Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.

ToyYoda

ToyYoda

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Is it just me, or did anybody else think Stenhouse would be a little further along in his career by now? Coming off back to back Nationwide championships going into the Cup series, and going to the #17 car in which Matt Kenseth had so much success, I figured he'd have at least a win or two by now. Other than his runner-up finish at Bristol, his season's been pretty forgettable. He currently sits 24th in points, and is getting shown up by rookies Kyle Larson and Austin Dillon. I'm wondering if he'll ever be a contender at RFR, or if he'll turn out to be David Ragan 2.0.
 
Do you think he was all that great even while he ran the NW full time? I dont.

He didn't set that series on fire or anything. In my opinion he got lucky NASCAR implemented the no points for cuppers. That allowed him to win the championships quite comfortably.

His main competition were Sadler and Hornish. lol

I think he's performing right around where he should be imo when you take into account the drivers he's going up against which are no slouches.

Still though, I think he'd probably win one or two races before he's forced to retire.
 
The problem with david ragan is he was put into the cup car with little to no NW success. I think stenhouse is way better than david ragen. I don't think roush's cars are all that great right now. Wasn't stenhouse's titles both after they changed the rules to get rid of cup drivers running for the title?? If that is the case on both IMO it really dilutes the weight of winning that title. Austin dillon won last year without winning a race. Also I think there were less than 10 cars running full time and out of those only about 4 were really title contenders.
 
Ragan > Stenhouse

I've never liked Stenhouse or thought he was any good. Can't say I'm even the least bit surprised that he's been struggling
 
hidesert cowboy said:
The problem with david ragan is he was put into the cup car with little to no NW success. I think stenhouse is way better than david ragen. I don't think roush's cars are all that great right now. Wasn't stenhouse's titles both after they changed the rules to get rid of cup drivers running for the title?? If that is the case on both IMO it really dilutes the weight of winning that title. Austin dillon won last year without winning a race. Also I think there were less than 10 cars running full time and out of those only about 4 were really title contenders.
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I agree that Stenhouse has failed to impress so far in cup. But roush as a whole has been struggling a lot since Matt Kenseth left. I believe Stenhouse can be a solid driver in the cup series, but it will be hard to tell until roush gets headed in the right direction whether his issues are driver or team related. I see him as a Martin truex/Paul menard type. Solid driver with a couple career wins
 
reck said:
Do you think he was all that great even while he ran the NW full time? I dont.

He didn't set that series on fire or anything. In my opinion he got lucky NASCAR implemented the no points for cuppers. That allowed him to win the championships quite comfortably.

His main competition were Sadler and Hornish. lol

I think he's performing right around where he should be imo when you take into account the drivers he's going up against which are no slouches.

Still though, I think he'd probably win one or two races before he's forced to retire.
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He won 6 races in his 2012 championship season so that one was legit. Now his 2011 title and Dillion's championship last year are a different story
 
DaBiff1618 said:
I agree that Stenhouse has failed to impress so far in cup. But roush as a whole has been struggling a lot since Matt Kenseth left. I believe Stenhouse can be a solid driver in the cup series, but it will be hard to tell until roush gets headed in the right direction whether his issues are driver or team related. I see him as a Martin truex/Paul menard type. Solid driver with a couple career wins
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Umm..

Carl and Biffle win once or twice every single year so I dont think its so much the equipment as it is his lack of talent. At least at the cup level where he's not cutting it.
 
reck said:
Umm..

Carl and Biffle win once or twice every single year so I dont think its so much the equipment as it is his lack of talent. At least at the cup level where he's not cutting it.
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He was a rookie last season so he had a lot of growing pains. This year other then at Bristol roush has struggled. Id give him another year after this season then judge
 
reck said:
Umm..

Carl and Biffle win once or twice every single year so I dont think its so much the equipment as it is his lack of talent. At least at the cup level where he's not cutting it.
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ok one of carls wins last year was a phoenix it was a track position win. still a win but its not like he flat out ran other guys. So that leaves 2 other wins. if your a team like roush thats actually a pretty bad year. I would say success for roush is biffle 2 wins edwards 4 and ricky maybe one. thats more than double last years tally.
 
Stenhouse's first year in Cup was almost identical to Ragan's. But in Ragan's second year he had 14 top 10's and finished 13th in points. I don't think Stenhouse can do that. David Ragan is as average as it gets, but I honestly think he's better than little Ricky.
 
TooSweet said:
Stenhouse's first year in Cup was almost identical to Ragan's. But in Ragan's second year he had 14 top 10's and finished 13th in points. I don't think Stenhouse can do that. David Ragan is as average as it gets, but I honestly think he's better than little Ricky.
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I think that was Ragans third year not second
 
Ricky and DP need to learn together. Maybe they could have a learning race-date

LOL
 
Just tryin' ta be funny. Emphasis on trying.:p
 
Stenhouse has two problems: he's driving for Roush and he's dating Danica.
 
reck said:
Do you think he was all that great even while he ran the NW full time? I dont.

He didn't set that series on fire or anything. In my opinion he got lucky NASCAR implemented the no points for cuppers. That allowed him to win the championships quite comfortably.

His main competition were Sadler and Hornish. lol

I think he's performing right around where he should be imo when you take into account the drivers he's going up against which are no slouches.

Still though, I think he'd probably win one or two races before he's forced to retire.
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This.
 
