Ricky Stenhouse Jr. In The Nascar Nationwide Series Was Quite An Interesting Story

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has truly seen the highest of highs and the lowest of lows throughout his Nascar career. The story of his career in the Nascar Xfinity Series was filled with both sides of the spectrum, which saw Ricky Stenhouse Jr. nearly get released by Roush Fenway Racing due to poor performances before cleaning up his act and claiming 2 consecutive Xfinity Series titles. Today, I'm gonna revisit the Xfinity Series career of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to how he managed to turn himself after having a disappointing start that nearly ended his racing dreams, so anyways, without further ado, let's get started with today's special post on Nascar Amino!

Debuting As Part-Time Driver

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made the jump from the Acra Re/Max Series to the Nascar Nationwide Series during the 2009 season with Roush Fenway Racing after having a very successful year in 2008, which saw Ricky Stenhouse Jr score 2 wins at Kentucky and Pocono while nearly winning the title in his rookie campaign. The young prospect from Roush Fenway Racing made his Nascar Nationwide Series debut at Nashville Superspeedway while driving the 16 CitiFinancial Ford, which saw Ricky Stenhouse Jr score an impressive 5th place starting spot for the Nashville 300 at Nashville. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. would have a solid performance at Nashville Superspeedway as the 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford ran inside the top 15 throughout the race, but unfortunately, a late-race accident would knock Ricky Stenhouse Jr all the way down to P23 finish. This wasn't just a one-off appearance for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. as he would appear in 6 more races during the 2009 Nascar Nationwide Series season, which saw Ricky Stenhouse Jr. score 1 top 5, 2 top 10's, 1 pole, 53 laps led, and average finish of 23rd place in his final starts.

A Disastrous Rookie Campaign

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made a strong first impression during the 2009 Nascar Nationwide Series season that ultimately led to Roush Fenway Racing g him to full-time deal heading into the 2010 season while driving the 6 RFR car with Ben Leslie as his crew chief. The Ricky Stenhouse Jr/Ben Leslie partnership was a complete disaster during the first 6 races of the year, which saw the 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford score finishes of 36th place at Daytona (Crash), 39th place at Auto Club (Crash), 30th place at Las Vegas, 25th place at Bristol (4 Laps Led), 31st place at Nashville Superspeedway, and 9th place at Phoenix Raceway that ultimately placed him 28th in the point standings. Roush Fenway Racing made some huge changes regarding the 6 team heading into the next race at Texas Motor Speedway as Ben Leslie was demoted from full-time crew chief duties, and Mike Kelley was assigned as the new crew chief for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Unfortunately, the change didn't signal any positive results during the next 6 races, which saw Ricky Stenhouse Jr. score finishes of 29th place at Texas (Crash), 29th place at Talladega, 20th place at Richmond, 37th place at Darlington (Crash), 18th place at Dover, and 40th place at Charlotte would somehow move him up to 24th in the championship standings.

The next race weekend at Nashville Superspeedway was a major low point for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. during the 2010 Nascar Nationwide Series as he failed to qualify for the Federated Auto Parts 300, which led to Roush Fenway Racing benching him for the next race at Iowa while sending a warning to improve his performance or face serious consequences by Roush. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made his return back behind the wheel of the 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford after his benching from the previous race and showed immediate improvement during the next 7 races, which saw Ricky Stenhouse Jr score finishes of 26th place at Road America, 16th place at New Hampshire, 3rd place at Daytona, 19th place at Chicagoland, 9th place at Gateway, 11th place at IRP, and 14th place at Iowa that helped him jump up to P19 in the championship. While Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had improved his performance since returning back behind the wheel of the 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford after his benching, but unfortunately, he wasn't given the chance to race at Watkins Glen as Billy Johnson got the chance instead. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. would end the 2010 Nascar Nationwide Series season on the strongest note possible during the final 13 races of the year, which saw the 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford score finishes of 13th place at Michigan, 22nd place at Bristol, 24th place at Montreal, 10th place at Atlanta, 4th place at Richmond, 11th place at Dover, 6th place at Kansas, 29th place at Auto Club, 14th place at Charlotte, 23rd place at Gateway, 11th place at Texas, 9th place at Phoenix, and 4th place at Homestead that helped him jump up to 16th in the final championship standings.

Rebounding In A Huge Way

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. would come into the 2011 Nascar Nationwide Series season with some strong momentum on his side after ending the previous year on a very strong note, and the entire 6 RFR team was poised to take that next step as a title challenger. The 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford would begin the 2011 Nascar Nationwide Series season on a very strong note during the first 5 races of the year, which saw Ricky Stenhouse Jr score finishes of 8th place at Daytona, 7th place at Phoenix, 8th place at Las Vegas, 14th place at Bristol (28 Laps Led/Pole Sitter), and 4th place at Auto Club (10 Laps Led) that ultimately placed him as the championship leader after the first 5 weeks. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s early season momentum would slightly fade away during the next 6 races, which saw the 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford score finishes of 8th place at Texas (5 Laps Led), 38th place at Talladega (6 Laps Led/Crash), 5th place at Nashville, 21st place at Richmond (2 Laps Led), 10th place at Darlington, and 4th place at Dover (33 Laps Led) that unfortunately dropped him down to 4th place in the point standings. The next race at Iowa Speedway was the breakout performance of Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who started the race from 8th place and immediately charged his way through the field before locking horns with Carl Edwards during the 2nd half of the event until the young RFR driver made the winning move with 18 laps to go that ultimately took him to his first career win!

