Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – Talladega Advance
Team: No. 17 Zest Ford Fusion
Crew Chief: Nick Sandler
Twitter: @PR17RFR @stenhousejr @ZestRacing and @roushfenway
ADVANCE NOTES
Stenhouse at Talladega Superspeedway
The two-time XFINITY champion has four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) career starts at Talladega with an average finishing position of 13.0.
Stenhouse has led in three of his four NSCS starts at the 2.66-mile track.
Last time at Talladega
Despite being involved in a 15 car accident on lap 47, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was scored in the 13th position when the white flag was displayed but a last lap wreck forced Stenhouse into the outside wall causing the two-time XFINITY champion to settle for a 26th- place finish.
Helmet for this Weekend
In the spring, the head coach of the Ole Miss Football team, Hugh Freeze, drove the pace car for the NSCS race at Talladega. Stenhouse Jr., who is a loyal follower of the Ole Miss Rebels and friends with Coach Freeze, will run a replica Ole Miss’ powder blue helmet this weekend.
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.
Stenhouse Jr. on racing at Talladega:
“Our superspeedway cars have been strong this year but we’ve had some bad luck during the plate races this season. Talladega is such a fun track, you can feel the excitement of all the fans. As you know, anything can happen at Talladega so hopefully we can keep our Zest Ford clean and be in contention at the end of the race to go for the win or at least leave there with a solid finish.”
Nick Sandler on racing at Talladega:
“We’ve brought strong cars to the superspeedway races this season but just had some misfortune. Ricky is a smart plate racer. We’ve been working on being consistent each weekend and are coming off four straight top-15 finishes so hopefully we can keep that streak alive this weekend at Talladega. If we can avoid the ‘big one’, I’m confident that you will see the Zest Ford up near the front of the pack.”
