(WOMR file photo)
Stenhouse reaps reward
Roush-Fenway Racing has just announced that Ricky Stenhouse will be entered into the Daytona 500 in their #6 Ford Fusion. The team does not expect to run the unsponsored car for the full season, however, that car is locked into the first five races based on owners points from 2011 when the car was driven by David Ragan. The only race confirmed for now is the Daytona 500. The team currently does not have a sponsor for the race, team spokesman Kevin Woods said.
David Ragan, the former driver of the #6 RFR Ford, was released by Roush-Fenway Racing when UPS decided to scale back its sponsorship dollars. With the sponsorship in question, RFR opted to give Ragan his release to pursue other opportunities with other race teams, thereby opening up a potential opportunity for Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., if sponsorship could be located.
Roush-Fenway Racing also noted the Stenhouse will particpate in the Daytona testing scheduled for next week in preparation for the Daytona 500.
Notwithstanding, it is still undecided whether Stenhouse will run a full year in the Nationwide Series, and for that matter, also to what extent that Stenhouse will compete in the Sprint Cup Series.
Cubic Dollars vs. Cubic Inches
There has always been this old underlying racing mentality:
When the car owner asked the engine builder how fast his his engines would go, the very classic response from the engine builder was, “how much money do you have”?? That, my friends, is called “cubic dollars”! Therefore, cubic dollars makes cubic inches go faster! It takes money to put Stenhouse in the #6 Ford! So you can bet your bottom dollar that RFR is looking for sponsorship dollars for Stenhouse,so that RFR can get him some valuable Sprint Cup seat time this year!
Steep learning curve
It is quite remarkable to see the turn of fortunes that Stenhouse has endured. Not far into the 2010 season Jack Roush took Stenhouse out of the RFR #6 Nationwide car because of Ricky’s inability to bring the car home in one piece! It seems that the only thing that Stenhouse was bringing back to the hauler was the steering wheel, the rest of the race car was a crumpled pile of sheet metal! After that brief “time out”, which was also very humiliating for Stenhouse, Roush stuck him back into the car, and his performance skyrocketed. The following year, 2011, Stenhouse ended the season by winning the NNS championship fro RFR.
So it appears that RFR has rewarded the 2011 NNS champion with the opportunity to compete, for at least a few races, in the Sprint Cup series.
He has something for ’em
After watching Stenhouse perform in the Nationwide Series in 2011, it is my opinion that the Sprint Cup boys need to keep an eye out for this young gun. He has now proven that he has the talent and racing intelligence to move on up to the Sprint Cup level and compete for wins with the rest of the good ol boys.
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
