Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Earns Best Qualifying Run in Over a Year at Homestead
2 months agoDespite the fact that Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. is currently having one of the slowest seasons of his career, he shocked the world with a fifth-place qualifying run yesterday at Homestead, his best since the spring Darlington race of 2023 when he qualified third. However, Homestead has not been a good track for him as in 12 previous starts he has never finished better than 13th and he has only ever led one lap there even though he has qualified in the top ten three other races in the past. When you consider that Stenhouse is currently on pace for the slowest season of his entire career, his qualifying run seems like an outlier, a fluke, and an ancillary benefit of Ford's miserable qualifying performance. It's hard to imagine him getting a top ten finish without a lot of strategy.
Source: Racing Reference
Source: Racing Reference