Ricky Stenhouse Jr Highlights Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart & Mark Martin’s Hurtful Career Miss While Reminiscing His Biggest Achievement

Winning the Daytona 500 is every driver’s dream. For 65 years, the motorsports event has been one of the most iconic in the world. Anyone who wins the race writes their name into the history books, and that is exactly what Ricky Stenhouse Jr did in 2023, against all odds. The rest of his season might not have been that impressive, but that one victory will be one of the JTG Daugherty Racing driver’s greatest moments as a race car driver.

Several legends have failed to achieve what Stenhouse did. For the likes of Tony Stewart and Mark Martin, that opportunity will never come again. Kyle Busch, on the other hand, came painfully close to winning the race, only to be denied by a late caution. It must have been an excruciating moment for the two-time Cup Series champion.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr calls his achievement an ‘underdog story’

A lot of people would argue that Ricky Stenhouse Jr did not win the Daytona 500 the right way. Due to a last-lap caution, NASCAR decided to award the race win to the driver who was ahead when the caution was called. The fight was between Stenhouse and Joey Logano, and the former was just ahead of the Team Penske star.

Nonetheless, Stenhouse will not care about how he won the race. He will always be remembered as a winner of the Daytona 500. The JTG Daugherty Racing man was ecstatic with what he had achieved, and he acknowledged that it was an underdog story. Stenhouse went on to thank everyone involved with the team that helped him earn this victory, and there were some familiar names.

“Yeah, huge underdog story, I mean, Tad and Jodi have been at this for a long time. We got Brad Daugherty, Gordon Smith here that put so much effort into this race team and you know, everybody has an integral part of what they do here. Ernie Cope’s been here a long time, I’ve competed against Ernie. Mike Kelley and I competed for Nationwide Series championships and race wins and now we get to do this together, it was pretty big,” he said.

The driver of the #47 said that winning the iconic race was a life-changing experience. It took the 36-year-old more than a decade but he finally got the job done, something that a lot of greats have not been able to achieve.

“It’s life-changing, it’s massive, I mean, you look at everybody that’s tried to win this race. When Kyle Busch was leading, I was looking at the screens and how many times he’s tried to win here. Tony Stewart, Mark Martin, all those guys have tried forever and it’s nice to get knocked off, I wouldn’t say it’s early, it’s my 11th of 12th one so it’s huge,” the 36-year-old added.

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For JTG Daugherty Racing’s team owner Brad Daugherty, winning the Daytona 500 was something he just could not believe.

JTG Daugherty Racing owner reveals ecstatic moment after monumental triumph

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According to NASCAR, the former NBA player had undergone eye surgery a few days before the Great American Race, which is why he was not at the track. However, his feeling of jubilation was not dampened when he saw Ricky Stenhouse Jr be declared the winner of the Daytona 500.

“I sat there for a second. And I was like … We just won the Daytona 500. I realized I was by myself, but I was like, ‘OK, this is really great because you’re talking to yourself,’” Daugherty, who watched the race in his home, said. “And then I just went nuts. So then my phone started ringing — people from NASCAR calling me, the team was calling me … everybody. I was just like, this is unbelievable. This is an unbelievable moment in NASCAR history, for a little race team at Harrisburg, and for a team that just doesn’t quit.”

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Winning a race like the Daytona 500 can do wonders for a smaller team like JTG Daugherty Racing, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr made that dream come true. It will always be one of the greatest moments in the team’s history.