During the ongoing Chili Bowl Nationals, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. pulled off a finish for the ages. The NASCAR driver for JTG Daugherty Racing won the heat race ahead of Kasey Kahne.

But it wasn’t the fact that he came first, but the way in which he did.

Stenhouse Jr. finished ahead of Kahne by an astonishing 0.003 seconds, resulting in one of the closest finishes in recent memory.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr reacts to the close finish

After the race, Stenhouse Jr. described how they had the car set up for it to go “wherever we wanted to.” He also reflected on his performance in the CBN last year.

“That’s what we came here to do, get some really good points, win the heat race,” Stenhouse said. “We struggled last year in the heat race so, good to get that one out of the way. Let’s see if we can go get some solid points in the qualifier.” 

But despite admitting his car felt “really, really good,” the NASCAR driver also explained how he never got the chance to go all-in with his car. “We’re a little bit off,” Stenhouse said.

He explained, “Just need a little bit more right rear grip. We were a little free in practice. And we kinda kept it that way for the heat race in case I needed to run up over the curb a little bit, just kinda give myself some options.”

“I think we can definitely be a little bit better,” he added.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished second in the A-Main on Friday night and locked his place in Saturday’s A-Main.

This means he’s locked in for the Championship event and could potentially be the big surprise in this year’s Chili Bowl Nationals.

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