Stenhouse Jr. hoping for a Roush revival

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Ricky Stenhouse Jr. can now lean on the same guy he turned to for advice at times as a young driver trying to make it to NASCAR’s Cup Series.

Stenhouse hopes this week’s hiring of Matt Kenseth — and a visit to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend — offer much-needed boosts for struggling Roush Fenway Racing.

The 30-year-old Stenhouse’s victory at Talladega last spring was the first Cup Series win of his career and put a RFR car in the playoffs, which was no small feat for the organization. Qualifying for Sunday’s Geico 500 is today.

“I would like to back up what we were able to do last year with qualifying on the pole and then winning the race,” he said. “That is what we came down here to do. We feel very confident in our race cars when we come here.”

RFR could use a jolt of confidence. Once considered among the top teams in the garage, its drivers won 15 races in 2005 and had five cars finish in the top 10 in the standings. But that domination declined over the ensuing decade, and RFR’s top drivers all moved on to different teams.

Although Stenhouse added a second victory last season, in the July race at Daytona International Speedway, the organization has not won anything except restrictor-plate races since 2014. Now Kenseth has come on board to share the No. 6 Ford with Trevor Bayne, whose results have declined through the first nine races this season.

Stenhouse has been better, but he has had to go to a backup car in three races because he crashed in practice sessions. He has one top-five finish this season, is 19th in the points standings and needs to improve on 1.5-mile tracks to legitimately contend for a championship.

He has embraced the return of the 46-year-old Kenseth, who offered advice when Stenhouse was competing in NASCAR’s second-tier circuit, known then as the Nationwide Series.

“He would run a couple races with us throughout the year, and he was in our Cup cars. I leaned on Matt a lot my rookie year in the Nationwide Series,” Stenhouse said in reference to the 2010 season, when he became that series’ rookie of the year. “I called him and would ask him questions trying to figure out when I was struggling. I really had to get back on track.

“I think he did a really good job with me on that. So fast-forward to now, after he left and went to (Joe Gibbs Racing) and drove different race cars — for me, I am looking forward to his feedback on how our cars drive relative to another organization that is clearly one of the class of the field.”

Kenseth’s return to racing will happen next month at Kansas Speedway, a 1.5-mile track. RFR hopes he’ll have a positive impact on both Bayne and Stenhouse.

“Our goal is to have Trevor continue to grow and mature on the track,” team president Steve Newmark said. “We hope that Matt’s assistance with all of this will elevate not only Trevor’s performance but also Ricky’s performance.”

Kenseth, who was not pleased with his exit at the end of last season from a fulltime ride with JGR, said he’s motivated to help the organization improve.

“I feel like I can be a real asset in a lot of different ways besides just driving,” said Kenseth, whose salary, not talent, kept the 2003 Cup Series champion from finding a new ride after his JGR exit.

“I’m really competitive, obviously, with whatever I do, and if I’m not in the car, there’s nothing I want more than Ricky or Trevor to be out there running up front and improving and doing better and working hard at it and hopefully being successful.”

Bayne: I’m good to go

Bayne, the 2011 Daytona 500 winner, said his health — he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2013 — wasn’t a factor in RFR deciding to have him share a ride with Kenseth.

Bayne, whose Daytona victory came in the second start of his Cup Series career, is set to race Sunday. He took no questions Friday at Talladega but made a statement outside his RFR car’s hauler to address the hiring of Kenseth, which amounts to a demotion.

“I am as fit physically, mentally and spiritually as I have ever been to do my job well,” Bayne said. “The second part is that my desire is still as it has always been since I was 5 years old to come to the track every weekend to contend for wins and championships and be a driver at the top level in the Cup Series.

“Nothing there has changed. I am still going to pursue that because I feel I have the ability to do that.”

The 27-year-old Knoxville native made the statement knowing his situation would be a hot topic around the track and hoped sharing his thoughts would minimize any distraction.

His average finish through the first nine races this year is 23.9, compared with 19.5 last year. He’s 25th in the standings.

When Kenseth’s hire was announced Wednesday, Newmark expressed Bayne was not happy, but the RFR president also said the organization appreciated the competitiveness such a response showed.

“We wouldn’t want it any other way,” Newmark said at the time. “If we had a driver who just kind of acquiesced, that would be an inherent problem in itself.”

Stenhouse said he has spoken to Bayne about Kenseth’s arrival.

“I told him that I have been through this in a totally different series and probably a lot different stage in life,” Stenhouse said. “I told him just to keep his head down, go out and keep running races and prove to everybody that you have what it takes, and don’t really listen to anything from the fans, media or other teams, and just do your deal.

“That was the feedback that I gave him.”

McMurray crashes

Jamie McMurray rolled his car at least seven times during a practice session Friday after his Chip Ganassi Racing No. 1 Chevrolet’s left rear tire appeared to fail, leading to a four-car crash.

McMurray’s car spun horizontally along the track and was broadsided by Ryan Newman, flipping and hitting the safety barrier before landing on the passenger side. The 41-year-old McMurray climbed out of the car and walked to an ambulance.

“I’ve been racing forever,” he said, “and I’ve never done a roll like that before.”

Ty Dillon and Daniel Suarez also were caught in the wreck. All four drivers were evaluated at the infield care center, and all may have to drive backup cars for qualifying and Sunday’s race.

It was a rough start leading up to the weekend at a track known for crashes and chaos.

ARCA on board now

NASCAR has acquired the Automobile Racing Club of America’s top-tier series, a launching pad for drivers looking to reach stock car racing’s top level.

NASCAR vice chairman and executive vice president Jim France called the announcement Friday “a big moment for stock car racing in America.”

Twelve of the 16 drivers in the Cup Series playoffs last year have logged starts in ARCA events.

ARCA will operate under its current structure through 2019, including nine events at NASCAR venues this year. Its stops include Talladega, Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa., and Daytona, where it first raced in 1964.

“We’ve worked together closely for 70-plus years in one form or another,” France said. “(ARCA president Ron Drager) and I have worked together, known each other, through basically all of our motorsports careers.

“It’s fantastic that we’re going to be working together going off into the future here. Both organizations have a great history, great championships. We share a lot of teams and drivers over the years. That will continue in a major way.”