A slight miscalculation had big consequences for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. during the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Stenhouse ended Sunday’s race in the infield wall after he spun out on the back straight.
The Roush Fenway Racing driver was right on Jimmie Johnson’s rear bumper coming off of Turn 2, but lost the back end when he moved out of the No. 48’s slip stream, sending his No. 17 spinning head-on into the wall.
Ride along with @StenhouseJr for the contact that ended his day.#Brickyard400 #NASCARonNBC pic.twitter.com/3eU0VSxfLh
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 23, 2017
An overhead look at the crash reveals that Stenhouse actually was pretty lucky. Although he admittedly hit the wall hard, he narrowly avoided a much heavier impact with one of the cars following him onto the back stretch.
Here's a look at why we're under caution at @IMS.#Brickyard400 pic.twitter.com/BKUkoO7EHk
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 23, 2017
Although today’s DNF could cause Stenhouse to fall further down the standings — he was 15th heading to Indianapolis — he already is locked into the playoffs with two wins.
Thumbnail photo via Brian Spurlock/USA TODAY Sports Images
