Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.

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Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.

Stenhouse in 2010
Born (1987-10-02) October 2, 1987
Olive Branch, Mississippi, US
Achievements 2011, 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series Champion
Awards 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year
2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
41 race(s) run over 3 year(s)
Car no., team No. 17 (Roush Fenway Racing)
2013 position 19th
Best finish 19th (2013)
First race 2011 Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte)
Last race 2013 Ford EcoBoost 400 (Homestead)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 3 1
NASCAR Nationwide Series career
107 race(s) run over 5 year(s)
Car no., team No. 16 (Roush Fenway Racing)
2013 position 115th
Best finish 1st (2011, 2012)
First race 2009 Nashville 300 (Nashville)
Last race 2013 O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge (Texas)
First win 2011 John Deere Dealers 250 (Iowa)
Last win 2012 Kansas Lottery 300 (Kansas)
Wins Top tens Poles
8 62 8
Statistics current as of November 17, 2013.

Richard Lynn "Ricky" Stenhouse, Jr. (born October 2, 1987)[1][2] is an American racing driver in NASCAR. He is a rookie competitor in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, driving the #17 Nationwide Insurance / Zest / Fifth Third Bank Ford Fusion for Roush Fenway Racing in the Sprint Cup Series. Stenhouse was the 2010 Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year[3] and won back-to-back Nationwide Series championships in 2011 and 2012. Stenhouse was the 2013 Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year.

Career

Early career

Stenhouse began his major-league stock car racing career in the ARCA Racing Series in 2008, driving for Roush Fenway Racing. On May 10, 2008, in only his sixth race in a stock car, Stenhouse, Jr. won his first ARCA RE/MAX Series event at the Drive Smart! Buckle Up Kentucky 150 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Kentucky. He had two wins in 21 races and finished fourth in the season ranking as a rookie.[4]

NASCAR

Stenhouse's 2009 Nationwide Series car at the Milwaukee Mile

In 2009, Stenhouse began competing in partial schedule in the Nationwide Series at events that conflicted with the Sprint Cup schedule. He had his first Top 10 finish at Kentucky Speedway when he finished ninth. At the following race in Milwaukee, he led 46 laps in the later stages of the race and finished fifth.[5]

2010 was an up and down year for Stenhouse. After crashing out of four out of the first ten races of the season, Stenhouse was replaced by Brian Ickler for three races and Billy Johnson drove at Watkins Glen. After taking on veteran Mike Kelly as crew chief, Stenhouse immediately responded with a third place finish at Daytona. He proceeded to take seven top tens and was locked in a tight battle for Rookie of the Year (ROTY) with Brian Scott. With Scott struggling after his release from Turner Motorsports, Stenhouse took the ROTY award after a fourth place finish at Homestead.

2011 Nationwide championship car at Road America.

On May 22, 2011, Stenhouse held off charges from Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski for the final 18 laps to claim his first win in the John Deere Dealers 250 at Iowa Speedway, his 51st start in the Nationwide Series.[6]

Stenhouse made his Sprint Cup Series debut at the 2011 Coca-Cola 600 substituting for fellow Roush teammate Trevor Bayne. Ricky finished 11th in the Wood Brothers Racing entry.[7]

Stenhouse had dominated the Kroger 200 Nationwide Series race at Lucas Oil Raceway before being passed by Brad Keselowski late in the race. Stenhouse took his second Nationwide win at Iowa in August, again holding off teammate Carl Edwards, but in a more bizarre fashion as Stenhouse's engine blew coming off of turn 4. Edwards subsequently rear ended his teammate, pushing him across the line to the win.

At the end of the 2011 season, having scored sixteen top-five finishes, Stenhouse won the Nationwide Series championship by 45 points over Elliot Sadler.[8]

2012 Nationwide car

Stenhouse drove the No. 6 Sprint Cup Series car for Roush Fenway Racing in the 2012 Daytona 500,[9][10] finishing 20th.[11]

In the Nationwide Series the previous day, Stenhouse had been caught up in a 10-car wreck on the final lap of the series' season-opening event; a week later he finished 3rd at Phoenix, while a week after that Stenhouse won his first race of 2012 at Las Vegas, winning the Sam's Town 300, holding off Mark Martin to take the checkered flag;[12] he would win races at Texas Motor Speedway and Iowa Speedway before suffering a run of bad luck starting at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Stenhouse would score 3 more victories at Atlanta, Charlotte, and Kansas. He once again held off Sadler to take his second consecutive Nationwide Series championship.

