LEBANON, Tenn. – The ink is dry on a multi-year contract extension for NASCAR Cup Series driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and JTG Daugherty Racing. Stenhouse Jr. joined media members in Nashville Superspeedway’s deadline room Friday afternoon to share the news that he’s returning to the team, which will enter its 29th year in the sport of NASCAR in 2023.
“We’re pleased to announce Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is returning to the company,” said Tad Geschickter, co-owner of JTG Daugherty Racing with Jodi Geschickter, Gordon Smith and Brad Daugherty. “Ricky has done a solid job on the racetrack and off the track during Kroger Racing in-store activations for our esteemed partners. We’re continuing to learn the new car and we’re making progress. We’ve led laps, earned stage points and been close to winning this year.”
Since joining JTG Daugherty Racing in 2020, Stenhouse Jr. won the Daytona 500 pole award (2/9/2020) and has collected five top five, 11 top 10 and 26 top-15 finishes with crew chief Brian Pattie. Now with his path forward, he is set to increase his career stats that include two wins, two pole awards, 20 top- ives and 45 top 10s.
“I’m ready to continue our progress together as a team,” said Ricky Stenhouse Jr. “We’ve made some strides with this new car at some tracks and we know there’s some work to do on others. I look forward to that process with the good group of people we have in place at JTG Daugherty Racing. I’m grateful to our partners for giving us an opportunity to continue to make our program better. I’m really happy with the first three years here at JTG Daugherty Racing.”
Although the Olive Branch, Mississippi native’s two wins occurred at superspeedways, his team has been strong at different styles of tracks this season. Entering Nashville Superspeedway, his best finish this year is second place at the one-mile high-banked concrete oval of Dover Motor Speedway.
“We’re hoping for another good concrete track run at Nashville like we had at Dover where we finished second with our No. 47 Kroger/The Frozen Farmer Camaro,” said Stenhouse. “This style of racetrack has been better for us than some of the other ones and I love Nashville. It was a really good track for us last year, but of course it’s a totally different car. The biggest thing for us is to have a good practice session on Friday and make sure we have a car that handles good and is easy on the tires for our race.
“It’s going to be hot at Nashville,” continued Stenhouse. “I love the heat that affects the physical side in the car and then the lack of grip the car has on the track. We were able to come away with a strong run there last year. We feel confident we can do the same with this new car on Sunday.”