RELATED: Full race results | Stenhouse seizes the moment at Talladega
TALLADEGA, Ala. — His son had just won his first career race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, so Ricky Stenhouse Sr. did what any other proud father would do — he tried to scale the fence surrounding the 2.66-mile Talladega Superpeedway.
The elder Stenhouse had watched Sunday’s GEICO 500 from atop an RV on the backstretch, according to Stenhouse Jr. And when the fence climb proved too difficult, he quickly ran around the track’s outer perimeter road, hoping to get in through the tunnel and to Victory Lane to celebrate with his son.
Foot traffic, however, is not allowed through the tunnel located in Turn 4.
Stenhouse Sr. was detained by concerned officials, who weren’t sure why a middle-aged man would be rushing to get into a track after the race.
“He was extremely excited about his son winning today,” track spokesman Russell Branham said, “and naturally so. … He wants to go through the tunnel and get in here. Our guys saw it, naturally they stopped him, asked him who he was, said ‘Would you get in the car.’ “
Once he explained to officials who he was and why he was in such a hurry to get into the track and to Victory Lane, calls were made and Stenhouse Sr. was eventually transported inside.
The younger Stenhouse, who scored his first win in 158 career starts in the series for Roush Fenway Racing, said his father had climbed the fence at Kentucky Speedway after Stenhouse Jr. won for the first time in the ARCA Series in 2008.
“And I climbed the other side and met him at the top,” he recalled.
So Sunday, he said, “I went down the back straightaway after the race was over and looked up to see if he was there, but I didn’t see him.
“My dad has done so much for me in my career. Everything that I’ve learned is from him, and you know, making sure that you have the right people around you is one of the things that he’s all about, making sure that you have people that respect you, that will do anything for you, and man, he sacrificed a lot for me and my career.
“Everything that I know about racing I learned from him, and I’m glad that he was able to be here in Victory Lane.”