Team: No. 17 Fastenal Ford Fusion
Crew Chief: Nick Sandler
Twitter: @PR17RFR, @stenhousejr, @FastenalRacing and @roushfenway
ADVANCE NOTES
Stenhouse Jr. at Martinsville Speedway
Stenhouse has six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) starts at Martinsville with an average starting position of 23.3
Last weekend at Fontana
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. restarted eighth on the final green-white-checkered attempt and gained three positions in the final two laps to score his first top-five finish of the 2016 NSCS season.
Last time at Martinsville
After working his way up to the 25th position, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was involved in multi-car chain reaction accident on lap 113 causing significant damage to his Ford ultimately sending the mangled machine to the garage. Due to hasty work by the No. 17 team to repair the damage, Stenhouse Jr. was able to pick up four positions after returning to the track to take the checkered flag 39th.
Virginia Native
The engine tuner on the No. 17 machine since 2013, Jonathan Salmons, grew up in Bassett, Virginia which is approximately 15 miles north of Martinsville Speedway.
On the Car
Fastenal is currently in its fifth 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.
Stenhouse Jr. on racing at Martinsville:
“Martinsville is a difficult half-mile track that I have struggled at in the past. I definitely feel more comfortable there and can give the needed feedback to get our Fastenal Ford dialed in. It’s a long race which I have to remind myself to stay patient. I think if we can keep our Fastenal Ford clean and not get caught up in a wreck then we should be able to have a solid finish at Martinsville.”
Nick Sandler on racing at Martinsville:
“I’m optimistic heading to Martinsville this weekend especially after our great start to the season. As a company, we feel that we have definitely improved our program there over the past couple of years. The key is to get your car to turn through the center but you also need to protect your rear tires on exit. A lot can happen at Martinsville so hopefully if we can be mistake free, then we should leave there with a strong finish which we need for the overall point standings.”
