It has been a comeback season for Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. After a dismal beginning of the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide campaign, Stenhouse won the Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors in the NNS.
In his first 15 races of the season, Stenhouse recorded only one top 10 finish of ninth. He crashed in five of his first 12 starts this season.
To say Stenhouse was struggling would be an understatement. Heading into Phoenix a few weeks back Stenhouse spoke about the beginning of the season and possibility of winning ROTY honors.
"After the first five or six races, I kind of wrote that deal off," he said. "I didn't worry about it. Instead, I focused on getting back going, getting back finishing races, running in the top 10.”
Clearly, it worked for the entire team with Stenhouse as the season wore on; suddenly the pieces were coming together.
He was running solidly in the top 15 and was leading laps. We saw him run especially well with the new car that the NNS will use in 2011.
"The turning point was probably around Daytona," Stenhouse said. "The week before, we had a strong run at New Hampshire and got tangled up with a lapped car, but a top-10 for sure there. From then on, we've gotten better. We backed it up with a third at Daytona. From then on, it's gotten a lot better."
Stenhouse was battling Brian Scott for ROTY honors and it came down to the final race of the season.
Coming into Homestead, Stenhouse needed a solid run to close the deal. He did that including leading some laps and battling in the top 10 for most of the day.
We have seen since Daytona in July a glimpse of what Stenhouse is capable of. With the new cars Stenhouse has been solid and has even led the Ford camp this season.
His average finish was 19.9, he had three top fives, eight top 10 finishes and he finished off the year 16th in the NNS standings.
He finished fourth at Homestead and locked up his ROTY title and now he carries a lot of momentum heading into 2011.
If he can avoid the early season struggles in 2011, Stenhouse could position himself early as a title contender in the NNS.
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