Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – Kansas Advance
Team: No. 17 Fastenal Ford Fusion
Crew Chief: Nick Sandler
Twitter: @Stenhouse17Team, @stenhousejr, and @roushfenway
ADVANCE NOTES
Stenhouse at Kansas Speedway
Stenhouse has seven NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) starts at Kansas Speedway with an average starting position of 13.6 and average finishing position of 18.9.
Stenhouse knows how to get to victory lane at Kansas. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. overcame being two laps down with less than a 100 laps remaining to persevere to claim his sixth win of the 2012 NASCAR XFINITY season at Kansas Speedway.
Last time at Kansas
While running in the 12th position with less than 35 laps remaining, Stenhouse was battling a loose machine which caused him to make contact with the outside wall bringing out the caution flag. The team worked feverishly to clear the fenders on the Zest machine and to keep the two-time XFINITY champion on the lead lap.
After restarting in the 17th position, Stenhouse was marching up through the field when a multi-car accident occurred in front of him causing the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year to flat spot the left front tire forcing him to bring his Zest Ford to pit road when it was open.
With four fresh Goodyear tires, Stenhouse Jr. lined up in the 14th position for the final 19 lap shoot-out but the handling of his machine turned tight forcing him to settle with a 13th-place finish.
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.
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
All of Roush Fenway’s race cars will carry special ‘pink ribbon Driven logos’ in each of the month’s events.
Stenhouse Jr. on racing at Kansas:
“Kansas is a fast, smooth track and a lot of fun to race. We had a decent run at Kansas earlier this year just got in the wall at the end of the race. We’ve made some gains on our intermediate program so I look for us to have a strong run at Kansas this weekend.”
Nick Sandler on racing at Kansas:
“Kansas is a fast, smooth 1.5-mile track. Pit strategy usually comes into play so if we can execute on pit road and keep adjusting on our Fastenal Ford as the race progresses then we should be able to leave Kansas with a solid finish. We have six races remaining so we need to finish the season off strong.”
