After proving his worth with back-to-back NASCAR Nationwide Series championships in 2011 and 2012, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will make his transition to a full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series ride in 2013, piloting the No. 17 Roush Fenway Ford Fusion.  Stenhouse’s transition in 2013 will include a new crew chief as he partners with rookie Scott Graves.

Fresh off his second straight NNS championship with crew chief Mike Kelley, Stenhouse appears poised to continue his run as one of the true up-and-coming young racers in the sport. Stenhouse claimed his first NASCAR championship in 2011 when he won the Nationwide title by 45 points over second-place finisher Elliott Sadler, capping a season that saw him win in the series for the first time and lead the point standings for 17 weeks, including the last 14. He followed that up by successfully defending his title in 2012, winning a career-high six times with 19 top-five and 26 top-10 finishes.

 
A native of Olive Branch, Miss., Stenhouse made his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut in 2011 when he substituted for an ailing Trevor Bayne in the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Fusion of the Wood Brothers. He qualified ninth for the Coca-Cola 600 in May and finished 11th. Stenhouse also raced four times in the No. 6 Ford for Roush on the NSCS side in 2012, with a 12th-place finish at Dover as his highest effort.

* Stenhouse overcame the largest deficit in NNS series history -- 35 points with 19 races remaining -- to become the fifth Roush Fenway Racing driver to win Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors, most in the series, in 2010.

* Much of Stenhouse’s experience before 2008 was confined to Sprint cars, where he drove for Tony Stewart among others during his formative years.  He garnered much attention and many honors, which included rookie of the year honors in the USAC Midget and Sprint car divisions in 2007. Stenhouse now owns and operates his own Sprint Car team in ASCS under the Stenhouse Jr. Racing banner.

* Stenhouse began racing as a six-year-old in go-karts and won nearly 50 races over a decade stretch.

DID YOU KNOW?

In his back-to-back NNS championship seasons of 2011 and 2012, Stenhouse Jr. was never lower than fifth in points at any time in either season.