Stenhouse to honor Bryan Clauson at Bristol with paint scheme

Stenhouse’s No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford will feature the same Fastenal paint scheme in Saturday night’s race as Clauson raced during the 2008 season in what is now known as the Xfinity Series. Clauson was a development driver for Chip Ganassi Racing at the time.

“It will be a huge honor to run the same Fastenal scheme that Bryan raced in 2008,” Stenhouse said in a statement. “This past week has been difficult for many but it has been great to see the racing community join together to support Bryan’s family, friends and Lauren.

“Bryan was one of my best friends and hopefully we can ‘parked it’ in Victory Lane on Saturday for Bryan.”

Clauson died on Aug. 7 from injuries sustained in the Belleville (Kan.) Midget Nationals sprint car race the night before. He was 27.

In 2008, Fastenal served as the primary sponsor for Clauson’s No. 40 Chip Ganassi machine. In his 21 series starts, he won one pole at Daytona International Speedway and had one top-five and two top-10 finishes.

“Ricky approached us last week about the opportunity to honor Bryan at Bristol by running the paint scheme we ran with him in 2008,” said Brooke Mlsna, vice president of marketing for Fastenal. “We thought it was an admirable tribute to someone we looked at as a valued member of the ‘Blue Team.’ ”

In seven Cup series starts at Bristol, Stenhouse has two top-five and three top-10 finishes, including his career-best second-place finish in the 2014 spring race.