[h=2]Stenhouse finds success on short tracks[/h] Sunday, 30 April 2017


By Kelly Crandall / Image by Nigel Kinrade, LAT

The cure for the Roush Fenway Racing ails seems to be on short tracks if Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s recent performances have been any indication.
Stenhouse started and finished fourth at Richmond International Raceway in the Toyota Owners 400. It was a hard-fought finish, too, as Stenhouse rebounded from hitting the wall during the first stage.
"Man, we had to fight hard for this top five," Stenhouse said. "I made a mistake early. I thought we had a car capable of running in the top five a lot. I got loose into [Turn] 3 and got into the fence and had to play catchup from there."


Stenhouse's team also played the race strategy right. When the final caution flew with 23 laps to go, crew chief Brian Pattie kept his driver on track while a majority of the leaders pitted. It moved Stenhouse up to second for the restart with 20 laps to and he then fought to the finish on older tires. "It was a no-brainer there to stay out on that last caution," Stenhouse said. "I was glad it came out because I thought we missed the opportunity to run before to stay out. It worked out perfect.
"Our Fifth Third Ford and the guys never gave up, worked hard and like Brad (Keselowski, second-place finisher) said, this track is a lot of fun in the sun. It's hot in the car, hot in the stands, so appreciate everybody coming out, and it's nice to have four Fords in the top five. It was cool."
Of Stenhouse's four top-10 finishes, three have come on short tracks. It started with a 10th-place finish at Martinsville Speedway last month, which Stenhouse celebrated like a win upon climbing from his car. Next came a ninth-place finish in last Monday's delayed race at Bristol Motor Speedway, followed by Sunday in Richmond.
But there's no denying work still remains at Roush if the same success is going to carry over into the bulk of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule.
"Think we've been a top-15 car on the mile-and-a-halfs," Stenhouse said. "I think you could say we've been a 10th place car on the short tracks and gambled some and had some good finishes. I think today we were a top five car before I wrecked it. Long runs were definitely top five. But I like short tracks. The downforce, the less downforce we have, the more you can kind of play with the brakes, play with the gas and throttle and really kind of maneuver your car around a little bit more instead of being stuck to the racetrack.
"I've been finding a lot of success in that even if the car is not perfect, being able to change my adjustments and what I'm doing in the car to get the best out of it. It's getting that way on mile-and-a-halfs for sure. Even the newer paved ones, but the old ones definitely is coming into factor, too. We've just got to keep building better cars and bringing faster cars to the racetrack and putting the whole weekend together, not making mistakes."