Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – Indianapolis Advance
Team: No. 17 NOS Energy Drink Ford Fusion
Crew Chief: Nick Sandler
Twitter: @PR17RFR, @Stenhousejr and @roushfenway
ADVANCE NOTES
Stenhouse Jr. at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
· Stenhouse has two Sprint Cup starts at IMS with an average starting position of 23.0 and average finishing position of 24.5.
· Stenhouse has completed 99.7% (319 of 320) of the laps at the historical 2.5-mile track
Last time at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Stenhouse Jr. qualified in the 21st- starting position for his second career Sprint Cup start at the esteemed Indianapolis Motor Speedway and consistently battled in the top-25 for a majority of the 400-mile race. With only four cautions and a mixture of pit strategies during the 160-lap race, Stenhouse Jr. battled with an ill-handling machine and was unable to gain ground on the leaders taking the checkered flag in the 24th place.
NOS Energy Drink
NOS Energy Drink is currently in its fourth season as a partner of Roush Fenway. They spent one year as a primary on the No. 6 in the NXS Series before moving up with Stenhouse to the Sprint Cup series three years ago.
Stenhouse Jr. on racing at Indianapolis:
“I really enjoy being in Indy. I lived not too far from there for about a year when I raced Sprint Cars and I always enjoy going back. I have never tested this package that we are running this weekend but from what we’ve heard it is a lot tighter so we are looking at our setups to make sure that we aren’t too tight. I have talked to some of the drivers who have tested this package and they said that you are on the throttle a lot so it will be interesting to see how the cars draft. We’ve had some solid finishes lately so hopefully we can carry that momentum into this weekend and leave the historical Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a solid finish.”
Sandler on racing at Indianapolis:
“There is a lot of unknown going into this weekend with the new aero package. We haven’t had the opportunity to test this package with the taller spoiler so we will have a little learning curve. With this package, drafting down the straightaways will be key. Indy is an historical place that every crew chief, team, and driver would like to win at so hopefully we can keep our NOS Energy Drink Ford up front and leave Indy with another solid finish.”