On June 26, 2012, Roush Fenway Racing announced that Stenhouse will drive the No. 17 car in the Sprint Cup Series full-time for 2013, replacing Matt Kenseth.[13] Trevor Bayne is expected to replace Stenhouse in the Nationwide No. 6 car for 2013.[14]

Stenhouse, Jr. during practice for the 2013 NRA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway
Stenhouse, Jr. competing in the 2013 STP Gas Booster 500 at Martinsville Speedway

To prepare for the 2013 season, Stenhouse Jr. has run in the AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway where he finished 12th, the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway where he finished 35th because of engine problems; but he was running near the front of the field. He also ran in the season finale Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in which bad luck struck again as he cut a tire and smacked the wall, similar to what happened to Marcos Ambrose two races before, in Texas. In all of these races he ran in the No. 6 car of Roush Fenway Racing sponsored by Cargill, Best Buy, and Fifth Third Bank respectively.

In 2013, Stenhouse is competing full-time in the #17 Ford Fusion in the Sprint Cup Series. He has been paired with rookie crew chief Scott Graves, who was formerly an engineer for Roush Fenway Racing. Stenhouse placed 12th in his second Daytona 500 (his first with the #17 team) despite suffering crash damage on lap 134. Stenhouse led his first lap of Sprint Cup competition at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Later in the season Stenhouse had his breakout race at Kansas, where he qualified third and led 26 laps, before finishing 11th.[citation needed] In qualifying at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Stenhouse won the pole position with a 29.227 lap time.[15] Stenhouse recorded his first top ten finish with a 10th place finish at Richmond, followed by an eighth place finish at Chicagoland. His best finish of the season was a third place finish at Talladega behind Jamie McMurray and Dale Earnhardt, Jr.. Stenhouse was eventually named Cup Series Rookie of the Year.[16]

Personal life

Stenhouse was born in Memphis, Tennessee and was raised in Olive Branch, Mississippi. He is the first Mississippian driver to attempt a full-time schedule since Lake Speed in 1997. He started out on dirt then made a transition to stock cars in 2008.

On January 25, 2013, Danica Patrick announced that she was dating Stenhouse.[2]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold - Pole position awarded by time. Italics - Pole position earned by points standings. * – Most laps led.)

Sprint Cup Series

Nationwide Series

* Season in progress
1 Ineligible for series points.

References

  1. ↑ Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Career Statistics
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Danica says she's dating Stenhouse". FOX Sports. Retrieved January 26, 2013. 
  3. ↑ http://nationwide.nascar.com/nationwide-series/drivers/dps/rstenhou00
  4. ↑ "2008 ARCA driving statistics". Racing-reference. Retrieved 2009-07-19. 
  5. ↑ "2009 Nationwide Series results". Racing-reference. Retrieved 2009-07-19. 
  6. ↑ "Stenhouse claims first career victory at Iowa". Sporting News Wire Service. NASCAR. Retrieved 22 May 2011. 
  7. ↑ Spencer, Lee (January 6, 2012). "Stenhouse, Dillon bring new excitement". Fox Sports. Retrieved 2012-01-06. 
  8. ↑ Livingstone, Seth (November 19, 2011). "Stenhouse Jr. wins Nationwide championship". USA Today. Retrieved 2012-01-06. 
  9. ↑ Pockrass, Bob (January 6, 2012). "Ricky Stenhouse to run Daytona 500 for Roush Fenway in No. 6 car". SceneDaily.com. The Sporting News. Retrieved 2012-01-06. 
  10. ↑ "Stenhouse Jr. Gets Eco Boost Sponsorship". SPEED Channel. Fox Sports. February 15, 2012. Retrieved 2012-02-15. 
  11. ↑ "Ricky Stenhouse Jr. wants to learn more in NASCAR before biggest step". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. March 7, 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-11. 
  12. ↑ "Defending series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. dominates in Nationwide win at Las Vegas". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. March 10, 2011. Retrieved 2012-03-11. 
  13. ↑ "Sprint Cup leader Kenseth to leave Roush Fenway Racing at end of season". CBS Sports. June 26, 2012. Retrieved 2012-06-27. 
  14. ↑ Pockrass, Bob (June 26, 2012). "Matt Kenseth leaving Roush Fenway Racing; move to Joe Gibbs Racing may be imminent". Sporting News. Retrieved 2012-06-27. 
  15. ↑ "Stenhouse earns first career Sprint Cup pole". NASCAR. August 30, 2013. Retrieved 2013-08-30. 
  16. ↑ NASCAR (November 17, 2013). "Stenhouse Jr. wins Sunoco Rookie of the Year". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 2013-11-17. 

External links

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Sporting positions
Preceded by
Brad Keselowski		 NASCAR Nationwide Series Champion
2011, 2012 		Succeeded by
Austin Dillon
Achievements
Preceded by
Justin Allgaier		 NASCAR Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year
2010 		Succeeded by
Timmy Hill
Preceded by
Stephen Leicht		 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year
2013 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Sprint Cup
Nationwide Series
Camping World Truck
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