Tony Stewart Offered to Trade a Cup Championship for Rick Stenhouse Jr’s Daytona 500 Winner Ring

The Daytona 500 is more than just the Super Bowl of NASCAR. Lucrative winnings, exposure, and a name in the history books are some of the perks the winners of the race enjoy. However, for the 2023 Daytona 500 winner, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, the win holds a special significance, which is more than just walking home with a bag full of cash. The respect and recognition he got from his peers and competitors were the ones that stood out for him. The significance of the win sank in for him when the three-time Cup Series winner, Tony Stewart, congratulated him. Not only that, Stewart even made him a lucrative offer, which Stenhouse respectfully declined.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr didn’t get the importance of the Daytona 500 until after the race was over

The 2023 Daytona 500 race was everything it promised to deliver. It was a fairytale ending and a checkered flag win for Stenhouse Jr and his team and a close call between him and Joey Logano saw him take home the win. After the race, Stenouse Jr had a chat with Tony Stewart, a moment that Stenhouse will remember for the rest of his life.

Speaking on NASCAR’s Daytona Preview podcast, Stenhouse Jr explained what it feels like to be a Daytona 500 winner. Explaining his meeting with Stewart, Stenhouse Jr, said, “When I got done with the 500 this year in the victory lane and went to my bus. Tony’s bus has always been right behind mine. Went over there to see him. He wanted to congratulate me. He took the ring off, put it on, and said that he would trade a championship for one of those. I was like, ‘Holy cow, that shows you the importance of that race in our sport’. So that was a pretty cool moment.”

To put the Daytona 500 race win in perspective, it took the great Dale Earnhardt 20 attempts to claim his first win. Whereas, a veteran like Martin Truex Jr who has been racing for 20 years in the Cup Series, is still waiting for his first 500 win. So, understandably, a successful driver like Stewart regrets not winning one for himself. 17 Daytona 500 efforts without a win: such a statistic has got to sting even a champion driver like Tony Stewart.

Read More: Daytona 500 Rules: Distance, Surface, Qualification, Laps & Turns of NASCAR’s Season-Opener 

However, despite taking home the Daytona 500 win, Stenhouse Jr was not all happy and also highlighted the aspect of the win that did not please him. The driver revealed how he wanted a more picture-perfect ending.

Joey Logano unknowingly stole the winning moment from Stenhouse Jr

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There’s nothing more surreal than a driver edging past all the drivers to take the checkered flag at the end of the race. While Stenhouse Jr won the Daytona 500, it was far from the picture-perfect ending that we are used to seeing. In fact, it was Penske’s Joey Logano who crossed the start-finish line first, not knowing that Stenhouse was awarded the win.

Expressing his frustration from the race, Stenhouse added, “We were leading when the caution came out.“I was trying to maintain the speed because that’s the rule. But I was also trying to conserve gas because I knew we were running tight. Logano was trying to kind of race me back to the line, he felt like he was leading when the caution came out. So it was a bummer that the picture we got when I crossed the finish line. Technically, Logano is in front of me, so that was a bummer.”

With just days remaining for the 66th Daytona 500 event, do you think Ricky Stenhouse Jr will defend his title and get back-to-back wins, or will we see a new winner this year? Do let us know in the comments below.

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