Ricky Stenhouse Jr. dominated the final moments of Saturday afternoon’s Dollar General 300 Nationwide Series race and in the process earned Roush Fenway Racing’s first ever NASCAR win at the 1.5-mile tri-oval of Chicagoland Speedway.
Stenhouse battled back after an early pit road mishap, restarted sixth after the team’s final pit stop, and meticulously drove his Ford through the field. He took the lead on lap 180 of 200 and pulled away from the field in striking fashion; taking the checkered flag by almost 2.5seconds.
“We just never gave up,” said Stenhouse in victory lane. “At the end, the Blue Bird Ford was the best it ever was. I stalled it there in the pits earlier, but(crew chief) Mike Kelley and the team just did a great job all day. It was an all around team effort.
“That was a lot of fun and to get Jack’s(Roush) first win at Chicago is pretty cool.”
With the victory Stenhouse, the defending Nationwide Series Champion, took over the top spot in the points and now leads second-place Elliot Sadler by nine markers.
The win is Stenhouse’s fifth of the 2012 season and his seventh career NASCAR win. It marked Roush Fenway’s 130thwin in the Nationwide Series and its record-extending 308th NASCAR victory.
It is the first win for Roush Fenway Racing at Chicagoland, after 91 starts and six runner-up finishes at the track.
Roush Fenway Racing PR
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