Stenhouse puts on a show in Can-Am Duel race with strategy that ‘paid off’

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The driver who won half of last year's superspeedway events wasn't content to sit tight in Thursday night's opening Can-Am Duel qualifying race. So Ricky Stenhouse Jr. opted to mix things up a bit.

Two of his maneuvers, both quick veers out of the pack, triggered accidents. But the way Stenhouse sewed up a fourth-place finish in a relatively stable Roush Fenway Racing No. 17 Ford also suggested that his recent steady run at restrictor-plate tracks could carry over in Sunday's Daytona 500 (2:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM).

"I was just really kind of tired of riding around on the outside, and just wanted to give the fans something to watch instead of racing around, instead of driving up around the fence," Stenhouse said post-race on pit road at Daytona International Speedway. "I tried all night to get a line going on the bottom so we could race side-by-side. Just really couldn't get anybody to go with us. We worked hard, got back up to fourth and I feel like we've got a really good car come Sunday. 

Stenhouse, the most recent Monster Energy Cup Series winner at Daytona, started fifth but quickly found himself shuffled further back in the running order. A dive to the inside of William Byron in the 39th of 63 laps sent the rookie's No. 24 Chevrolet spinning, the aerodynamic swipe causing a dramatic shift in handling. The same effect happened in Lap 48, with David Gilliland's No. 92 suffering a similar fate.

Stenhouse suggested that Thursday night's performance was in part due to his RFR team's choice to focus on race trim over qualifying trim during Saturday's practice sessions. Even with that decision, Stenhouse's No. 17 was still ninth-fastest among the 40 cars in Sunday's qualifying session. 

The deferred benefit came Thursday, when Stenhouse was able to carve out his own path back into the top five in race conditions, while some of his rivals struggled to achieve balance in a twitchy aero package for superspeedways this year.

"No, their cars weren't driving good and we worked on our car in drafting practice and got it driving good," Stenhouse said. "We opted to get it driving good rather than qualify on the front row. I think that paid off so I could do whatever I wanted and maneuver as quick as I wanted left and right. That is what I was doing out there, just trying to work my way to the front and pull them back so I could get a hole to fill in. I just kept timing it a little wrong to be able to slide up in front of them."