Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Still Consistent on Drafting Tracks, but Leading Much Less
4 weeks agoRicky Stenhouse, Jr. has been regarded as one of the leading drafting track specialists for many years now, and he did indeed earn a sixth-place finish in the winter race at Atlanta and a fourth at Talladega this year, but his speed decline that has persisted throughout the season has affected him at those tracks as well as he has only led three laps on those tracks this year, his least since 2015. He has crashed in every other race over the last eight races and a crash at Atlanta would continue that cycle, but he has finished the last three Atlanta races and his earlier finish this year was his best ever at the track. If he avoids crashing - which is a big if given his recent form - he has enough racecraft for a good finish, but probably not enough speed to win.
Source: Racing Reference
Source: Racing Reference