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NASCAR insiders weigh in on Ricky Stenhouse Jr. losing door foam at Talladega

Brian Jones Profile Picby:Brian Jones•10/09/24•

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Ricky Stenhouse Jr (6)
Oct 6, 2024; Talladega, Alabama, USA; Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (47) celebrates a win in Victory Lane after the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Mandatory Credit: Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, but his No. 47 car received some damage in the process. NASCAR insiders Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic discussed Stenhouse losing door foam during the race.

“Stenhouse got crushed in the side during ‘The Big One.’ He was leading but he got some significant damage,” Gluck said on The Teardown podcast. “It broke part of the door and it knocked out part of the door foam. I wasn’t aware of this at the time at all.

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Gluck and Bianchi then discussed NASCAR’s rule about losing door foam and weren’t sure if it could be replaced during a race. “The 47 car of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. cleared inspection and I specifically asked was there any issue with the foam that could have prevented like a DQ or anything of that,” Bianchi said. “And the answer was no.”

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s crew chief comments on door foam loss

Gluck argued, “That’s irrelevant. That wouldn’t be an inspection thing. It’s not like they cheated. …That’s an in-race call where you have to come down pit road and fix it. So what the crew chiefs and crew members are telling you is hey, he should have been at least made to come fix it which would taken him out of the lead and he wouldn’t have won this race.”

After the race, Stenhouse’s crew chief Mike Kelley was asked about the damage to the door and if Stenhouse should have had it fixed on pit road. “I didn’t see no foam missing. Yeah, we did,” Kelley told reporters during his press conference. “We took a direct shot really hard, and on this car if you want to take it somewhere, it’s definitely not in one of the wheels with the toe links. They bend for a reason, and your day would pretty much be done if you bent a toe link. So, yeah, it did. It took a big shot. If they were going to pull us down for that, it probably would have been hard to get that car off the racetrack.”

Sunday’s win was Stenhouse’s first since the 2023 Daytona 500. It is also the fourth victory in Stenhouse’s Cup Series career.