Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

38-Year-Old Driver

HYAK Motorsports

2025 Cup Stats

Points

562

Starts

Wins

Poles

Top 5

Top 10

2026 Fantasy Outlook

2025 wasn't the best season for Stenhouse and the No. 47 HYAK Motorsports team. The veteran driver would struggle to a four-year low of just three Top-10 finishes and a career-low of 30th-place in the championship driver standings. Stenhouse would post a 22.9 average finish for last season which was his highest in recent memory. The team returns unchanged from last year and with Mike Kelley still calling the shots from atop the team's war wagon. Stenhouse and Kelley have a lot of work to do to get this team back to competitive racing. The intermediate and superspeedway ovals which have been a strength of Stenhouse were a weakness last season. They'll look to address that right away. Modest improvement should be expected, but we don't expect any major breakouts for this driver and team. Read Past Outlooks

Car No. 47 Chevrolet

Crew Chief Mike Kelley

Rookie Year 2010

Birth Date 10/2/1987

Born Olive Branch, Mississippi, United States

Country UNITED STATES

Runner-up Finish at Daytona

NASCAR Cup

February 15, 2026

Stenhouse Jr. finished second in the Daytona 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

ANALYSIS
Stenhouse would take the low-key approach to this Great American Race. He would lead twice for just 4 laps total, but most of the race he'd play it safe back in the field during fuel saving. A late caution would put him near the front and he'd battle it out among the leaders at the end. As everyone pounced on leader Chase Elliott coming to the finish, Stenhouse would get around the contact between Riley Herbst and Brad Keselowski. That would allow the No. 47 Chevrolet to cross the finish line second for the brilliant runner-up finish.

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Racing Stats

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Track Stats

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Past Fantasy Outlooks

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2014

2008

Stenhouse enjoyed a banner year in 2023 highlighted by his Daytona 500 triumph to begin the season. He would also post nine Top-10 finishes for the first time since his 2017 season. JTG Daugherty Racing enjoyed one of their finest campaigns as a team, thanks to Stenhouse's efforts. The win was a big one too with his upset victory in the season-opening Daytona 500. Stenhouse signed a multi-season extension with JTG Daugherty in 2022, so he'll be around for the near future. What will he and the No. 47 Chevrolet team do for an encore in 2024? It's difficult to imagine that Stenhouse will hold onto all these gains from last season. Performance should be comparable, but likely with a slight downturn. Mike Kelley returns at crew chief, and that's very good news. However, the mid-pack of the Cup Series driver pool is packed with competition. Making the playoffs for a second-straight season may just be slightly out of reach.

Stenhouse enjoyed a banner year in 2023 and grabbed his third-career victory. He would also post nine Top-10 finishes for the first time since his 2017 season. JTG Daugherty Racing enjoyed one of their finest campaigns as a team, thanks to Stenhouse's efforts. The win was a big one too with his upset victory in the season-opening Daytona 500. Stenhouse signed a multi-season extension with JTG Daugherty in 2022, so he'll be around for the near future. What will he and the No. 47 Chevrolet team do for an encore in 2024? It's difficult to imagine that Stenhouse will hold onto all these gains from last season. Performance should be comparable, but likely with a slight downturn. Mike Kelley returns at crew chief, and that's very good news. However, the mid-pack of the Cup Series driver pool is packed with competition. Making the playoffs for a second-straight season may just be slightly out of reach.

Stenhouse struggled through another inconsistent campaign with JTG Daugherty Racing last year. He would collect five Top-10 finishes, which were a four-season high mark. However, Stenhouse would labor with week-to-week consistency and post his lowest average finish (22.8) of his last seven seasons. The veteran driver will be back with the No. 47 Chevrolet team in 2023 and hope to reverse some of these trends. Stenhouse will have a new crew chief in the form of Mike Kelley. Hopefully, the shakeup in leadership will have a positive effect on team chemistry. Stenhouse has signed a multi-year extension, so the team has complete confidence in the 10-season veteran to turn things around. To dig out of their current hole, it's going to take some time and effort for this rebuild process.

The Mississippi native has fallen into a bit of a predictable rut the last three seasons. Stenhouse has averaged about three Top 10's and a 23rd-place slot in the driver points for the last three years. While he improved his average finish slightly in 2021 (19.7), the Top 10 totals failed to impress and he finished 22nd-place in the final standings. The big news at JTG Daugherty Racing during the off-season is the reduction from two to one race team as Ryan Preece and the No. 37 Chevrolet are now no more. The change could be good for Stenhouse as he'll receive all the support and attention this race team can muster. There are no changes to the crew chief or team lineup, so chemistry should continue to improve. The lone x-factor would seem to be how quickly Stenhouse adapts to the new Next-Gen race car. From most feedback it's more difficult to drive and that favors veteran drivers like Stenhouse.

