NASCAR: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. aims for three wins in a row in restrictor plate races

By Asher Fair | Oct 13, 2017

TALLADEGA, AL - MAY 07: Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the #17 Fifth Third Bank Ford, celebrates wnning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on May 7, 2017 in Talladega, Alabama. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. enters this weekend’s Alabama 500 at Talladega Superspeedway having won two straight restrictor plate races. Can he make it three in a row?

Coming into the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series season, his fifth full-time season in the sport, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 30, had never won a race, and his best career finish in the championship standings was just a 19th place effort in his rookie season, the 2013 season. He had never qualified for the playoffs.

That all changed in May of this year when Stenhouse Jr. won his first career Cup Series race, doing so on the high banks of Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama in the GEICO 500 restrictor plate race to lock himself into this season’s playoffs for the first time in his career. Because of this win, he also gained 5 playoff points.

Just under two months later, he doubled his career Cup Series win total by winning the Coke-Zero 400 restrictor plate race at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona, Florida, giving him 5 more playoff points for a total of 10 playoff points to start his first career Cup Series playoffs with.

While he finished the season in 18th place in the standings and would have been nowhere near making the playoffs had it not been for his two victories, Stenhouse Jr. ended up starting the playoffs in 8th out of 16 playoff drivers in the standings thanks to those 10 playoff points.

More from NASCAR

Even still, Stenhouse Jr. entered the Round of 16 as one of the underdogs who was most likely to be eliminated before the Round of 12. But those 10 playoff points helped, as despite the fact that he only finished in 25th place at Chicagoland, 15th at New Hampshire and 19th at Dover in the Round of 16, he still managed to squeeze his way into the Round of 12, where the restrictor plate race at Talladega awaits.

This weekend, Stenhouse Jr. will aim for his third career Cup Series win and third win in a row in restrictor plate races. A win would give him 5 more playoff points, and it would lock him into the Round of 8 even after many people thought he would struggle to make it out of the Round of 16.

A win would also put him in a position where he would be just three races away from potentially making it to the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway as one of the four championship contenders. After all, he would have at least 15 playoff points heading into the Round of 8 if he were to win on Sunday.

While his season aside of his two wins hasn’t been spectacular, Stenhouse Jr. should definitely be considered a favorite to win this weekend. The only restrictor plate race he hasn’t won this season was the Daytona 500, which he crashed out of and finished in 31st place in. But, as referenced above, he proceeded to win at the track in the Coke-Zero 400 in July.

Next: 10 NASCAR drivers who deserve better rides

Be sure to tune into this weekend’s Alabama 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. The race will be held this Sunday, October 15th, 2017 and will be broadcast live on NBC starting at 2:00 PM ET. Can Ricky Stenhouse Jr. win his third straight restrictor plate race and second race in a row at Talladega to secure himself a spot in the Round of 8?