TALLADEGA, Ala. (Oct. 15, 2017) – After picking up his first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) victory in the spring at Talladega Superspeedway, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. picked up valuable playoff points at the end of stage one but was caught in a late race accident forcing him to settle with a 26th-place finish. With one race remaining in the NASCAR Playoffs Round of 12, Stenhouse is 22 points behind the cutoff line to make the Round of 8.
“I was just running on the bottom and the No. 38 ended up right in front of us,” Stenhouse said afterwards. “It was a bummer. We were working on getting our track position back. I felt like we had a really fast SunnyD Ford to contend for the win and put on a show for all these fans. We’ll go on to Kansas next week and have some fun.”
The Olive Branch, Miss. native started the 188-lap race in the fourth position and quickly showed the strength of his SunnyD Ford as he maneuvered multiple lines to maintain his top-five position in typical superspeedway racing. With differing pit strategies among the manufacturers, Stenhouse was able to pick up seven valuable stage points with his fourth-place finish in stage one.
After a scheduled pit-stop during the stage one break, Stenhouse Jr. restarted in the 28th position and patiently maneuvered his SunnyD Ford up to the second position within 19 laps. As stage two was winding down, the two-time XFINITY champion lost his drafting help on the bottom line forcing him to settle with a 22nd – place finish.
The Roush Fenway Racing driver lined up in the 21st position for the final stage and quickly worked all lines to work his SunnyD Ford up to the sixth position before a multi-car incident occurred in front of him. As the No. 38 machine spun down the track, Stenhouse was unable to avoid the spinning machine causing significant damage to the left front of the SunnyD Ford. The damage was too severe to return to the track forcing Stenhouse to settle with a 26th – place finish.
Stenhouse and the No. 17 team head to Kansas Speedway for the Hollywood Casino 400. The race is set for Sunday, Oct. 22. Coverage will begin at 3 p.m. (EST) on NBCSN.
