Ricky Stenhouse Jr – 5-Hour Energy 400 Advance
Team: No. 17 Zest Ford Fusion
Crew Chief: Mike Kelley
Primary Chassis: RK- 882– last ran at Vegas – finished 27th
Backup Chassis: RK-888 – new chassis
ADVANCE NOTES
· Stenhouse at Kansas
o Stenhouse has two Sprint Cup career starts at Kansas with an average starting position of 2.5.
o Stenhouse is currently 25th in the Sprint Cup standings.
o Stenhouse has one top-five and three top-10 finishes this 2014 season.
· The Car
o Chassis RK-882 is the same chassis that the No.17 team ran at Las Vegas finishing 27th after a costly pit-road speeding penalty.
· Last time at Kansas
o After leading a career high 26 laps in the STP 400 at Kansas Speedway, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. settled for an 11th-place finish after an unlucky caution was displayed one lap after he forfeited the lead for a scheduled green flag pit-stop.
· Zest
o High Ridge Brands is the name of the parent company/private equity firm.
o Zest’s first year in NASCAR was 2012 when they sponsored the No. 17 Ford.
Stenhouse on Kansas:
“I’m looking forward to racing at Kansas Speedway this weekend. We tested there a few weeks ago and I feel like we are making gains in our 1.5-mile track program. Kansas is a fast, smooth track, which I like. We led there last spring so hopefully we can get our Zest Ford back up front this weekend with all the Zest plant managers there and with the plant being so close to the track.”
Mike Kelley on Kansas:
“We had a successful test at Kansas a few weeks ago and felt we learned some things that should be beneficial this weekend. We had a strong showing at Talladega last weekend so we will carry that momentum into this weekend and hopefully get another top 10 in our Zest Ford.”
