Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – Federated Auto Parts 400 Advance
Team: No. 17 Nationwide Ford Fusion
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Primary Chassis: RK- 858 – last ran at Loudon- finished 34th
Backup Chassis: RK-801 – chassis for the No. 99 in 2012
ADVANCE NOTES
· Stenhouse at Richmond
o Stenhouse made his first career Sprint Cup start at RIR in the spring, finishing 16th after battling an ill-handling race car.
o Stenhouse has six career Nationwide starts at Richmond, earning four top-five and four top-10 finishes.
o Stenhouse is currently 21st in the Sprint Cup standings.
· The Car
o Chassis RK-858 is the same chassis that the No.17 team ran at New Hampshire where Stenhouse was running in the top-20 before being collected after two cars tangled in front of him.
o The backup Chassis RK-801 was a chassis that the No. 99 ran numerous times in 2012. It has been a backup at Martinsville, Bristol, and Phoenix so far this season.
· Nationwide
o Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest and strongest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the U.S. and is rated A+ by both A.M. Best and Standard & Poor’s. The company provides customers a full range of insurance and financial services, including auto insurance, motorcycle, boat, homeowners, pet, life insurance, farm, commercial insurance, annuities, mortgages, mutual funds, pensions, long-term savings plans and specialty health services. For more information, visit www.nationwide.com.
Stenhouse on Richmond:
“The night race at Richmond is always exciting. Our No. 17 team is improving every week. We got our first pole last weekend, so now we are just looking for our first top-10. We have Nationwide back on our Ford Fusion so we want to get them a solid finish this weekend. If we can get our Nationwide Ford to turn in the center for good drive off, I think we will get our first top-10 this weekend.”
Scott Graves on Richmond:
“Our No. 17 team has been working really hard and that effort was rewarded by winning the pole last weekend, but we’ve got to keep improving. Richmond is typical Saturday night short track racing, anything can happen. It is important at Richmond to have a good handling race car that has forward drive. If we can stay up front, stay out of trouble, and execute on pit-road, I think we will get our first top-10 this season.”