The 33-year-old veteran has fallen into a bit of a rut the last couple seasons, and is now posting similar stat lines that slot him in the middle portion of the driver standings. Stenhouse notched just four Top 10s in all of 2020 and finished 24th in the driver point standings. These were remarkably similar marks to his 2019 campaign and a sign that Stenhouse has stalled in terms of performance. The move to JTG Daugherty Racing has failed to yield the fruits that this driver posted in his career-best Cup Series campaign of 2017 at Roush Fenway Racing. He now enters a contract year at the No. 47 Chevrolet team. Stenhouse will again be paired with crew chief, Brian Pattie, and the two will look to figure out a way out of this malaise. He will be racing for his job in 2021, but will face major hurdles to get back where Stenhouse was just three seasons ago.

Stenhouse has been on a two-season slide after posting his career-best Cup Series campaign in 2017. The slump cost this veteran driver his job at Roush Fenway Racing, so now he moves to JTG Daugherty Racing this season. Crew chief Brian Pattie also makes the move with Stenhouse to the No. 47 Chevrolet team. This familiar face should help in the transition. Pattie guided Stenhouse to that two victory, nine Top-10 finish campaign back in 2017. However, they do come to a team of fewer resources than the No. 17 RFR Ford so we have to be a bit reserved about the potential for the upcoming season. Stenhouse and Pattie need a fresh start, but it could take them some time to find their way with this new race team. We have a very cautious and reserved outlook for Stenhouse in 2020.

Stenhouse took some steps back last season after his career-best 2017 campaign. He registered just five Top-10 finishes during the year, and finished 18th in the final driver standings. The six-season veteran failed to make the Chase field, and failed to crack the win column after picking up two victories in 2017. Still, Stenhouse was pretty fast and reliable on the superspeedways. That's has been this team and driver's biggest strength the last few seasons. Two of Stenhouse's three Top-5 finishes last year came in both Talladega races. However, we saw the 31-year-old driver take some steps back on intermediate and larger ovals. The good news is that the team is the point car for the Roush organization and sponsorship and contracts look good for the foreseeable future. Brian Pattie returns at crew chief, and he and Stenhouse will look to regain some of their lost 2017 swagger.

Last year was a career season for the driver of the No. 17 Ford. Stenhouse nabbed a couple victories on the superspeedway circuit and posted nine total Top-10 finishes. It all led to a career-best 13th-place mark in the final driver standings. The entire No. 17 team and crew chief Brian Pattie return in 2018. It's taken five seasons to turn around this floundering race team, but Roush and Stenhouse have finally started to make some headway. We don't expect any quantum leaps for this driver and team, but another campaign of steady improvements and consistency. Another berth in the Chase for the Cup would be dependent on winning a race. Stenhouse has proven to be a dangerous driver on the superspeedways, so we wouldn't rule out a playoff seeding win.

With the departure of Greg Biffle, Stenhouse now finds himself the elder statesman of this now two-team stable at Roush Fenway Racing. The trend line for this camp hasn't been good, but at least they have some youth to point to in the driving department. Stenhouse is a two-time Xfinity Series champion, but he's yet to make his mark on NASCAR's top division. Now entering his fifth full-time season of competition in the Monster Energy Cup Series, the pressure to perform will be squarely on Stenhouse's shoulders. He posted career-best marks in Top 5s and Top 10s last season with four and six respectively. However, his 21st-place finish in the driver standings is what is most concerning. Unless some major things change in the No. 17 Ford camp, a berth in the Chase is a slim possibility this season.

As we enter season four of the Stenhouse era at Roush Fenway Racing, the young driver comes to a crossroads in his Sprint Cup Series career. Rather than improvement, we've seen some fairly consistent performance marks from the driver of the No. 17 Ford through his first three seasons in NASCAR's top division. Last year he only collected three top-10 finishes and ended up a lowly 25th in the driver standings after Homestead. Those are marks comparable to previous years. The time to improve is now, and the burden is on Roush to give Stenhouse better cars and better guidance. Nick Sandler returns as crew chief for this driver and team in 2016, but both Sandler and Stenhouse will be on the hot seat if they turn in another lackluster performance this season. This is a contract year for the young driver so we believe they'll be some improvement, but not tremendous by any measure.

1. The two-time reigning Nationwide Series champion will take on his first full season of racing in the Sprint Cup Series. Stenhouse takes over the famous No. 17 Ford for the departed Matt Kenseth and he has some pretty big shoes to fill right off. The young driver is not completely unacquainted with the Cup car. Stenhouse made five starts in NASCAR’s top division over the last two years. He’ll use that experience to his full advantage in 2013. When we look back in history and Roush Fenway Racing rookies we’re reminded of David Ragan. The comparisons between him and Stenhouse are striking. In fact, we think their rookie campaigns could be just as similar. Lots of lessons learned and around 7-9 Top-10 finishes for the ROTY candidate.

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Crash and DNF in Nashville

NASCAR Cup

June 2, 2025

Stenhouse Jr. crashed and finished 39th in the Cracker Barrel 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday evening.