Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Could Turn It Around at Talladega Despite Decline in Form
8 months agoRicky Stenhouse, Jr. has had a startling collapse since the middle of last year and this year he has been shockingly slow with a speed percentile of 30.83, which is slower than he was in any of his previous full-time seasons. However, if there is any track where he could turn it around, Talladega might be it. Stenhouse has become the millennial version of Michael Waltrip, a driver whose seasons live or die based on his drafting performances. All three of his NASCAR Cup wins have come on drafting tracks, and his Daytona 500 win did come with the NextGen car. Stenhouse has made an on-track pass for the lead in seven of the fourteen NextGen drafting races but didn't do so in either race this season. Regardless, he contends often enough that he is probably undervalued by oddsmakers, likely making him a solid dark horse for the GEICO 500.
Source: Racing Reference
Source: Racing Reference