Ricky Stenhouse Jr –GoBowling.com 400 Advance
Team: No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford Fusion
Crew Chief: Mike Kelley
Primary Chassis: RK- 882 – last raced at Michigan– finished 27th.
Backup Chassis: RK-888 – last raced at Bristol – finished second.
ADVANCE NOTES
· Recap of Pocono
o On the final restart with 12 laps remaining, Stenhouse Jr. lined up in the 16th-position, but the outside lane stacked up after the No. 22 machine had an issue on the restart creating four and five wide going into turn one of the ‘Tricky Triangle’. With ten laps remaining, Stenhouse had maneuvered his Ford into the 13th position but lost two spots in the closing laps to cars with fresher tires taking the checkered flag in the 15th position.
· Stenhouse Jr. at Pocono Raceway
o Stenhouse has three Sprint Cup starts at Pocono Raceway with an average starting position of 20.3 and average finishing position of 25.0.
o Stenhouse has two ARCA starts at the ‘Tricky Triangle’ including one win in 2008.
· The Car
o Chassis RK-882 is the same chassis that the No.17 team raced at Michigan where they finished 27th after being involved in a lap six accident which damaged the right rear fender of the No. 17 Ford.
o The backup Chassis RK- 888 is the same chassis that the No. 17 raced at Bristol earning their highest finish of the season.
· Fifth Third Bank
o To find the nearest Fifth Third Bank branch near you – visit www.53.com/atm/branchatm
· Pennsylvania native
o Front mechanic, JT Lasky, grew up in Johnstown, PA which is approximately three hours away from Pocono Raceway.
Stenhouse Jr. on racing at Pocono:
“We had a decent run at Pocono earlier this year and feel like we learned some things that can help us this weekend. We have been testing a lot lately to work on our cars and we feel that we have found some things that can be beneficial. It would be great to have a strong run in our Fifth Third Ford this weekend.”
Mike Kelley on racing at Pocono:
“Pocono is unique triangle track that is very challenging with three different corners and a very long straightaway. We had a good run there earlier this season which should give us a good start to the weekend. The GoBowling.com 400 is a long race so we will keep adjusting on our Fifth Third Ford and hopefully leave there with a top-10 finish.”