07/24/2016
Stenhouse Jr. Drives SunnyD Ford to a 12th-Place Finish at Indy
SPEEDWAY, Ind. (July 24, 2016) – After multiple late race cautions sent the Brickyard 400 into overtime, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. restarted 14th for the final green-white-checkered attempt picking up two positions in the closing laps to earn a career best 12th-place finish at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway(IMS).
“It wasn’t a bad day,” Stenhouse said. “This was definitely our best Indy performance across the board – qualifying, practices, the race. We still have a lot of work to do. We know where we need to work, we just have to make sure we get that and I think it will translate to all of the other race tracks we go to. The flatter race tracks we struggle at, so at Pocono next week we can hopefully get some ideas to help with turn two and turn three because that’s the biggest key for us is to get our car through the corner and off. I felt good with everybody on entry and through the center I just need to get a little bit better, but it was nice to come home with the Sunny D Ford in 12th.”
After struggling with a tight machine in qualifying on Saturday afternoon, the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) Rookie of the Year started 16th at the two-and-a-half-mile track but lost a few positions early on due to a tight handling condition.
On lap 153, a multi-car accident occurred ahead of the SunnyD Ford causing Stenhouse to sustain some right side damage. The team quickly called him to pit road when the red flag was displayed. The red flag condition allowed the team to survey the damage and come up with a plan so when the red flag was lifted they could promptly repair the mangled machine.
On the second green-white-checkered attempt, the Olive Branch, Miss. native lined up in the 14th position gaining two positions in the final laps to take the checkered flag in the 12th position.
Stenhouse and the No. 17 team travel to Pocono Raceway on July 31, 2016 for the Pennsylvania 400. Race coverage starts at 1:30 pm EST on NBCSN.
