Roush Fenway Racing heads into the season’s longest race of the year on a decided upswing from last season. With 11 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points races in the books, the team carries an average finish of 14.8, up four positons from the team’s average finish in 2016. In addition, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s victory two weeks ago at Talladega Superspeedway all but assures that Roush Fenway will return to the playoffs in 2017.
“In this business things tend to ebb and flow,” said team owner Jack Roush. “We’ve had a lot of success over the past 30 years and we have a lot of speed with our Fords right now. We have good fast cars and good fast engines. At this point it is on us to continue to execute correctly on the racetrack, go out and get what is there for us and take our share of victories.”
Stenhouse carries an average finish of 13.8, almost five positions better than at this same point in 2016. In 11 starts, the two-time NASCAR champion has netted three top-five finishes and five top-10s, compared to marks of four and six, respectively, all of last season. Stenhouse has scored 30 more points than at this point last year, and has a pole to go along with the win at Talladega.
Trevor Bayne has been a model of consistency; finishing inside the top 13 in eight of the 11 races, including a top-10 two weeks ago at Kansas Speedway. His average finish is up almost four places from this point a year ago, and he has completed every lap this season, with the exception of getting caught up in the ‘big one’ at Talladega. In addition, Roush Fenway Fords have finished on the lead lap in each race this season, where the car was not involved in an accident.
Stenhouse and Bayne currently sit 13th and 14th in the Cup point standings, and in strong playoff contention. The team’s average finish is currently the third highest among teams in the Cup Series and ahead of 2016 playoff contenders Furniture Row, Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports.
Roush Fenway will return to the track for this weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The team boasts four wins in the sport’s longest race and has taken its Fords to victory lane on 20 occasions at the 1.5-mile speedway.
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