Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – Pocono Advance
Team: No. 17 Zest Ford Fusion
Crew Chief: Nick Sandler
Twitter: @PR17RFR, @stenhousejr, @ZestRacing and @roushfenway
ADVANCE NOTES
Stenhouse at Pocono Raceway
Stenhouse has four Sprint Cup starts at Pocono Raceway with an average starting position of 21.0 and average finishing position of 23.2.
In his first career start at the ‘Tricky Triangle’, Stenhouse Jr. won the ARCA race in 2008.
Last time at Pocono
On the final restart with 12 laps remaining, the 2013 Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year lined up in the 16th position, but the outside lane stacked up after the No. 22 machine had an issue on the restart creating four and five wide going into turn one of the ‘Tricky Triangle’. With ten laps remaining, Stenhouse had maneuvered his Ford into the 13th position but lost two spots in the closing laps to cars with fresher tires taking the checkered flag in the 15th position.
Zest
Zest is currently in its fourth season as a primary partner in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for Roush Fenway. They have spent all four years on the No. 17 machine; one year with Matt Kenseth and three years with Stenhouse.
Zest adorned the No. 17 machine at Bristol Motor Speedway where Stenhouse picked up his first top five of the season.
Stenhouse Jr. on racing at Pocono:
“We have shown some speed in our Fords the past couple of weeks but have had some bad luck during the race. Pocono is a unique track because all three corners are distinct. Fuel mileage usually comes into play so hopefully we can keep our Zest Ford clean and be there at the end. After the past couple of weeks, we definitely need to have a good finish this weekend and move back up in the points.”
Nick Sandler on racing at Pocono:
“I really look forward to Pocono and the challenge on how each turn affects our Zest Ford. Track position is really important so we will focus on our qualifying set-up on Friday. This race usually has long green flag runs so pit strategy will come into play so we will make sure to minimize the amount of time on pit road and hopefully keep our Zest Ford up near the front.”
