09/11/2018
Mechanical Issue Forces Stenhouse to Settle with a 34th-Place Finish at Indy
SPEEDWAY, Ind. (Sept. 10, 2018) – After rain washed out the race weekend postponing the race until Monday afternoon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was running in the ninth position before a mechanical issue ultimately ended his day forcing him to settle with a 34th– place finish in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“Honestly, we were having one of our best runs at Indy but it just wasn’t meant to be. With no practice, the guys did a great job making adjustments during the race to make our John Deere Ford better throughout the race. Overall, both Roush Fenway Racing cars showed speed so I’m looking forward to getting to Las Vegas next weekend.”
After the field was set by owner points, the two-time Xfinity champion rolled off the grid in the 16th position but lost a few positions before the competition yellow was displayed on lap 10 due to an ill-handling machine. Unfortunately, the team was issued a penalty for an uncontrolled tire forcing Stenhouse to start at the rear of the field for the restart.
After working his way back up to the 23rd position, Stenhouse was caught speeding on pit-road as he was coming down for a green flag pit-stop costing him to drop to the 35th position. With a late caution in stage one, Stenhouse was able to gain nine positions before the green checkered flag waved ending stage one.
After the team progressively made the John Deere Ford better throughout stage two, the Olive Branch, Miss. native consistently ran in the top-15. Crew chief Brian Pattie called Stenhouse to pit-road with three laps to go in the stage for a scheduled pit-stop dropping the No. 17 Ford to the 28th position for the end of stage two.
A couple of laps from a scheduled pit-stop, the Roush Fenway Racing driver radioed in that he had a mechanical issue. Pattie quickly told him to stay out while they assessed the issue. Unfortunately, the John Deere Ford was unrepairable forcing Stenhouse to settle with a 34th-place finish.
Stenhouse and the No. 17 team travel to Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sept. 16, 2018 for the Southpoint 400. Race coverage begins at 3 p.m. EST on NBCSN.
