Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will continue his NASCAR Cup campaign behind the wheel of the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet for 2025 and beyond.
The 2023 Daytona 500 winner signed a three-year contract extension last month during Talladega weekend.
Stenhouse, 36, who has competed full-time in the Cup Series for 12 seasons, has found a home with JTGD.
“I feel really good about where we are as a race team,” Stenhouse told catchfence.com. “All the guys in the shop, everybody in the front office, it’s all about racing, getting better and moving the team forward. I feel like we have a lot of really good people—and we’re close.
“We’ve had really good runs this year, and I don’t feel like we have the finishes to show the good runs that we’ve had. I’m excited for the future and what it holds with this race team. I think a lot of good things are going to continue to come down the pipeline.
“We just want to go to battle each week. We’re a single-car team. We know that. But I think we’re up for the challenge and we have some really good leadership.”
The second-generation driver from Olive Branch, Mississippi, has raced for three decades. After honing his skills in karting, Stenhouse rose through the open-wheel ranks before signing on with Roush Fenway Racing for the 2008 season.
Following limited runs in the ARCA Menards Series and Nationwide tour (now Xfinity), he won 2010 Nationwide Series Rookie-of-the-Year and finished fourth in the point standings. Stenhouse backed up his rookie honor with consecutive Nationwide titles in 2011-2012.
Stenhouse was named 2013 Cup Rookie-of-the-Year in his first season on NASCAR’s top tour. He remained with RFR for seven seasons, scoring two wins, two poles, 15 top fives and 34 top 10s.
Stenhouse joined JTGD in 2020. Team owner Gordon Smith believes he can grow the team around a veteran such as Stenhouse.
“I am looking forward to continuing with Ricky as our driver of the No. 47,” said Smith, whose interest in NASCAR evolved into an ownership stake in JTGD in 2016. “He has been an asset to our team on and off the racetrack since joining us in 2020.
“Winning the Daytona 500 was a huge accomplishment for our small team, and I know we have more trips to Victory Lane in our future with Ricky at the wheel.”
Stenhouse appreciates that Smith is “all about racing.”
“Gordon likes riding dirt bikes, he likes competing,” Stenhouse said. “Obviously, he’s a very successful businessman—but he wants to race. It’s been cool having him around the race track and to see what he’s been doing with the race team.
“There will be some challenges but he’s up for it. He believes in the people that we’ve got.”
Brad Daugherty has been a race fan his entire life and a JTGD co-owner since 2009. The former NBA All-Star has witnessed the evolution of the company over the past 16 seasons. Daugherty looks forward to the next chapter with Stenhouse.
“We are very excited to have Ricky locked in for years to come,” Daugherty said. “Ricky has continued to grow and thrive as a competitor and he, along with the rest of our race team, are pushing hard to get the 47 back into victory lane!”
Stenhouse would like nothing better. While he has always been an ambassador for the sport, winning the Daytona 500 was “a life-changing experience” for the driver and the team. The victory marked the first for JTGD since AJ Allmendinger won at Watkins Glen in 2014.
Part of the longevity of the team has been sponsor relations — an aspect of the sport Stenhouse excels at.
“For me, you have to take care of our partners,” Stenhouse said. “I’ve felt like I’ve always done that from the time I came into the sport—or even dating back to my sprint car days when it was my dad and I racing and we had friends and family supporting our race team. It’s something I take pride in and I’ve done it going forward from the ARCA Series to Nationwide Series and now the Cup Series.
“I think that’s the one thing that some people might over look. They just worry about on track performance. On track is important. You want to win. You want to compete. But at the same time you have to have partners that want to support you. When the races aren’t going good, you want to have those people standing behind you. I feel I’ve put that effort in.”
Stenhouse feels that winning the Great American race at 35 provided him with a greater appreciation of the team’s accomplishment.
“After winning the 500, I think that put us on a different level but the demand was higher. I was busy but it was fun. I enjoyed being the champion of the 65th running of the Daytona 500, starting 75th year of NASCAR off with all the media—going to Chicago and New York and everywhere in between. I just really embraced it, really enjoyed it.
“It’s something I’ll cherish forever. I think there are more wins to come. That was the boost our whole team needed. Going forward, I think that’s helped us—my crew guys—gain the confidence that we can win races going forward. I’m looking forward to the future.”
Follow Lee Spencer on Twitter @CandiceSpencer or email her at: [email protected].
