After earning his third straight top-10 qualifying position, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. drove his Fastenal Ford to a sixth-place finish collecting stage points in all three stages at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon.
“I’m really proud of everyone on our team,” Stenhouse said. “Our Fastenal Ford was really strong all weekend. We executed and didn’t make any mistakes which was key, just an overall great weekend for us. I’m already looking forward to getting to Phoenix.”
With an exciting final round of qualifying with the new package for the year, the Olive Branch, Miss. native rolled off in the eighth position for the 267-lap race where he quickly maneuvered his Ford up to third by lap 39 when he pitted for a scheduled green flag pit-stop. With the stage going caution free, Stenhouse took the green checkered in the sixth position earning valuable stage points.
After restarting stage two in the ninth position, the two-time Xfinity champion maintained that position until bringing his Ford to pit-road for another scheduled stop. Once the field cycled through, Stenhouse was scored in the eighth position when the second green checkered flag waved, once again picking up valuable stage points.
Steadily running in the top-10 for the final 100 laps, crew chief Brian Pattie chose to long pit giving the lead to Stenhouse before bringing his Ford to pit-road for another routine stop. With fresher tires, Stenhouse steadily marched his way forward scoring a sixth-place finish.
Stenhouse and the No. 17 team head to Phoenix International Raceway next weekend. Race coverage begins at 3 p.m. ET on FOX. Coverage can also be heard on MRN and SIRIUS radio channel 90.
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