Kevin Harvick slammed Roush Fenway Racing and the agency that represented Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for their “really, really, really, really bad contract” after the team ended his deal ahead of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Last month, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was confirmed at Roush Fenway Racing through the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, meaning his contract had at least an additional two seasons on it.
Stenhouse has driven for Roush Fenway Racing throughout his whole career as a full-time NASCAR driver. After spending three seasons driving for the team in the Xfinity Series from 2010 to 2012 and winning two championships, he was promoted to the Cup Series team ahead of the 2013 season to replace Matt Kenseth behind the wheel of the #17 Ford.
But not even two months after he was “confirmed” by the team for what would be his 11th and 12th seasons as a full-time driver, Roush Fenway Racing announced that they would be cutting him after the 2019 season and signing current JTG Daugherty Racing driver Chris Buescher instead.
This move caught Stenhouse by surprise, and fellow driver Kevin Harvick, who currently drives for Stewart-Haas Racing, is on the 31-year-old Olive Branch, Mississippi native’s side.
The driver of the #4 Ford slammed Roush Fenway Racing and the agency that represented Stenhouse for their “really, really, really, really bad contract”, which Roush Fenway Racing were able to end at least two years before it was supposed to have expired.
Here is what the 43-year-old Bakersfield, California native had to say, according to NBC Sports.
"“We’re trying to help him through a pretty bad situation and a really, really, really, really bad contract that was already written before we had been involved. It’s unfortunate timing. Those particular business practices are tough to deal with just because of how late in the season it is and how few cars there are. Based on everything that we’ve been involved with, nothing had ever been talked about.“When I had tough moments at (Richard Childress Racing) and things were bad, we would sit down and we would talk through things and we’d say OK this is what we need to do, this is what I need to do better, this is what I think the team needs to do better. You had real life conversations. Just to drop the hatchet in a surprise meeting with seven days to go is pretty bad business ethics in my opinion.”"
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Harvick also stated that Stenhouse is set to be represented by his own agency, KHI Management, beginning next year. Stenhouse does not currently have a ride lined up for next year, although he has been the subject of replacement rumors at various teams, including JTG Daugherty Racing.
Roush Fenway Racing cited Stenhouse’s lack of performance as their reason for ending his contract two years early. While he does have two victories driving for the team and the only two victories for them since Carl Edwards left after the 2014 season, he hasn’t won in more than two years and currently sits in 23rd place in the championship standings.
Will Ricky Stenhouse Jr. compete in the NASCAR Cup Series next year, or is this the end of the road for him at NASCAR’s highest level of competition?