For the third time in 2024, a non-Playoff driver has won a Playoff race, and the latest one is Ricky Stenhouse Jr. He joins the ranks of Chris Buescher at Watkins Glen and Ross Chastain at Kansas. The only Playoff drivers who actually won were Joey Logano and Kyle Larson, but that only happened in the opening round. Now, the upcoming race at the Charlotte Roval will be their last chance to seal a round of 8 spots.

However, winning at Talladega is no mean feat in itself. This is largely because the track is hugely unpredictable and, judging by the late big wreck, dangerous too. Nevertheless, Stenhouse Jr. was one of the few survivors who was left unscathed, and he took advantage. Stenhouse took a direct hit to the driver’s side of his No. 47 car during the Talladega chaos, but luckily, it only peeled off some bodywork. A few feet forward or back, he could have faced a broken toe link or even a crash into the wall, ending his race.

Instead, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. continued doing what he does best—chasing victory at Talladega; a track that could be perceived as a bit of a tradition. As a bonus, the drivers and teams are also able to get closer to the fans and interact with them. This was a stunt that Tony Stewart was rather well-known for, and it looks like that legacy is still alive.

Remember the 2005 Brickyard 400 win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where the Smoke in his Tangerine Home Depot No. 20 climbed up the fence along with his crew? When asked what the win meant to him, the SHR owner revealed, “I wish I could put it in words; today’s been my entire life.”

Recently, the latest NASCAR Cup winner spoke about his euphoric moment at Talladega as he sat down for Episode 64 of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour Podcast. According to Stenhouse Jr., the stunt was actually his team’s idea, and he decided to just roll with it.

Stenhouse Jr. told Kevin Harvick, “My crew guys were like, ‘Hey! We’re climbing the fence.’ I was like ‘Perfect! We’ll do that!’ Climbed up and when I got going up, I looked and, most catch fences have angled out at the top. Right there at the flag stand, that one just went straight up. I was like, ‘I dang! I’m going to go up and over.’ I saw some of the kids down in the front row, that I had seen earlier in the day. They had actually asked me, ‘Hey! When are you going to do American Ninja Warrior again?’ I was like, ‘Well, here we are…It was wild, fun, and it’s cool to win at Talladega, that’s for sure.”

The fans’ questions were actually related to a time when Stenhouse Jr. made an appearance on American Ninja Warrior. The popular show, produced by Vox Media, has seen NFL stars, Olympians, and even Harlem Globetrotters tackle its intense obstacles. But Stenhouse Jr. brought his NASCAR flair to the challenge, appearing on the show not once but twice—and his second run in 2017, during the show’s 9th season came with an extra dose of excitement.

Fresh off his first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win at Talladega Superspeedway, Stenhouse Jr. headed to Cleveland the following Monday to conquer the Ninja Warrior course once more. According to a report from the show in July 2017, he was joined by fellow drivers Ben Kennedy and Ryan Blaney for the interview session. With adrenaline still pumping from his 2017 Talladega victory, Stenhouse back then had said, “I feel a lot better (this season). Especially coming in after a win. I feel a lot better.”

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was not the only American racing driver

In that same season, Ryan Blaney also made an appearance, but he was only there for moral support. Stenhouse Jr. was probably there for bragging rights because he was up against three IndyCar stars.

Stenhouse Jr. revealed, “Blaney and I did the American Ninja Warrior show. After my Talladega win in 2017, we flew up to Cleveland and we were on the show. It has since surpassed my ability to do some of the things that they do. My spotter, his son is actually in the Top 3 of his age group in American Ninja Warrior. They have a deal for kids all across the country. For me, it’s surpassed me but I do like climbing on things. I’ve always done that when I was a kid, climbing trees, hanging out in the woods. Just a lot of fun things, so climbing the fence was right up my alley.”

However, snapping a 65-race winless streak after 7 years of his ANW appearance again made him climb and jump. While the celebrations this time were well called for, he gave the credit where it was due, “This team has put a lot of hard work in,” Stenhouse said. “Obviously we haven’t won since the 500 in ’23. It’s been an up-and-down season. It was a lot of hard work this season just trying to find a little bit of speed, but we knew that this track is one of ours to come get.”