Ricky Stenhouse Jr., the driver of the #17 SunnyD Ford, drives during qualifying for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 13, 2018, in Bristol, Tennessee. Photo – Sean Gardner/Getty Images

At a team meeting at Roush Fenway Racing, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was all set to make suggestions designed to improve the performance of his No. 17 Ford for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race in May and on intermediate speedways in general.

At the time, Stenhouse was unaware of significant changes coming to the All-Star Race cars, which will feature a major reduction in horsepower through the use of restrictor plates and a larger spoiler designed to add downforce.

“The aero package, I found out I think a day before it went out (in an announcement), for the All-Star Race,” Stenhouse said. “We were actually talking in meetings at the shop, and I was talking about things I wanted to try to get our mile-and-a-half program better, things I wanted to build into the car for Charlotte for the All-Star Race.

“And they were like, ‘We think it’s going to be a little bit different than what you think,’ so I was like, ‘Thanks.’”

The aero package to be used at Charlotte was tested in last year’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis. That race produced a record 16 lead changes.