Concord, N.C. (March 29, 2012) – The 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series Champion, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, has started the 2012 Nationwide season with the best finishing average of his NASCAR career. During the first five races of the season, Stenhouse has claimed one win, three top-five and four top-10 finishes. He is second in the series championship standings; 18-points behind leader Elliott Sadler.
“I wish we didn’t have an off-weekend coming up,” Stenhouse said. “We have a lot of momentum right now and I wish we were racing the next two weekends. I am extremely happy with our start in the 2012 season and we already have one win under our belt. We feel like we could have won all five races so far this year. We have brought stout race cars each weekend which shows the dedication of everyone at Roush Fenway Racing.”
Stenhouse and the team have been in contingent to win the first five races of the 2012 season. In the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway, he finished in the 19th-position after being caught in the last lap wreck which collected the top-ten cars.
Since the season opener at Daytona, Stenhouse has not been scored outside the top-six and celebrated a win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. So far in 2012, Stenhouse has a 6.2 average finish; he had an 8.2 average finish after five races in 2011.
Stenhouse started the Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 in the second position and ran in the top-ten for the race entirety. Stenhouse came home with a solid third-place finish.
The 2011 NNS Champion dominated the final 54 laps of the Sam’s Town 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, going on to claim his first victory of the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide season and his third Nationwide career win. When the final green flag waved, Stenhouse cleared veteran Mark Martin with 54 laps remaining and never looked back.
He was leading at Bristol Motor Speedway when the final caution was displayed. Two cars gambled while the team opted to pit for two tires under the yellow. Unfortunately, the strategy would not play out and he was forced to settle for the sixth-place finish.
Last weekend at Auto Club Speedway, Stenhouse never fell out of the top-ten. As the final laps dwindled down, he was gaining on the leader, Joey Logano, but ran out of time and took the checkered flag with a solid second-place finish.
Next up is the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 13th. Stenhouse had a strong performance during both Texas races last year with two top-ten finishes.
“Texas is going to be exciting,” Stenhouse said. “I love racing at night because it brings back memories of Friday night racing. We have brought strong Ford Mustangs every week. We have a strong mile-and-a-half program. I feel confident that we will have another strong performance and hopefully get this No. 6 Ford Mustang back into victory lane.”
Roush Fenway Racing is the winningest team in NASCAR history, fielding multiple teams in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series with championship drivers Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Trevor Bayne. Celebrating 25 winning years in 2012, Roush Fenway is the leader in NASCAR marketing solutions, pioneering its exclusive Roush Fenway OnTrack sponsorship measurement services, motorsport’s first team-focused TV show and its award-winning social marketing channel RickyvsTrevor.com. Visit www.RoushFenway.com, circle on Google+ at +Roush Fenway Racing, become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/roushfenway and follow on Twitter at @roushfenway. For sponsorship inquiries call John Bauersfeld at 704.720.4621.
