In honor of military men and women past and present, Fastenal colors adorned all three RFR Sprint Cup cars for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Memorial Day weekend. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was running in the top-25 before suffering a pit-road mishap causing damage to the front fender of his Fastenal Ford. After numerous pit-stops to repair the mangled machine, Stenhouse battled back to take the checkered flag in the 26thposition.
“Of course this is not the night we wanted at our home track,” Stenhouse said. “After the Sprint Showdown, we felt we had a good balance for the Coca-Cola 600 but we started out really loose then after the contact got tight. It’s frustrating but we will go back to work and head to Dover.”
The 2013 Rookie of the Year started the longest race of the season in the 23rd position between his Roush Fenway teammates and steadily ran in the top-25 despite battling a loose handling machine.
A little over half way of the 400-lap race, the two-time NASCAR Nationwide champion made contact with another machine while exiting pit-road damaging the right front fender. With a quick caution after the collision, the No. 17 team went to work on the damaged Ford.
In the final 100 laps, the Olive Branch, Miss. native was battling a tight machine when he experienced a flat right front tire forcing him to settle for a 26th-place finish in Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600.
RFR PR
