LOUDON, N.H. — Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is not happy with Erik Jones.
Stenhouse and Jones made contact during Lap 137 of Sunday’s Foxwoods 301, cutting a tire and sending Stenhouse and his No. 17 Ford Mustang into the wall and out of the race. It was a disappointing finish for the Roush Fenway Racing driver, who was competing for a top-10 finish before wrecking out but likely now is in a must-win scenario with six races remaining before the start of the NASCAR playoffs.
Take a look a look at the incident, which occurred with 14 laps remaining in Stage 2:
Hard hit for Ricky @StenhouseJr puts the No. 17 essentially in a must-win situation if they're to make the #NASCARPlayoffs.
Tough break for Roush Fenway Racing at @NHMS. pic.twitter.com/Bb4piwGt5M
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) July 21, 2019
There’s no doubt that the contact from Jones caused Stenhouse to lose control of the No. 17 and crash into the wall. Whether there was any intent behind Jones’ actions is subject for debate, however.
After exiting the infield care center, Stenhouse promised to get retribution for what he felt was a dirty move by Jones.
Check out these comments:
When asked whether he thought he needed to respond, Stenhouse said, "Oh i will, outside or inside the car, one of the two. I'm over it."
— Dakota Randall (@DakRandall) July 21, 2019
.@StenhouseJr on @erik_jones: "He'll have one coming at some point when he's trying to make the playoffs." pic.twitter.com/FkRX0Pe00I
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 21, 2019
There’s no way to sugarcoat it: That’s a threat from Stenhouse.
Whether Stenhouse actually will retaliate in next week’s Gander RV 400 remains to be seen. Perhaps he and Jones simply will hash out their differences face-to-face in the coming days.
In any case, an already frustrated Stenhouse appears to have reached his breaking point during what’s been a season to forget for the No. 17 team.
