Stenhouse Jr. and Brian Pattie Join Forces for the 2017 Season

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Heading into his fifth season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will team up with veteran crew chief Brian Pattie who will take over the reins of the No. 17 team.

"I'm really excited to get the season started," Stenhouse said. "Brian (Pattie) has been in the sport for numerous years so I feel his experience with race strategy will definitely benefit us especially with the new race format. Brian and I work together well, and I feel like I've already seen a big benefit in our communication.

"Nick (Sandler) did a great job leading our team the past couple of years. He is head of all our engineering. He knows over the last two years; the engineering group needs to work to get our cars faster and what we've struggled with on the weekend. Mike Kelley is doing all our wind tunnel stuff, so we have some good stuff and think we have found some gains."

Pattie began his crew chief career at Joe Nemechek's NEMCO Motorsports in 1999. The Zephyrhills, Florida native has scored four wins, 44 top-five and 103 top-10 finishes in 313 races as crew chief.

The duo will get their first chance to work together in a race setting this Thursday night for the Can-Am Duel 1 race where the Fastenal Ford will roll off seventh in the 60-lap race that is the first of two races that will set the field for the Daytona 500.

The Can-Am Duels will air Thursday night, February 23 at 7 p.m. EST on FS1.