Sonoma since I’ve never raced there. I definitely felt more comfortable last year at the road courses on the Nationwide schedule so hopefully they will prepare me for this weekend. We’ve done some testing to get ready for the road races so I think if we leave Sonoma with a top-20 finish it would be a successful weekend for us.”
Scott Graves on racing at Sonoma:
“Since we have never been to Sonoma, we will rely heavily on our teammates. We have done some testing this year to get ready for the road course races so hopefully we can get a solid finish at Sonoma. Ricky definitely was more comfortable at the road races last year so I think he will have a strong run this weekend. In the past, the races have come down to pit strategy so hopefully we will have the right strategy and can come home with a solid top-15 finish.”
