Ricky Stenhouse Jr – Charlotte Advance
Team: No. 17 Zest Ford Fusion
Crew Chief: Mike Kelley
Primary Chassis: RK- 914 – last raced in Atlanta – finished 20th.
Backup Chassis: RK-877- last raced in Loudon – finished ninth.
ADVANCE NOTES
Stenhouse Jr. at Charlotte Motor Speedway
o Stenhouse Jr. made his first Sprint Cup start at Charlotte in 2011 in the famed No. 21 finishing an impressive 11th-place.
o The two-time Nationwide champion has five career Sprint Cup starts with an average starting position of 21.4 and finishing position of 19.8.
The Car
o Chassis RK-914 is the same chassis that the No.17 team ran at Atlanta finishing 20th despite blowing a right rear tire in the last 100 laps.
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 Jr. on Charlotte:
“We always look forward to racing at Charlotte in front of our family and friends. We had a really good test at Texas a few weeks ago. We felt we found some stuff that would help our mile-and-a-half program, and we felt like it showed at Kansas last weekend. Charlotte is a special track to me because it’s the site of my first career Sprint Cup start. It would be great to have a solid top-10 finish this weekend in our Zest Ford.”
Mike Kelley on Charlotte:
“I think everyone looks forward to racing at Charlotte in front of all of our family and friends. We felt that we had a strong car in Kansas so hopefully that will translate to Charlotte. Charlotte is unique because the track temperature changes the handling of the car so drastically. It’s a long race so you can’t over adjust on your car.”
