Stenhouse's crew chief: "We need to get him better race cars"

But there’s no denying the crew chief's contribution the No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing team since coming aboard this season.

For the first time in Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s Monster Energy Cup Series career, the driver has won races and qualified for the playoffs. And on Sunday, he’ll battle with the 12 remaining drivers in the second round of NASCAR’s postseason.

“Obviously, going into the first round, it was all about execution,” Pattie told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “That’s all we wanted to do, is execute. Make no mistakes. We had decent (speed).

“We’re not the 78 car or the 42. Let’s be honest. I’m a realist. I know where we can run. I know where we can finish — unless something magical or special happens.”

2017 playoffs

Pattie admits there have been more than a few times that have made him more than a bit excited. Not only did Stenhouse hit the wall in the opening playoff race at Chicagoland, but he tagged the SAFER barrier in New Hampshire as well. But Stenhouse recovered. And the benefit of winning at both Talladega and Daytona early in the season has provided the team with 10 playoff points that have already come in handy this season.

With the team’s recent success, Pattie has seen his young driver blossom and gain confidence in the process.

“He’s a good kid,” Pattie said. “He’s great for our sport. He speaks well. He’s good-looking, young, talented. He’s a guy we can build a series around — one of the guys.

“In the car, there’s no lack of commitment, on the throttle side of things. He’s on the gas a lot. We look at data weekly and he’s wide-open throttle. His percentages are higher than the other people we collect. What does he need to work on? Not a lot. He doesn’t need a whole lot. He just needs a little more experience. I don’t think he’s been driving on pavement for 10 years, and five of that is in the Cup Series.

“I think he just needs experience. Honestly, we need to get him better race cars. We need to work on cars, get them to where they’re turning good. I think when we do that, he’ll be able to showcase his talent like he did in the Xfinity Series when he was winning championships.”

Chemistry is key

Stenhouse is a career-high eighth in the Cup standings. On Sunday, he’ll roll off 22nd for the Bank of America 500. Clearly, the 30-year-old Olive Branch, Miss., native is grateful for the influence Pattie has had on his performance.

“Even when Brian was (Greg) Biffle’s crew chief I felt like we hit it off really well when we all worked together in the shop and trying to make our cars faster last year as a team,” Stenhouse said. “I felt like we had good chemistry then. Fast forward to this year, and I felt like right off the bat it felt like I had already worked with him for a while.

"I feel like he’s got a lot of experience on top of a pit box for a Cup Series car and I feel like he’s the most similar crew chief I’ve had to a (crew chief) Mike Kelley that I had in the XFINITY Series, so you combine all that together and I feel like it’s a good combination – still having Mike in our corner working on our cars as well just brings me a lot of confidence that I have in those two guys that are bringing the best cars to the track that they can every week.

“Like I said, our chemistry has been good right off the bat. That’s been easy to do. In these Playoffs I feel like I’ve kind of been probably coached a little bit more than normal, just my outlook on it. He’s been in these places before and these positions, so it’s cool to have him kind of leading our ship.”

A career-year

No matter how deep the No. 17 team ventures into the playoffs, after advancing to the second round--given Stenhouse’s previous results--Pattie sees a lot of promise.

“It’s definitely a step in the right direction,” Pattie said. ‘The guys in the shop seem highly motivated to produce faster cars. Everybody is working together as good as they ever have since I’ve been a Roush Fenway Racing.

“It’s been great. Career-wise, this has been a career year for Ricky in the stat department. That being said, I want to be relevant. So when people asked me before the 2017 season started, ‘What are your goals?’ I told everyone, I’m not going to name top-fives or top-10s or win a race. I just want to be relevant. Let’s get Ricky Stenhouse Jr., relevant in the Cup Series. If we do that, then it will be a good season. And I think we’ve accomplished that.”