Stenhouse Finishes 31st At Sonoma

In only his second career Sprint Cup start at the 1.99-mile 11-turn road course, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was running solidly in the top-20 before being involved in two accidents, forcing him to settle with a 31st-place finish in Sunday’s Save-Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.

“Road courses aren’t my specialty,” Stenhouse said. “I got a lot of seat time this weekend with running both races and feel more comfortable now at Sonoma. We got spun on two different occasions which put us in the back of the field. Our EcoPower Ford was strong and we should have had a top-20 finish but didn’t work out for us.”

When the green flag waved, the Olive Branch, Miss. native started in the 24th-place and quickly finessed his EcoPower Ford inside the top-20 by lap 21 and was steadily marching his way up through the field.

A little over half way, a car’s contact with the No. 17 Ford sent the machine spinning bringing out the third caution of the event. On lap 90, the No. 55 machine made contact with Stenhouse sending the machine spinning once again.

After having to serve a pass-thru penalty, Stenhouse suffered a flat left front tire with two laps remaining forcing him to settle with a 31st-place finish. 

Next up for Stenhouse and the No. 17 team is the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday, June 28. Race coverage begins at 7:30p.m. EST on TNT. Coverage can also be heard on PRN and SIRIUS radio channel 90.

RFR PR