Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – GEICO 400 Advance
Team: No. 17 Best Buy Ford Fusion
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Primary Chassis: RK- 860 – last ran at Indy- finished 25th
Backup Chassis: RK-815 – last ran at Darlington – finished
ADVANCE NOTES
· Stenhouse at Chicagoland
o The last time Stenhouse raced at Chicagoland, he celebrated in victory lane after his dominating performance in the Dollar General 300.
o Stenhouse has five career Nationwide starts at Chicago, earning one win, two top-five and three top-10 finishes.
o This will mark the rookie’s first Sprint Cup start at Chicagoland.
· The Car
o Chassis RK-860 is the same chassis that the No.17 team ran at Indianapolis, where Stenhouse ran in the top-25 for the majority of the race, but was unable to gain on the leaders as track position was crucial.
o The backup Chassis RK-815 is a chassis that the No. 17 ran at Darlington finishing 18th and most recently this chassis tested at Atlanta Motor Speedway during the tire test.
· Recapping Richmond
o With less than 30 laps remaining in the Federated Auto Parts 400, the two-time Nationwide champion had maneuvered his Nationwide Ford into the 11th position. After a caution set up a three lap shootout to the checkered, Stenhouse took the final green flag in the 12th- position and bullied his way forward to take the checkered flag in the 10th position earning his first top-10 finish of the 2013 season.
· Best Buy
o Make sure to follow @BestBuy and use hashtag #BestBuy17 in 2013.
o When Stenhouse finishes in the top-10, fans can go to Best Buy the following week and buy one NOS Energy Drink and get one free.
Stenhouse on Chicagoland:
“We finally got our first top-10 in Richmond. We have been close, but came up shy twice by finishing 11th. Our strong finish at Richmond gives us momentum going into Chicago. I enjoy racing at the mile-and-a-half tracks so I’m looking forward to this weekend. Last time I raced at Chicago, we picked up the win so hopefully we can get a strong finish in our Best Buy Ford Fusion this weekend.”
Scott Graves on Chicagoland:
“Earning our first top-10 finish last weekend shows how hard this No. 17 team is working. We are down to the final 10 races and we feel we are much stronger the second time around at the tracks coming up. We will take our momentum from last weekend and head to Chicago looking for another top-10 finish.”
