Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has no intention of backing down

For spectators watching the Pennzoil 400 from home, the action at Las Vegas might have appeared a bit tame. 

 

The racing was anything but from Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s seat.

 

After finishing a season-best sixth on Sunday, the driver of the No. 17 Fastenal Ford climbed from his car and headed for the media scrum, but not before he was stopped by Aric Almirola. 

 

Almirola, who finished seventh after the two drivers battled for position in the closing laps, wanted a word with Stenhouse.

 

What did the drivers discuss? 

 

“It was pretty fun racing and how hard we were racing,” Stenhouse said. “We were both complaining about the same thing. I felt like we drove our car too hard early and kind of wore out our right front. We were both tight.

 

“Coming off of (Turn) 4, I had a dead push and slid up in front of him. He gave me a shot in the bumper. We were side-drafting each other really hard. It was fun, but I definitely like racing hard like that for spots at the end.”

 

Welcome to the 2019 aero package. Las Vegas was the first opportunity teams had to race under the fully implemented rules—including drag ducts on the front end of the car. The increased drag still benefits the lead car resulting in a free-for-all for the remaining competitors in the field.

 

“You had to work hard and be aggressive to make passes and have a car that could handle good and hold the throttle down,” Stenhouse said. “I felt really good with where our car was. The 10 (Almirola) and I battled hard there at the end of that race, just trying to get every point and every position that we could and show people that we have some speed at Roush Fenway Racing. 

 

“Last week, I felt like we had that same speed, just got trapped a lap down. It’s good to come here and show what we did.”

 

Like any driver, Stenhouse would love to find additional speed to contend with the Joe Gibbs Racing and Team Penske cars. However, he was encouraged with the handling of his Ford Mustang during most of the race. And the quality of the cars has helped the 31-year-old racer’s confidence considerably. 

 

Stenhouse, who is starting his seventh season on the Monster Energy Cup Series tour, is enjoying a career-high qualifying average of fifth—the best in the series. True enough, his up-on-the-wheel style has provoked the ire of some fellow competitors—including former champion Martin Truex Jr., who felt Stenhouse held him up two weeks ago at Atlanta while he was chasing after eventual winner Brad Keselowski. 

 

But Stenhouse won’t be intimidated. As long as his cars are competitive, he’s going to make the most of his opportunities.

 

“So far so good,” Stenhouse said with a smile. “You definitely have to be aggressive and you can’t take any laps off. Restarts are critical. And then, once you start working lapped traffic and start working the car in front of you, you have to have a car that is capable of going top, bottom, and middle. In the middle part of the race, I had to have a car that could run the bottom. I could make up a little bit on time in (Turns) 1 and 2, but overall, as the race went on, we got our car better. 

 

“We were able to work multiple lanes, and that helped us pass. But it was definitely all about being aggressive.”

 

Could this new aero package be the great equalizer? Or did Roush Fenway Racing work overtime to get its cars up to speed?

 

“A little bit of both,” Stenhouse said. “I think the package is still new. Everybody is still learning every week. The Hendrick cars struggled last week. They obviously had a good game plan and made up a lot of speed (at Las Vegas). We were battling them all day.

 

“As the season goes, you’re going to see teams get faster and faster. I felt like we did a lot of work in the offseason at Roush Fenway and I’m glad to see that work has paid off. But we have to continue to develop because I know everyone else is going to get faster. We’re definitely going in the right direction.”