Ricky Stenhouse Jr – Daytona 500 Advance
Team: No. 17 Fastenal Ford Fusion
Crew Chief: Nick Sandler
Twitter: @Stenhouse17team, @Stenhousejr, and @roushfenway
ADVANCE NOTES
· Stenhouse in the Sprint Unlimited
After blowing a right rear tire on lap 13 in Saturday night’s Sprint Unlimited at Daytona International Speedway, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. overcame the damage to his Fastenal Ford to take the checkered flag in the sixth position earning his best finish in three starts.
· Stenhouse at Daytona International Speedway
o The Olive Branch, Miss. native will line up third during Thursday night’s first Can-Am Duel to set the field for the 500.
o The two-time XFINITY champion has 11 career starts at DIS.
§ Seven Cup starts with an average finishing position of 19.9 and best career finish of seventh in 2014’s Daytona 500.
§ Six XFINITY starts with an average starting position of 8.2.
· Fastenal in the Daytona 500
o Fastenal has appeared in the Daytona 500 as a primary sponsor the past four years earning one pole in 2012 and a best finish of eighth in 2012.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on the Daytona 500:
“The Fastenal Ford Fusion has been strong all weekend so I’m definitely looking forward to the Duels and 500. Every driver wants to win the Daytona 500. We know our Fastenal Ford is fast so we will talk about our strategy for the Duels to get the best starting position, but we also don’t want any damage to our Fastenal Ford. Our Roush Fenway Racing Fords definitely have speed which is a testament of all the hard work over the off-season. I’m confident that if we can stay out of trouble on Sunday then we can kick off the season with a solid finish.”
Nick Sandler on the Daytona 500:
“The Sprint Unlimited was a great practice round for our team as we get ready for our Super Bowl, the Daytona 500. Our Fastenal Ford has been really strong since we unloaded. Last year it seemed like we always got caught in a wreck on the last lap of all the superspeedway races so hopefully we can avoid the big one and have our Fastenal Ford in a position to go for the win at the end.”