Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

American racing driver

Richard Lynn "Ricky" Stenhouse Jr. (born October 2, 1987)[1] is an American racecar driver. He currently drives in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 17 Ford Fusion for Roush Fenway Racing. He has won the Nationwide Series championship in 2010 and 2011, and has been Rookie of the Year in both the Monster Energy Cup and Nationwide Series.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Stenhouse at the 2015 Toyota/Save Mart 350
BornRichard Lynn Stenhouse Jr.
(1987-10-02) October 2, 1987 (age 36)
Memphis, Tennessee
Height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Weight165 lb (75 kg)
Achievements2011, 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion
2017 GEICO 500 winner
2017 Coke Zero 400 winner
Awards2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year
2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career
184 races run over 8 years
Car no., teamNo. 17 (Roush Fenway Racing)
2017 position13th
Best finish13th (2017)
First race2011 Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte)
Last race2020 Coke Zero Sugar 400 (Daytona)
First win2017 GEICO 500 (Talladega)
Last win2017 Coke Zero 400 (Daytona)
Wins Top tens Poles
2 26 2
Statistics current as of November 19, 2017.

Racing career change

Early years change

Stenhouse started racing when he was six, driving go-karts. He later moved in to sprint car racing, being named Rookie of the Year in a sprint car series in 2007.[2] He also raced for former NASCAR driver Tony Stewart in 2007.[3] Stenhouse signed a contract with NASCAR team Roush Fenway Racing in 2007,[4] running in the ARCA Racing Series in 2008. In only his sixth stock car race, Stenhouse won for the first time at Kentucky Speedway.[5] He won another race at Pocono Raceway[6] and was running for the championship with Scott Speed before he and Speed crashed twice in the race so that both of them wouldn't win the championship.[7]

NASCAR change

 
Stenhouse racing in the Nationwide Series at Road America in 2011. He won the championship that year.

After running in the ARCA series, Stenhouse drove for Roush Fenway Racing in seven Nationwide Series races in 2009 with Greg Biffle, Colin Braun and Jamie McMurray completing the schedule.[8] He qualified first at Iowa Speedway[9] and ran all of the races in 2010, winning the Rookie of the Year award.[10] The following year, he won the championship.[11] He won the championship again in 2012.[12] After the final race of 2012, Stenhouse was disappointed because he didn't win the race.[13]

Stenhouse made his first Sprint Cup start in 2011, driving in place of Trevor Bayne at Wood Brothers Racing.[14] He did not run another race until the next year, when he ran four races for Roush Fenway Racing.[15]

He ran all of the races in 2013,[16] winning the series' Rookie of the Year award.[17] He came back for a full season the following year[18] but did not qualify for one race due to a new way of qualifying.[19] In 2015, Stenhouse had some sponsorship problems, leading to a 25th-place finish in the point standings.[20] His performance went along with the team not doing as well as before.[21] The following year, Stenhouse finished a career-best second at Bristol Motor Speedway;[22] however, his crew chief was suspended the following week for a steering wheel problem.[23] Overall, it was the best year of his Cup career.[24]

Stenhouse finally broke through to Victory Lane in the Cup Series in 2017, winning at Talladega Superspeedway in his 158th career start.[25][26] A couple months later, he won again, this time at Daytona International Speedway.[27][28] Both of his wins came on restrictor plate tracks.[29] He also made the NASCAR Playoffs for the first time, making it through the Round of 16 before being cut in the Round of 12.[25]

Personal life change

Stenhouse started dating another NASCAR driver, Danica Patrick, in 2013.[30] The two split in late 2017.[31]

References change

  1. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Career Statistics
  2. "2007 Rookies of the year announced". Motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 2018-02-16. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  3. "TSR - Hines recovering, Stenhouse Jr to drive". Motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 2018-02-16. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  4. "Moving On: Ricky Stenhouse Jr..." ARCA Racing. Retrieved 2018-02-01.[permanent dead link]
  5. "Stenhouse, Jr., Scores First ARCA RE/MAX Series Win Off Strong Kentucky Speedway Restart". www.kentuckyspeedway.com. Archived from the original on 2015-09-09. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  6. "Driver Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. 2008 ARCA Re/Max Series Results - Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  7. Buchanan, Mary Jo. "Speed, Stenhouse Take Each Other Out; Allgaier Wins ARCA Race and Championship". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  8. Phillips, David. "ARCA Spotlight: Ricky Stenhouse, Jr". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  9. "Driver Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results - Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  10. "Stenhouse Jr. brings home RFR's 13th NASCAR Rookie of the Year Award". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 2018-02-01.[permanent dead link]
  11. "Stenhouse Jr. wins Nationwide championship". USATODAY.COM. Retrieved 2018-02-01.[permanent dead link]
  12. "Ricky Stenhouse Jr. wins Nationwide crown". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  13. "12 Questions with Ricky Stenhouse Jr". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
  14. "Riding High: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. set for Cup debut a week after first Nationwide Series win". Sporting News. 2011-05-30. Retrieved 2018-02-02.[permanent dead link]
  15. "Driver Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Results - Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  16. "Driver Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Results - Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  17. "Ricky Stenhouse Jr. wins NASCAR Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year honors". Autoweek. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  18. "Driver Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Results - Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  19. "Ricky Stenhouse Jr. misses Talladega race". Archived from the original on 2015-01-26. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  20. "Driver Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Results - Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  21. "Driver spotlight: Ricky Stenhouse Jr". SBNation.com. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  22. "Driver Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Results - Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
  23. "No. 17 Sprint Cup team hit with P3 penalty". Archived from the original on 2016-10-16. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
  24. "2016 NASCAR Rewind: Ricky Stenhouse, Jr". www.frontstretch.com. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
  25. 25.0 25.1 "2017 Season Review: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. - Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series - MRN.com". www.mrn.com. Archived from the original on 2017-12-13. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
  26. "Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rules Talladega for first Cup win". FOX Sports. 2017-05-07. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
  27. "NASCAR Daytona 2017 results: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. wins Coke Zero 400". SBNation.com. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
  28. "Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on his second NASCAR Cup Series win: 'America! 1776!'". For The Win. 2017-07-02. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
  29. "NASCAR's biggest surprise of wacky 2017 season: Ricky Stenhouse Jr". Autoweek. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
  30. "Danica Patrick, boyfriend Ricky Stenhouse Jr. working on relationship amid on-track struggles". Sporting News. 2016-02-29. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
  31. "Danica, Stenhouse Jr. end 5-year relationship". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-02-05.