RICHMOND,Va. (Sept. 7, 2014) – After leading the Roush Fenway Racing qualifying efforts for the final race to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. battled an ill-handling machine for a majority Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 forcing him to settle for a 26th- place finish at Richmond International Raceway.
“We had high hopes for our Fifth Third Bank Ford going into the race after our solid qualifying effort,” Stenhouse said. “We just couldn’t get our car to turn in the corners. We still have a lot of work to do on our cars but I feel we are making gains. We have three tests coming up so we will go to work and try to help our teammates go for the championship.”
Earning his third top-10 start of the 2014 season, the two-time NASCAR Nationwide champion led the RFR trio with his seventh-place starting position.
For the majority of the 400-mile race, the Olive Branch, Miss. native battled a tight Fifth Third Ford through the corners but despite the multiple changes on numerous pit stops throughout the duration of the race the car was unresponsive.
With a mostly green flag race and a lengthy green flag run at the end of the race, Stenhouse took the checkered flag in the 26th position.
Stenhouse and the No. 17 team return to action next Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway for the MyAFibStory.com 400. Race coverage starts at 2:00 pm EST on ESPN.
