After working his way inside the top-five and running comparable lap times as the leader Kevin Harvick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was collected in a spin on lap 52 ending his day forcing him to settle with a 40th-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway.
“We got our Fastenal Ford better there,” Stenhouse said. “We were running in the top-five but with the flip flop of track position when some cars stayed out, we made an adjustment that got us running turns one and two really well.
“We got around Brad (Keselowski) there in three and he got loose. I checked up but my car got loose as well. I was just trying to avoid him and it got my Fastenal Ford sideways. It’s a bummer of a weekend. Our Fastenal Ford was really fast and I was having a lot of fun out there.”
The two-time Xfinity Series Champion lined up for the 367-lap race in the ninth position quickly marching his was forward and was the second fastest car on the track despite battling a tight handling machine. When the caution waved on lap 43, Stenhouse relinquished fifth-place when he brought his Fastenal Ford to pit-road for fuel and a chassis adjustment.
With some cars staying out during the caution, Stenhouse lined up in the 11th position for the restart. As he was working his way up inside the top-10, the No. 2 machine got loose and spun in front of the No. 17 Fastenal Ford. Stenhouse was unable to avoid the sideways machine ultimately ending his day forcing him to settle with a 40th-place finish.
Next weekend Stenhouse and the No. 17 team travel to ISM Raceway for the Bluegreen Vacations 500. Race coverage begins at 2:30 pm ET on NBC.
RFR PR
