Loudon, N.H. (Sept. 27, 2015) – With a few cars running out of fuel in the final three laps, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. drove his Ford Ecoboost Ford to a 13th-place finish in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway; earning his third straight top-20 finish.
“We gambled there at the end and probably should have taken four tires,” Stenhouse said. “All in all it was a good weekend for us. We have been focusing on starting near the front and just finishing these races. We have eight races left to keep building and get our No. 17 team ready for the 2016 season.”
After barely missing advancing to round three of qualifying on Friday, the two-time XFINITY champion started the 300-lap race in the 14th position but lost a few positions on restarts as his Ford Ecoboost Ford struggled on cold tires.
When the caution flag waved on lap 237, crew chief Nick Sandler called the Olive Branch, Miss. native to pit road for two tires gaining six positions on pit road. Track position is crucial but four tires prevailed costing Stenhouse a few positions in the closing laps.
Fuel mileage became a factor at the end of the race. Stenhouse Jr. was able to gain three positions in the closing laps as some of the leaders ran out of fuel coming to the checkered flag.
Stenhouse and the No. 17 team travel to Dover International Speedway on October 4, 2015 for the AAA 400. Race coverage starts at 2:30 pm EST on NBCSN.
