Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – Phoenix Advance
Team: No. 17 Fastenal Ford Fusion
Crew Chief: Nick Sandler
Twitter: @PR17RFR @stenhousejr @FastenalRacing and @roushfenway
ADVANCE NOTES
Stenhouse Jr. at Phoenix International Raceway
· Stenhouse has four Sprint Cup starts at Phoenix with an average starting position of 19.5 and average finishing position of 15.8.
· Stenhouse has completed 100% (1252 of 1252) of the laps at Phoenix.
· Stenhouse has a total combined (XFINITY and Sprint Cup) 10 starts at Phoenix earning six top-10 and three top-five finishes.
Last time at Phoenix
After going a lap down early on, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. battled back to get back on the lead lap with 76 laps remaining in the 312-lap race last fall. Despite battling an ill-handling race car for a majority of the race, the 2013 Sprint Cup rookie of the year finessed his Ford to a 17th- place finish.
The Car
· It was last raced in Phoenix by Carl Edwards where he finished 15th.
· In the four times that this car was raced in 2014, it earned its best finish at Dover with an 11th -place finish.
Fastenal
· Fastenal is currently in its fourth season as a primary partner in the NSCS for Roush Fenway. They spent three years on the No. 99 before jumping over to the No. 17 entry, and were the primary partner on the No. 60 XFINITY team that captured the owner’s championship in 2011.
· Fastenal will return as the primary of the No. 17 machine at Martinsville Speedway.
Stenhouse Jr. on racing at Phoenix:
“Phoenix is a tough one-mile track but it is a lot of fun to race there. This is our first short track of the season so it will allow us to evaluate our cars to see how our car reacts with new rules package and reduced horsepower. If we can get our Fastenal Ford to turn in the center and stay on the lead lap, we should leave Phoenix with a solid finish which we need so we can gain some positions in the point standings.”
Sandler on racing at Phoenix:
“Phoenix is our first short-track of the season. Roush Fenway prevailed at the short tracks last season, so Phoenix will give us an opportunity to see how our cars stack up now with the new rules package and what we need to work on for future short tracks. The key to being successful at Phoenix is to get your car to turn through the corners, so we will work on our set-up and make sure we give Ricky a car that he can be competitive with. It’s so easy to go a lap down at Phoenix so we will focus on qualifying and trying to keep the Fastenal Ford up front during the race.”
