'I feel lucky' to advance despite mistakes - Stenhouse

The reaction around Ricky Stenhouse Jr. after the race at Dover International Speedway might have confused the casual observer.

Stenhouse was all smiles. He received a big hug from friend and former driver Tony Stewart. But Stenhouse was not in victory lane, nor did he finished in the top 10. But he had a good enough day to survive the cutoff race and advance to the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Playoffs. And Stenhouse did so in a classic example of what it means to be lucky rather than good.

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A 17th-place finish and seven stage points earned in Stage 1 of the Apache Warrior 400 put Stenhouse two points to the good in the playoff standings. And those stage points were banked because Stenhouse's Roush Fenway Racing team came out on the right side of race strategy.

Stenhouse was still on track when a caution on Lap 88 trapped half the field one lap down since they had already made green flag pit stops. As one of five drivers who had not yet pitted, Stenhouse cycled out in the top 10 and by staying there for the remainder of the stage was rewarded critical points.

"The feeling is lucky really. We caught the caution there right at the right time with a perfect amount of laps left in the stage to get stage points, and that was the turning point of the day," said Stenhouse. "Our Fastenal Ford was definitely not close to what we needed, especially the last two runs. We were close before the last two runs and made some adjustments there and really fell off.

"All in all, like I said, I feel lucky that we had all the mistakes at Chicago and really not a good car at Chicago, Loudon or Dover, but we still made it in. Really it's hats off to the guys for fighting all day, and it is nice that the round starts over."

A clean start is just what the No 17 team needs as the first round of the postseason did not go well. Stenhouse hit the wall and struggled at both Chicago and New Hampshire, failing to finish better than 15th. While he kept the car clean at Dover, overall, Stenhouse admitted his team did not have fast enough cars and made too many mistakes over the last three weeks.

However, waiting in the Round of 12 is Talladega Superspeedway, where Stenhouse picked up his first career win in the spring. A victory at Daytona in July, another restrictor-plate track, means Stenhouse has won two of the season's three plate races. And while Stenhouse would love nothing more than to again flex his muscle with another victory, the priority is bringing fast cars every weekend.

"Well, we have to run better," Stenhouse said. "We have to bring faster racecars to the track because what we are bringing to the track right now is not nearly fast enough. All in all, it's positive momentum that we did make it to the second round."