Reigning Nationwide Series champion, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was able to outrun NASCAR veteran Mark Martin in Saturday's race at Las Vegas. Stenhouse didn't make much noise in the beginning laps of the race. He was running top ten for most of the race, but made a key change to his Ford and was able to dominate the last 50 laps. Stenhouse pulled away for 2nd place No. 18 car Mark Martin for a 39 lap run.
This marks Stenhouse's third career Nationwide win. He won twice at Iowa last year and of course the victory yesterday. Points leader Elliott Sadler came home 3rd with Trevor Bayne, Brendan Gaughan, Cole Witt, Austin Dillon, Justin Allgaier, Sam Hornish Jr., and Kasey Kahne completing the top-10.
A pit stop on lap 146 gave Stenhouse the momentum to take the lead from Martin. He continued the race up front leading up to the win. He cruised to the checkered flag with 4 seconds between him and the #18 car. During post-race interviews Mark told the interviewer that we could not pass the 6 car no matter how hard he tried.
"That was one serious beat-down he put on me that last run," Martin said. "I mean just a beat-down. I kept up with him for a while and about wrecked five times, and that's it."
Stenhouse and his team had a lot of confidence that they had the car to win this race. It was a special moment for Ricky to win his first mile and 1/2 race.
"To win on a mile-and-a-half [race track] is big for me," Stenhouse said. "I feel like our cars are better than I am at some mile-and-a-halfs, and I feel like I drive really hard at the short tracks. I think we've got a really good package going now, and to get that win on a mile-and-a-half feels good."
Danica Patrick finished 12th after qualifying 12th and Kyle Busch had a hard day after hitting the wall toward the end of a race.
A win for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. gives the team a lot of confidence to defend their series championship.
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