Frankly, I think it was a mistake to become Danica's bitch in his first year of what he has waited his life to do. She pulls him around by the short hairs with snarky little flirty remarks that must be embarrassing to him. I can't imagine how pissed I would be to be giving it up on his team while he is playing grab cheek before he has won **** one in Cup. I question his focus, and anytime you are part of a system sleeping with a competitor, your focus will and should be questioned. He. Made. A. Mistake. Danica doesn't take this seriously. Ricky did. Hope it was worth it for him. What shocks me is that Jack had enough savvy to stay away from lighting Ricky's ass up for the embarrassment to the company that this high school drama is. He knew the power of Danica. The same power that will light this board up after this post. Go!
 
In fairness to him, he's only in his 2nd season. So he's got what, 44ish starts in Cup so far? Personally I don't think he'll ever be a title contender, maybe a Jamie Mac type career or Truex Jr. is also a good comparison.

Once again, it looks like Roush is behind the competition so I would expect him to be in the 20-25th place range and maybe get a couple top 5's and top 10's over the course of the season. Nothing to write home about though.
 
Speaking of Ragan, wasn't he only 20 or so when he started full-time in Cup? Where did he even come from? As far as I can remember, he was a part-time Trucks driver who really hadn't accomplished anything yet when he got hired by Roush. I definitely feel he was rushed
 
TooSweet said:
Speaking of Ragan, wasn't he only 20 or so when he started full-time in Cup? Where did he even come from? As far as I can remember, he was a part-time Trucks driver who really hadn't accomplished anything yet when he got hired by Roush. I definitely feel he was rushed
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I went back and looked and to me its flat out amazing david ragan ended up in the 6 car. He did absolutely NOTHING to show he was ready for cup much less even nationwide. I don't think david ragan has even done anything even in late models. I guess he has one ARCA win but in that series if you come from money and have connections a monkey can drive a vastly superior car to a win. Its kinda like David Stremme they didn't do anything to show why they should be there and as a result never showed they should be there. I like to see a guy come from late models and at least show they can win there before moving up to K n N and up to the big 3 series. Short of someone that just buys their way into the series like paul menard or something I can't think in recent memory of a less accomplished driver than david ragan that was promoted to cup.
 
Who? Oooooh... you mean Danicas boyfriend? I think he was in the race yesterday too... I saw him one time when they were talking about Danica :D
 
The one thing that isn't good about the danica thing is she essentially went from one bed to another. There wasn't much if any time between when she left her husband till she hooked up with Ricky. not the best idea for the most stable long term relationship.
 
hidesert cowboy said:
The one thing that isn't good about the danica thing is she essentially went from one bed to another. There wasn't much if any time between when she left her husband till she hooked up with Ricky. not the best idea for the most stable long term relationship.
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DPs first husband was reportedly a control freak. She met Ricky and they connected. I think it was before she came to cup full time.
 
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I really don't know what is going on at Roush. I don't see any hot new talent in the lower ranks that he has a contract with for the future. So Stenhouse, although I don't think he is showing any promise, probably has a job next year.
 
StandOnIt said:
I really don't know what is going on at Roush. I don't see any hot new talent in the lower ranks that he has a contract with for the future. So Stenhouse, although I don't think he is showing any promise, probably has a job next year.
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Chris buescher is the real deal
 
I've never been a fan of Ricky or his personality but I feel he's a very talented driver. The kid that's really impressed me in 2014 is Kyle Larson. I can't believe how fast the kid has been, and very likable with interviews. The Nationwide win over Kyle B. & Harvick was great.. The skies the limit for Larson!:D
 
I'd say looking at the performance of Roush over the past 4-5 years... I don't know, Ricky was never the most outright fastest IMO. He's very consistent and can be very smooth when the car is just right and I mean just right for his own operating window. Greg and Carl are some damn good measuring sticks, but I do agree he needs to show the same flashes of speed he has in qualifying. He's a good racer, but I'll give him until the end of the year to really give a "report card" type of deal. Give him some time because he's got some solid equipment, so I'd say wait until the end of this year. He was much more consistent at the end of the year last season, lets see if he can improve on that.
 
Ricky was a completely different driver before Danica IMO He is done
 
So , how come nobody is blaming any other driver's wife or girlfriend for his lack of success ? Am I missing something ?
 
ted@economy said:
So , how come nobody is blaming any other driver's wife or girlfriend for his lack of success ? Am I missing something ?
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Never know how much a woman can mess with a man's mind. It just seems like he spends more time running in the back with Danica. IMO Stenhouse will have to start proving himself soon or he may be back in the Nationwide series. Speaking of women having an affect on drivers, Don't know if you remember the Bodine brothers and their on track incidents. Women sure can mess with a drivers mind.
 
dirtguru said:
Never know how much a woman can mess with a man's mind. It just seems like he spends more time running in the back with Danica. IMO Stenhouse will have to start proving himself soon or he may be back in the Nationwide series. Speaking of women having an affect on drivers, Don't know if you remember the Bodine brothers and their on track incidents. Women sure can mess with a drivers mind.
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If they can't focus well enough to tune out off track distractions then maybe they aren't top tier drivers. Just sayin.
 
Johali said:
If they can't focus well enough to tune out off track distractions then maybe they aren't top tier drivers. Just sayin.
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I think Stenhouse would have less problems if she wasn't on the track. He seems too focused on her since he seems to run in the back of the pack with her. But I agree he needs to get with the program or they will replace him with someone who will. But some wives drivers seem to have a positive affect on them. Maybe me, but KB seems to have a better attitude since he married, and we all know that KH feels much safer with his that wears the firesuit:).
 
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