Stenhouse Jr. Scores Fourth Top-10 Finish of the Season at New Hampshire

In the backyard of the Boston Red Sox and Fenway Sports Group, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. lined up in the 11th-position for  the final green-white-checkered finish and quickly maneuvered his Wegman’s/Cargill Ford into the ninth position by the time the checkered flag waved in Sunday’s Camping World RV Sales 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

“We needed that top-10 finish after our past couple of weeks,” Stenhouse said. “We felt we had a decent Wegman’s/Cargill Beef Ford after practice and knew track position was key. Mike Kelley did a great job on some strategy to get us up inside the top-10 for the final laps. We have an off weekend and then head to Indy which hopefully we can carry that momentum into the Brickyard.”

After battling a loose machine during his qualifying attempt on Friday, the two-time NASCAR Nationwide champion took the green flag in the 22nd-starting position. Stenhouse quickly worked his way inside the top-20 where he ran for a majority of the 305-lap race.

With less than 100 laps remaining, the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year had bullied his way up inside the top-10. With 50 laps remaining, Stenhouse brought the Wegman’s/Cargill Beef Ford to pit road for four fresh tires and fuel, setting up for the final laps.

When the caution waved on lap 297 setting up a green-white-checkered finish, Stenhouse Jr. stayed out lining up in 11th-position. With a few cars running out of gas in the final laps, the Olive Branch, Mississippi native drove his Ford to a ninth-place finish earning his fourth top-10 finish of the 2014 season.

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