Ricky Stenhouse Jr. facts for kids

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Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Stenhouse at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2024

Born

Richard Lynn Stenhouse Jr.
October 2, 1987 (age 37)
Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.

Height

5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)

Achievements

2023 Daytona 500 Winner
2011, 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series Champion
2020 Daytona 500 Pole Winner
2007 Knoxville Midget Nationals Winner
2015 Junior Knepper 55 Winner (inaugural race)
2007 4-Crown Nationals Midget Winner

Awards

2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year
2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year

NASCAR Cup Series career

436 races run over 14 years

Car no., team

No. 47 (Hyak Motorsports)

2024 position

25th

Best finish

13th (2017)

First race

2011 Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte)

Last race

2020 FanShield 500 (Phoenix)

First win

2017 GEICO 500 (Talladega)

Last win

2024 YellaWood 500 (Talladega)

Wins	Top tens	Poles
4	60	3

NASCAR Xfinity Series career

110 races run over 7 years

2022 position

104th

Best finish

1st (2011, 2012)

First race

2009 Nashville 300 (Nashville)

Last race

2022 Wawa 250 (Daytona)

First win

2011 John Deere Dealers 250 (Iowa)

Last win

2012 Kansas Lottery 300 (Kansas)

Wins	Top tens	Poles
8	63	8

Statistics current as of November 10, 2024.

Richard Lynn Stenhouse Jr. (born October 2, 1987) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He races full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series. He drives the No. 47 Chevrolet ZL1 for Hyak Motorsports. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has achieved many great things in his career. He was the Rookie of the Year in the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series. He also won two Nationwide Series championships in a row in 2011 and 2012. In 2013, he was named the Rookie of the Year for the Sprint Cup Series. One of his biggest wins was the 2023 Daytona 500.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s Racing Journey
About Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Images for kids
See also

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s Racing Journey

Starting Young: Early Career

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. started kart racing when he was just six years old. He was very good, winning 47 races and finishing in the top three 90 times. In 2003, he moved on to sprint car racing.

When he began racing sprint cars, he quickly made a name for himself. He was named the Dirt Winged Sprint Car Rookie of the Year in 2003. By 2007, he earned "Rookie of the Year" honors in two different racing series: the USAC sprint car and midget series. He finished 6th in the sprint car standings and 3rd in the midget standings that year.

In 2008, Ricky started racing stock cars in the ARCA Racing Series. He drove for Roush Fenway Racing. In only his sixth stock car race, he won his first ARCA RE/MAX Series event. This big win happened at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Kentucky. As a rookie, he won two races out of 21 and finished fourth overall that season.

NASCAR Adventures

Nationwide Series Success (2009–2012)

Stenhouse's 2009 Nationwide Series car at the Milwaukee Mile

In 2009, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. started racing part-time in the Nationwide Series. He got his first top 10 finish at Kentucky Speedway, coming in ninth place. At the next race in Milwaukee, he led for 46 laps and finished fifth.

The 2010 season was tough at first for Ricky. He crashed in four of the first ten races. But things changed when Mike Kelley became his crew chief. Ricky quickly improved, finishing third at Daytona. He went on to get seven top ten finishes. He also won the Rookie of the Year award after a strong fourth-place finish at Homestead.

2011 Nationwide championship car at Road America

On May 22, 2011, Ricky earned his first Nationwide Series win. He held off other top drivers like Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski for the last 18 laps. This victory happened at the John Deere Dealers 250 at Iowa Speedway. It was his 51st race in the series.

Ricky also made his first appearance in the Sprint Cup Series in 2011. He filled in for Trevor Bayne at the 2011 Coca-Cola 600 and finished 11th.

He won his second Nationwide race at Iowa in August. His engine blew right before the finish line, but his teammate Carl Edwards accidentally pushed him across for the win! At the end of 2011, Ricky won the Nationwide Series championship. He had 16 top 5 finishes and beat Elliott Sadler by 45 points.

2012 Nationwide car

In 2012, Ricky drove the No. 6 Sprint Cup Series car in the 2012 Daytona 500. He finished 20th.

