Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on baby watch ahead of Nashville, has Anthony Alfredo on standby

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., on baby watch ahead of Sunday’s Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway, has Anthony Alfredo on standby, per Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports.

Stenhouse is still at the racetrack and planning to race. If he starts the race, the current plan is for him to not get out during it and complete the full 300 laps.

Stenhouse is slated to start from the P23 position. Through 18 races this season, Stenhouse sits back in 24th in the points standings, though the results have been positive of late. He finished P5 at Iowa and followed that up with a P7 finish at New Hampshire this past Sunday, his fourth top-10 of the campaign.

“Our day was all over the place,” Stenhouse said after New Hampshire. “We were really bad on dry tires and just struggled all day. And then when we went to the wet weather tires, we had really good runs. We struggled a little bit, but there at the end, we got our No. 47 Kroger/Kleenex 100 Years Chevy really good. We were able to battle back from 25th and drive up into the top-10. We made the most out of it, which was really cool. Two top-10s, back-to-back, and hopefully we can do the same thing at Nashville.”

Anthony Alfredo ready to step in for Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Alfredo, meanwhile, pilots the No. 5 Chevrolet for Our Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. He sits 15th in the points standings with five top 10s this season. Alfredo has 40 Cup Series starts under his belt, the bulk of them coming in 2021 for Front Row Motorsports.

He’s made two Cup Series starts in 2024, most recently at Talladega in April. He raced his way to a P6 finish.

“We had an awesome No. 62 Dude Wipes Chevrolet Camaro today,” Alfredo said after Talladega. “I’m really proud of Beard Motorsports and everyone on this team. They work really hard to come to a couple races a year, and when they do it, they do it right and they know they have a shot to win. So, I take a lot of pride in being the one behind the wheel. I hope I can do a lot more with them. We had an awesome Chevy today. We drove to the front and led some laps.

“At the end there, we were just kind of boxed-in. I couldn’t really do a whole lot, especially when that third lane formed. I wanted to join that party earlier, but I was just trapped on the bottom. I pushed as hard as I could. In typical Talladega Superspeedway racing fashion, it got a little crazy coming to the line. I just yanked it hard left, flew through the grass and somehow opened my eyes and I crossed the line in sixth.”