Stenhouse Jr. Earns Third Top-10 Finish of the Season at Talladega

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After suffering damage on the right front fender from the spin by the No. 48 machine, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. lined up in the 19th-position for the green-white-checkered finish. With the inside lane having the momentum, the two-time Nationwide champion maneuvered his Zest Ford into the 10thposition before the field was frozen on the final lap due to debris in Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway.

“Our Zest Ford was super-fast especially when I could hook up with the 22 and the 21,” Stenhouse said. “I would have liked to get up there and helped Biffle. He was kind of stuck out there as the only Ford so I wish we could have gotten up there and helped him out.

“We got a really good restart on that last restart and were able to come home with a decent finish. We will get one of these speedway races soon if we keep running up front. Our Fords are fast. The horsepower was good and I look forward to working on this car and getting ready for Daytona.”

Talladega was the first track for the knock-out qualifying at a superspeedway. The 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year strategically chose to form a drafting group with the Fords from Penske and Richard Petty Motorsports due to the qualifying draw. When Stenhouse was making his fast lap, a machine side drafted him slowing the Zest Ford forcing the Roush Fenway Racing driver to settle for a 26th-starting position.

After falling back to 43rd early on in the race due to the field getting too dicey, the two-time Nationwide champion charged towards the front as the race dwindled down.  Stenhouse was running in the 10th-position when the No. 48 machine spun, damaging the right front fender of the Zest Ford. With a tire rub, the Olive Branch, Miss. native gave up valuable track position to bring his Ford to pit-road for four fresh tires and fuel for the final 10 laps.

On the final lap, Stenhouse Jr. charged forward on the inside lane, gaining nine positions in less than two laps. After the white flag was waved, debris from a competitor’s car required NASCAR to throw the yellow flag freezing the field forcing Stenhouse to settle for a 10th-place finish.

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