04/12/2015
Stenhouse Jr. Overcomes Adversity To Finish 15th At Texas
FORT WORTH, Texas (April 11, 2015) – After overcoming two pit-road penalties and battling back from three laps down, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. led the Roush Fenway Racing efforts driving his Zest Ford to a 15th-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway.
“I’m proud of my guys for never giving up,” Stenhouse said. “I sped coming onto pit-road and got us behind but with some strategy and some cautions falling our way, we finally were able to get back on the lead lap with 35 laps to go. This finish shows the determination of our team and organization.”
After battling a tight machine in qualifying on Friday night, the Olive Branch, Mississippi native started the 334-lap race in the 22ndposition but gradually lost a few positions in the early stages of the race because of the loose handling condition of the Zest Ford.
With a mostly green flag race the two-time NASCAR XFINITY champion found himself three laps down, but with a flurry of late race cautions Stenhouse earned the lucky dog position and was back on the lead lap with 35 laps remaining.
After earning the free pass position on lap 294, the 2013 Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year restarted 24th and bullied his way up to 18thwithin nine laps when the final yellow flag was displayed.
After a speedy pit stop by the No. 17 team, Stenhouse picked up three positions on pit-road and restarted the final laps in 15th. After holding off a few challengers in the final laps, Stenhouse took the checkered flag in the 15th position earning his third top-15 finishes in four races.
Stenhouse and the No. 17 team travel to Bristol Motor Speedway next weekend for the Food City 500 on Sunday, April 19. Race coverage starts at 1:00 pm EST on FOX.
