Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will emerge from the infield tunnel this week at Daytona International Speedway at home, confident and one of the drivers to beat.
These emotions can be fleeting during a 36-race season behind the wheel for a one-car team with little margin for error and everything riding on Stenhouse’s No. 47 Chevrolet.
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But Stenhouse delivered for Hyak Motorsports — formerly JTG Daugherty Racing — during the 2023 Daytona 500. The 38-year-old aims to do it again Feb. 15 during NASCAR’s showcase event.
“Pulling through the tunnel is always a good feeling,” he told the Orlando Sentinel. “Going back since the 500 win gives me a lot more confidence. I feel like it releases a lot of pressure because you have the trophy that everybody’s trying to win.”
The Daytona 500 isn’t just another stop on the schedule — the race defines legacies.
With two wins each at Daytona and Talladega, Stenhouse is a superspeedway demon routinely is in the mix on the sport’s longest, fastest tracks.
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He followed his first win in 158 career Cup Series starts at Talladega in May 2017 by surviving race-record 14 cautions in the Coke Zero 400 that July.
Stenhouse then won the pole at the 2020 Daytona 500, but finished 20th during a race where his average finish is 19.2 in 13 starts — excluding his win.
That winning run in 2023 encapsulated the perilous, riveting racing that is routine on the iconic 2.5-mile oval. Stenhouse’s win required a 500 record 212 laps.
A caution came out on the final lap with Stenhouse, quickly running out of fuel, 2015 winner Joey Logano and rising star Christopher Bell ahead and clear of the day’s final multi-car pile-up.
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“You never know what’s going to happen,” Stenhouse said. “That one in ‘ 23 …had enough gas to not do a burnout, but make it across the finish line, essentially. It was a crazy one.”
Stenhouse knows well the chaos at Daytona, where momentum is hard-earned and even harder to keep.
The NASCAR season kicks off every February on Florida Surf Coast, where dreams die in a blink and lifetime memories are made.
“I think about it often,” Stenhouse said of his win. “Obviously, you can’t get too wrapped up in old things. But every time I go to Daytona, I like to watch because I felt like we did a lot of things good in that race, those things that we need to do better. I remember that feeling of pulling into victory lane.
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“I’m trying to do that again.”
Stenhouse will arrive on the heels of one of his toughest seasons in the Cup Series. Three top-10 finishers, including a single top-five showing, was a step back after winning consecutive seasons to reach the 16-driver playoffs.
This season, a single win will not be enough in the revamped playoff format. NASCAR jettisoned the elimination-style playoff system in place since 2014 and returned to a 10-race “Chase,” where the champion is determined by total points among 16 qualifiers across the final stretch.
Driving for a one-car team with fewer resources, Stenhouse will be a longshot to reach the season-ending chase unless he and his team can produce much more high finishes.
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“There’s different ways to look at it,” he said. “The 2024 season, if we would have won the first Talladega, it would have benefited us because we weren’t that strong all season long. But go to 2023, we won the Daytona 500, we’re technically in — and with this format, we would have been in. So it can be done with a team like us.
“We always look for consistency; that’s what we’re focusing on. It’s the right thing to do for our series, so no complaints.”
Either way, Stenhouse, a native of Olive Branch, Mississippi, won’t have to punch above his weight this week. Instead, he’ll be one of the drivers to watch.
“When we go back, I feel very comfortable,” he said. “We know what we’re doing. We’ve done it before. We’ll just try and put ourselves in the right position.”
Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com.
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