Coming off of a pair of XFINITY Series Championships, there was a lot of positive momentum around Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and everybody was expecting stellar results. That momentum has since faded, though, as a lot of people are asking the question – where are those results?
Stenhouse’s rookie season saw him produce a top-five and three top-10s en route to finishing 19th in points. Not bad for a rookie, but nothing to write home about. His sophomore season last year, though, was worse. He finished 27th in points with a single top-five and five top-10s. Oh, and he failed to qualify at Talladega Superspeedway (Remember that mess?), but we’ll let that go as that was sort of a format fault, if you will.
It’s not like he can blame it on simple bad luck, either. He and Mike Kelley purely haven’t performed at all over the season, running in the teens and 20s on any given week. It isn’t due to lack of chemistry either, as it was Kelley who led Stenhouse to success in XFINITY. However, benefit of the doubt time, the performance wasn’t there for his teammates either with Carl Edwards fighting his way to make the Chase, finishing eighth, with Greg Biffle finishing 14th. Also, why do you think he made the decision to leave RFR at season’s end to go to Joe Gibbs Racing?
Now heading into 2015, Stenhouse needs to get the results on track and fast – but may find it a little tough.
Roush Fenway Racing under a whole is under the gun to perform with the sub-par performances last year and the loss of Edwards. Will losing Edwards create a blow in the team’s sails? It could quite possibly, or it may allow a shift in focus within the team. Also, there’s a new teammate in the crop – Trevor Bayne. While he isn’t a rookie, this will mark his first full season and you have to expect the problems that a rookie would come across.
However, there’s some hope as RFR is trying to help the cause. Stenhouse has been paired with Nick Sandler, who spent the last four seasons working as the head engineer for the No. 99 team under Jimmy Fennig, while Mike Kelley will make the shift to car chief in 2015. Sandler saw what it took to get the results for Edwards. Can he bring that knowledge over to Stenhouse? Quite possibly, but it will depend on how the engineer adjusts to the crew chief role, and whether he jells with Stenhouse.
Then there’s also the new rule package. If RFR can hit on something before their competition, they could rack up some success before the rest catch up. Considering they were known for mile and a half domination in the past, that may be something to have return this year.
Some think Edwards was a bad teammate. The team will have better teammate chemistry, these people say. And Ricky’s performance could be the bad cars. He’s said to overdrive the car and that’s where his struggles come from. Maybe if he had a faster car, he’d no longer overdrive it and then he’d have an easier time.
Eliminating a driver doesn’t just magically create better cars. Research and innovation creates better cars. How does Edwards leaving create that? How does adding a young teammate increase that? Positives aren’t in favor in that respect.