What can I say about Ricky Stenhouse Jr. that hasn’t been said already? From being so close to losing his ride in his rookie year to being the series points leader with 10 races to go his sophomore year is incredible. Ricky’s whole career did a complete 180 when Ricky came back to racing in July of 2010 when he finished 3rd. Ricky went on to win the Rookie of the year honors by a slim margin over Brian Scott. This year, Ricky is leading the points standings by a slim 5 points over former Cup driver Elliott Sadler.
Ricky went into Iowa back in May winless and ready to get that off his back. That’s exactly what he did. Ricky led the most laps and beat his teammate, Carl Edwards, to win his first NASCAR Nationwide Series victory. Ricky led the most laps at LOR, only to be passed on one of the final restarts by winner Brad Keselowski and runner-up James Buescher to finish third.
Ricky would have redemption the follow weekend and the track he scored his first career victory a few months before. Ricky beat Carl again, but this time just a little differently. Here’s the finish:
Ricky’s been in a tight points battle with Elliott Sadler and Reed Sorenson for most of the season. Out of the three, Rick has the most victories with 2, Reed Sorenson has a victory, and Elliott Sadler is the only one of the three with no victories.
Let’s compare 2010 to 2011:
Ricky finished the 2010 season with 3 top 5’s, 8 top 10’s and 5 DNFs. 2010 was a roller coaster of a season, being benched after wrecking a few racecars. Ricky used this time to really put his career in perspective. Ricky came back to the series and scored a top 5, finishing third. After that, Ricky caught and passed Brian Scott for the Rookie of the Year honors. He had an average start of 14.2 and an average finish of 19.4.
In 2011, Ricky has excelled and now is just 10 races away from possibly his first NASCAR championship. So far, after 25 of 35 races, Ricky has two wins, 3 poles, 10 top 5’s, 17 top 10’s and had completed almost 99% of the laps this season. He has an average start of 7.5 and an average finish of 10.2. Such a MAJOR improvement from a year before.
Here’s what I think about Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ricky is a talented driver. Can he drive a racecar? Of course he can, better than a lot of the guys he’s racing again. Can he win the championship this year? I think so. Ricky has prove to all the haters and skeptics that he can pull himself out of that hole he dug himself into last year. Ricky can run with the best. I am 100% sure that Ricky Stenhouse Jr. can win the championship and be good Cup drive in the near future. I can say that a year ago, I wasn’t a big fan of Ricky. Look at what a year does. I am on the Stenhouse Jr. fan train I don’t think this girl will be getting off anytime soon.
