Daytona 500 Winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr Addresses His 2023 Season Going South Towards the End

It took three years for Ricky Stenhouse Jr to convert his Daytona 500 pole to the checkered flag. But after winning the biggest event in the Cup Series calendar, the JTG Daugherty driver kept losing his momentum as the season progressed.

Sirius XM NASCAR Radio caught up with Stenhouse Jr to seek his opinions on his performance this year. The #47 Chevrolet driver also credited his crew chief for immediately taking charge of the ongoing off-season preparation.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr revealed playoff struggle after phenomenal season start

Ricky Stenhouse Jr had long awaited his third Cup race win after the first two came in 2017. Marking the end of a 199-winless racing streak, Stenhouse Jr earned a victory in NASCAR’s crown jewel—the Daytona 500. To achieve that, the #47 driver teamed up with his former RFK Racing crew chief Mike Kelley. Kelley was responsible for securing two back-to-back Xfinity championships with him and Stenhouse Jr needed his expertise after he ended last year, 26th in the drivers’ standing.

“I was adamant,” he revealed. “I felt like Mike Kelley will be an important role player in the race team. I felt like he had a lot of knowledge. He’s been around the sport for a long time.” Stenhouse Jr knew this season would not be like last year with Kelley on his side. “You give somebody of that caliber who has won championships as crew chief, has won races, won Cup championships as a car chief, knows all the parts of a race team, you give him that bird’s-eye view of a racecar and let him sit back and look at how everything is run.”

Unfortunately for the #47 team, their season could not end the way it began. Although his season opener win was followed by a Top 5 and five Top 10 finishes, the second half of the 2023 season was largely forgettable. The win had already confirmed his entry into the playoffs but Stenhouse Jr was eliminated in the first round itself, with two Top 10 finishes acting as his only redeeming performances. He acknowledged, “It was tough to get through those last 10 races, we just struggled. It just didn’t seem anything went correct. Everything was kind of falling off the track.”

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However, hope rekindled when Mike Kelley gathered the entire team together after their last race in Phoenix. The #47 driver recalled, “Mike took everybody basically by the hand and said, ‘Hey, this is what we are doing. I believe in every single one of you’. I felt like the atmosphere in the shop changed as soon as Phoenix was over.” And with that renewed vigor, JTG Daugherty Racing was determined to accomplish a lot more next year.

Stenhouse Jr confirms that the #47 team will be back on track in 2024

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After 199 races, even the best drivers could be affected by the pressure and expectations that came in NASCAR’s top-tier series. But Ricky Stenhouse Jr had one person behind him throughout, reminding him of his talent and capabilities. And that made all the difference in the world for him.

The same driving force, Mike Kelley, did not allow the #47 driver or his team to dwell on the season’s failure. Instead, focused their attention on the new opportunities in the coming year. Stenhouse Jr said, “He has gotten the train back on the tracks. We’ve accomplished a lot together, and I felt like he has got a really good perspective of what needs to happen and how things need to go because he was watching from afar.”

“He believes in me more than I believe in myself.” With his faith in skills restored, Ricky Stenhouse Jr would be looking forward to the season-opening race in 2024 to reclaim his hard-earned crown.

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