Stenhouse to be paired with veteran Fenning

Roush left little doubt that reigning NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who succeeds Kenseth in the No. 17 Ford next year, will work with veteran crew chief Jimmy Fennig and the rest of the current 17 team.

“As far as crew chiefs go, the 17 program is a championship level program, and for Ricky to have all the guidance and expertise and support that Jimmy Fennig and the guys can provide is essential,” Roush told the NASCAR Wire Service. “We will have a full-time Nationwide program next year, and the plan is now for Trevor (Bayne) to be the driver for that program, although that has not been announced — and I am not announcing it here today — but that’s our plan.

“In the same vein, we have a championship-level Nationwide program in place with Mike Kelley (Stenhouse’s current Nationwide crew chief) and my hope is to keep that together so that we can compete effectively toward a (Nationwide) championship with Ricky this year but also be able to do the same thing with Trevor next year.”