Stenhouse focused on closing out Roush tenure with a victory

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had little to say Friday when asked about his future as he kept the priority on ending the year strong with his Roush Fenway Racing group.

The 32-year-old is out of a job after being informed a few weeks ago RFR would be putting Chris Buescher in the No. 17 Ford next season. Since that became official, Stenhouse, the 2013 NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year, has let his agents handle the off-track business of any and all options for 2020.

“It’s not a quick process by any means,” Stenhouse admitted. “We’ve talked to different teams and just trying to wait and kind of see what direction we go. But for me, obviously, since the week of Charlotte it’s just trying to put solid weekends together.”

Earning a 17th-place finish at Charlotte, Stenhouse felt the group did a good job for a track that isn’t kind for them. In Dover last weekend, he felt decent speed was shown at times, and they performed as well as they could. He finished 16th.

Talladega is different, though. And when it comes to being focused on the task at hand, nowhere is that more evident than this weekend. A former winner at Talladega Superspeedway, Stenhouse admitted there is an emphasis from his team on going out and winning the 1000Bulbs.com 500.

“I just want to get another win for a group of guys that I’ve worked with for a long time, and I know we’ve got a good shot at it,” Stenhouse said. “Brian (Pattie, crew chief) and the guys always bring a really good car here. Jimmy’s (Fennig) been working tirelessly on this, and Doug (Yates) always gives us great horsepower here to get the job done. So for us and the 17 team, that’s what we’ve been focused on, that’s what I’ve been focused on.”

“Here at Talladega, I feel like I’m gonna give it all I’ve got and try to get another win for my guys,” Stenhouse continued. “It’s the last shot that I get to put Sunny D in victory lane. I got a great relationship with them obviously on the track, off the track. Hang out with them a lot, so it would be cool to get them a victory here this weekend.”

https://twitter.com/Stenhouse17Team/status/1182735778927054848

In a lighthearted manner, Stenhouse did say he has more free time now on Monday’s since he’s not allowed to attend certain competition meetings at Roush.