Associated Press
NEWTON, Iowa ó Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is feeling a little frustrated these days, which might seem odd given the year heís having ins the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
Stenhouse leads the point standings, heís No. 2 on the money list and when the series returns to Iowa Speedway tonight, heíll be racing on the track where earlier this year he earned his first Nationwide victory.
Yet Stenhouse canít help thinking about what might have been. The 23-year-old from Mississippi held the lead late in three races since that May victory but didnít win any of them.
ěAfter you get that first win, you expect to win a lot more and we havenít done that yet,î Stenhouse said Friday between practice runs on the .875 mile oval. ěSo weíve been disappointed. Then, at the same time, weíve been running consistently in the top five. Thatís what weíve got to do to win this championship.î
His biggest disappointment came last weekend at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indiana. Stenhouse led for 189 of the 204 laps in that race before Brad Keselowski passed him on a late restart and drove away to the victory.
Then came more disappointment. After thinking he had finished second, Stenhouse was dropped to third after a video review. Still, he finished high enough to take a three-point lead over Reed Sorenson in the standings.
ěItís just frustrating when you donít cap it off,î Stenhouse said. ěBut I think with a little bit more experience, a few of those races could have very easily been capped off with a win. I guess thatís part of learning.
ěThis is our second full season running Nationwide. I feel like Iíve still got a lot to learn. I think going through those times of leading late and not winning has built me as a better driver. I think each and every race weíre getting better as a team. So itís frustrating, but then again it builds us confidence, too.î