February 24, 2020 | By Lee Spencer

Stenhouse scores first podium finish on intermediate track with solid strategy at Vegas

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rolled to his first podium finish of the 2020 season, his first with JTG Daughterty Racing and his first podium result on an intermediate track in 258 career NASCAR Cup races.

Prior to Sunday’s third-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the Pennzoil 400, Stenhouse had posted just one top-five finish on a 1.5-mile track, in last year’s Coca-Cola 600.

Stenhouse benefitted from the brilliance of crew chief Brian Pattie’s pit calls—not necessarily earlier in the race—but certainly in the closing stages when the driver was able to close the deal.

“We had all different kinds of strategy today,” Stenhouse said. “One of them back-fired on us and the other one paid off for us when the caution came out. All-in-all, I’m really happy with the way it turned out for our guys. We got track position, we lost it and we got it back there at the end with that caution, and stayed up there, which was nice.

“It wasn’t perfect, but we got some good points out of it, got a top-five finish out of it, and we’ll continue to learn what we need to work on with these cars to get better each week.”

Stenhouse started the race 26th. He had his work cut out for him—as did the race team to try and offer the driver the necessary strategy to climb through the field. By the competition caution on Lap 25, Stenhouse had picked up a spot but simply maintained his position when the race restarted on Lap 30.

Stenhouse climbed to 19th over the course of the next 50 circuits at the Stage 1 conclusion and restarted 18th for Stage 2. As the lead cars elected to pit, Pattie kept Stenhouse on the track. The No. 47 Kroger Chevrolet led for the first time on Lap 123. He held the point for four laps, was passed by Austin Dillon on Lap 127, but regained the lead until he pit 18 laps later.

The No. 47 Chevy dropped to 21st, where he was running when Christopher Bell spun off of Turn 4 and NASCAR threw the yellow for the conclusion of Stage 2. Stenhouse lined up 22nd with 100 laps to decide the contest.

"You know, Brian is just really good at calling races and he apologized for that one,” Stenhouse said. “That one backfired on us, that second run. We got good track position and then we stayed out a little too long and gave up that track position. So, then we were fighting, kind of all race, to get it back up and he went long again and it paid off with the caution.”

That caution came out on Lap 221 when Chase Elliott spun in Turn 1 after his left rear tire went flat. Once again, Pattie left Stenhouse on the track as the lead cars pitted. When the yellow flew, the No. 47 Chevy along with his teammate Ryan Preece and John Hunter Nemechek were the only drivers remaining on the lead lap. Unfortunately, Preece’s engine gave way and he was forced to the garage, but Stenhouse was able to pit and retain the lead with 40 laps remaining.

“Our Kroger Camaro was good. It wasn't perfect by any means, but we know what we need to work on now and it was cool to get a good, solid run in this Camaro for everybody at JTG Daugherty Racing,” Stenhouse said. “I've got to thank everybody that works hard on this car. So far, so good. In two weeks, we've been fast last week. We weren't bad this week and we know what we need to work on, and I know Brian and the boys will tune it up.”

In his first season with JTG Daugherty Racing, Stenhouse, 33, not only has a fresh start but an organization he feels he can grow with for the future.

“It’s good. Daytona 500 week, with qualifying and the way everything happened, I thought that was really good for us and the team,” Stenhouse said. “To come here, not have the best car but still finish it off with a top-five is key to keep that momentum going.

“We’re going to go back to the shop, make some adjustments going into Fontana and see if we can’t get our Kroger Camaro even better. We know what we need. We just need to keep working.”