Unfortunately, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s first career win in the Nascar Nationwide Series didn't give him any strong momentum during the next 5 races, which saw the 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford score finishes of 4th place at Charlotte (12 Laps Led/Pole Sitter), 14th place at Chicagoland (1 Lap Led), 2nd place at Michigan (38 Laps Led), 8th place at Road America, and 27th place at Daytona (5 Laps Led) that somehow moved him up to 3rd in the championship standings. The 6 Roush Fenway Racing team would rebound in a big way during the next 4 races, which saw Ricky Stenhouse Jr. score finishes of 9th place at Kentucky, 4th place at New Hampshire (26 Laps Led), 2nd place at Nashville, and 3rd place at IRP (189 Laps Led/Pole Sitter) that helped him jump up to 1st in the standings. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. would return back to Iowa Speedway looking to complete the season sweep as the 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford started the race in 4th place but played a quiet approach this time around which saw Ricky Stenhouse Jr takeover the top spot with 22 laps to go that ultimately took him to victory lane for the 2nd time under some crazy circumstances! The 6 Roush Fenway Racing team would end the 2011 Nascar Nationwide Series season as one of the strongest drivers during the final 12 races of the year, which saw Ricky Stenhouse Jr score finishes of 15th place at Watkins Glen, 26th place at Montreal, 11th place at Bristol, 3rd place at Atlanta, 3rd place at Richmond, 8th place at Chicagoland, 5th place at Dover, 5th place at Kansas, 9th place at Charlotte, 6th place at Texas, 5th place at Phoenix, and 2nd place at Homestead that helped him earn the championship!

A Fantastic Finish

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. would come into the 2012 Nascar Nationwide Series season as the championship favorite after claiming his first career title and the 6 Roush Fenway Racing team was looking to help their driver become the first back-to-back Nascar Nationwide Series champion since MTJ back in 2005. The 6 Roush Fenway Racing team would begin the 2012 Nascar Nationwide Series season on a very strong note during the first 10 races of the year, which saw Ricky Stenhouse Jr. score finishes of 19th place at Daytona, 3rd place at Phoenix, Won at Las Vegas, 6th at Bristol, 2nd at Auto Club, Won at Texas, 4th place at Richmond, 3rd place at Talladega, 6th place at Darlington, and Won at Iowa that ultimately placed him as the championship leader after the first 10 weeks! Unfortunately, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s strong form was nonexistent during the next 4 races, which saw the 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford score finishes of 26th place at Charlotte, 32nd at Dover, 25th place at Michigan, and 11th place at Road America that unfortunately dropped him down to 3rd in the point standings. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. would rebound from his disastrous start to the summer during the next 5 races, which saw the 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford score finishes of 8th place at Kentucky, 2nd place at Daytona, 5th place at New Hampshire, 2nd place at Chicagoland, and 9th place at Indianapolis that kept him sitting 3rd in the championship standings (13 pts behind E.Sadler).

The 6 Roush Fenway Racing team continued their strong form during the next 4 races, which saw Ricky Stenhouse Jr. score finishes of 5th place at Iowa, 4th place at Watkins Glen, 12th place at Montreal, and 2nd place at Bristol Motor Speedway (60 Laps Led) that helped him jump up to 2nd in the point standings (-19). Ricky Stenhouse Jr. would going on a very strong run during the next races, which saw the 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford score 2 wins at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Chicagoland Speedway while leading 103 laps that helped him regain the championship lead by 9 points. The 6 Roush Fenway Racing team would continue to perform at a high level despite losing the points lead during the next 4 races, which saw Ricky Stenhouse Jr. score finishes of 17th place at Kentucky (32 Laps Led), 9th place at Dover, 7th place at Charlotte (34 Laps Led), and Won at Kansas (25 Laps Led) that unfortunately dropped him down to 2nd in points (-6). Ricky Stenhouse Jr. would cap off his NNS career on the strongest note possible during the final 3 races of the year, which saw the 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford score finishes of 4th place at Texas, 3rd place at Phoenix (3 Laps Led/Elliott Sadler Crashing), and 6th place at Homestead (2 Laps Led) that helped him become the first back-to-back Nascar Nationwide Series champion since Martin Truex Jr in 2005.

After Leaving The Nascar Nationwide Series

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s career resurgence in the Nascar Nationwide Series would make the selection process very easy for Jack Roush, who promoted the two-time NNS champion to the Nascar Sprint Cup Series as the new driver of the 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford. Unfortunately, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s Nascar Sprint Cup Series career was affected during his first 4 years with Roush Fenway Racing as the team declined in performance, which saw the 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford finish no higher than 19th in points while claiming 7 top 5's, 17 top 10's, 1 pole, 44 laps led, and average finish of 21.3 during his first 143 Cup Series starts. The peak of Ricky Stenhouse Jr's time with Roush Fenway Racing occurred during the 2017 Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series season, which saw Ricky Stenhouse Jr score 2 wins at Talladega Superspeedway and Daytona International Speedway that granted him access into the playoffs and finished 13th in points. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. would continue to drive the 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford for 2 more years before parting ways with the team after 2019 and making a move to JTG Daugherty Racing, where he currently drives the 47 car during the 2024 season which has seen Ricky Stenhouse Jr score 1 win and 1 playoff appearance during his 5 years with the organization.

My Thoughts On His Time In The NNS

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s career in the Nascar Nationwide Series was a tale of two different stories that showed a young prospect nearly losing his ride due to poor performance to unstoppable force who took over an entire division for a certain amount of time in Nascar. The warning sent by Roush Fenway Racing helped Ricky Stenhouse Jr learn from his past mistakes and improved in all aspects that he originally struggled at, which helped him turn his career around in a span of full calendar year in the Nascar Nationwide Series. His time in the Nascar Nationwide Series will easily be the best part of his career, and the insane career turnaround will always be a lesson for everyone to keep going through the hard times no matter what happens.

#TCHistoryRevisits