After the No. 47 machine slid in front of the No. 17 Nationwide Insurance Ford and made contact with teammate Greg Biffle, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. collided with the No. 16 Ford sending both to the garage. The No. 17 team was unable to repair the car forcing Stenhouse to settle for a 41st-place finish in Sunday’s FedEx 400 at Dover International Speedway; his first DNF in 49 races.
“We were really loose,” Stenhouse said. “The No. 47 jumped to the inside of us there and I tried to stay out of his way and he got me. We met right-rear to left-front and it got him sideways and everything else happened after that. Our Nationwide Insurance Ford was really, really loose all race and we were trying to hang on with it.
“We didn’t want it to end that way and we got our teammate caught up in it and tore up a lot of cars. That is not what we wanted to do. It is a tough way to end to our day. It is a bummer.”
The two-time Nationwide champion qualified in the 26th -position for his fourth career Sprint Cup start at the ‘Monster Mile’.
After falling back due to a loose-handling machine, Stenhouse Jr was fighting for the lucky dog position on the restart on lap 131. The No. 47 machine jumped to the inside of Stenhouse but clipped the left front fender of the No. 17 Nationwide Insurance Ford as he slid up in front of the 2013 Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year. The contact forced the No. 47 machine into teammate Greg Biffle who spun and collected Stenhouse as well.
The crew worked feverishly to repair the mangled machine but was unable to repair the Ford forcing Stenhouse to settle with a 41st-place finish.
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