Jack Roush hopes Stenhouse's victory is just the beginning for RFR

He also expects much more.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ended Roush Fenway Racing’s 101-race winless streak in the Cup series on Sunday with an overtime victory at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. It was also Stenhouse’s first series win in 158 starts.

“I was confident that Ricky would win a race this year. We’ve had some struggles with our pit crew getting the tires on and off the car, and that has been a challenge,” Roush said.

“That’s really the only question that I had, was whether the team would be able to support Ricky in his effort to win a race and Brian (Pattie, crew chief) and all of his detail and his preparation. 

“But I knew that we had the right mix of people in the right places this year, and if it would gel and we'd have a little bit of good fortune that we would win races.”

The victory all-but locks Stenhouse into the NASCAR playoffs this season for the first time and he is now eligible to compete in the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race in two weeks at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Only the beginning?

Roush believes more is on the horizon.

“We’ll win a race with Trevor (Bayne) before the year is over unless I miss my guess,” he said. “But hopefully we can get ourselves ready for the last 10 races to make a championship run.

“That's what I'm thinking.”

Roush also hopes Stenhouse’s victory is the catalyst for many more.

“It gives us fresh wind in our sail. We’ve got over 300 victories in NASCAR. The number that I hold dear is 40 years of racing, drag racing, road racing and NASCAR,” he said. “I’ve won over 450 national events, and it puts another chapter in that record.

“We’ll celebrate with the crew and with all the engine builders and everybody else that this is their first win. We’ll celebrate the fact that they were there the day that Ricky won at Talladega in 2017.”