The day before, in the Nationwide Series, he was in a big crash. But a week later, he won his first race of 2012 at Las Vegas. He also won races at Texas Motor Speedway and Iowa Speedway. He had some bad luck after that, but he still won three more races at Atlanta, Charlotte, and Kansas. For the second year in a row, he won the Nationwide Series championship, again beating Elliott Sadler.

Cup Series Racing with Roush Fenway (2013–2019)

On June 26, 2012, Roush Fenway Racing announced that Ricky would race full-time in the No. 17 car in the Sprint Cup Series starting in 2013. He replaced Matt Kenseth.

Stenhouse during practice for the 2013 NRA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway

In 2013, Ricky competed in all 36 races in the No. 17 Ford Fusion. He finished 12th in his second Daytona 500. He led his first lap in a Sprint Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Later, he had a great race at Kansas, starting third and leading 26 laps before finishing 11th. He also won his first pole position at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Ricky got his first top 10 finish at Richmond, coming in 10th. His best finish of the season was third place at Talladega. He was named the Cup Series Rookie of the Year.

The 2014 season was tough for Ricky and his team. His best finish was second place at Bristol in the spring. He finished 27th in points that year.

In 2015, after a slow start, Ricky almost won the Food City 500, finishing fourth. He ended the season in 25th place.

Stenhouse racing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2017

Ricky had a better start in 2016. He got a top 10 finish in Atlanta and another top 10 at Fontana. On August 21, 2016, he achieved his best career finish at the time, coming in second at Bristol Motor Speedway.

In 2017, Ricky won his second career Cup Series pole at Talladega. He then led the opening laps and stayed in the middle of the pack. After avoiding a big crash, he found himself in second place. On the final lap, he passed Kyle Busch to win the 2017 GEICO 500. This was his first Cup Series win! It also ended a long winless streak for his team. Ricky then won his second race of the year at Daytona in July. He passed David Ragan with two laps to go. These wins helped him get into the 2017 Playoffs. He made it to the second round of the playoffs but was later eliminated.

The 2018 season started well, but Ricky was involved in a few accidents at Daytona. He finished 18th in the final points standings and did not win any races that year.

In August 2019, Ricky signed a new contract with Roush Fenway Racing. However, in September, the team announced that Chris Buescher would replace him in 2020. The team president said that after ten years, it was time for a change.

Joining JTG Daugherty Racing (2020–Present)

Stenhouse's No. 47 competing in the 2020 Daytona 500

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. races at Martinsville in 2022.

Stenhouse after winning the 2023 Daytona 500

On October 16, 2019, JTG Daugherty Racing announced that Ricky Stenhouse Jr. would drive for them in 2020. He would drive the No. 47 car.

On February 9, 2020, Ricky started the year strong by winning the pole position for the 2020 Daytona 500. He almost won the 2020 GEICO 500, finishing second by a tiny margin. He had three top five finishes and four top ten finishes during the season.

Ricky started the 2023 season with a huge win. He won the 2023 Daytona 500, which was his third career victory. This win also put him into the playoffs for the first time since 2017. He was eliminated after the Round of 16.

The 2024 season began with a tough race at the 2024 Daytona 500. At the 2024 NASCAR All-Star Race, Ricky was involved in an incident with Kyle Busch. After the race, there was a disagreement between them and their teams. NASCAR later fined Ricky for the incident. Despite not being in playoff contention, Ricky won at Talladega. He beat Brad Keselowski by a very small margin, just .006 seconds!

Sprint and Midget Car Racing

Outside of NASCAR, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. also owns and sometimes races sprint cars and midget cars. In 2012, he started Stenhouse Jr. Racing. In 2017, he teamed up with Matt Wood to form Stenhouse Jr.-Wood Racing.

After his first NASCAR Cup Series win in 2017, Ricky became one of only eight drivers to win in the NASCAR Cup Series and in several USAC series. These include the Silver Crown, National Sprint Car, and National Midget series. Other famous drivers who have done this include Mario Andretti and Tony Stewart.

About Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He grew up in Olive Branch, Mississippi. He is the first driver from Mississippi to race full-time in NASCAR since Lake Speed in 1997. He started racing on dirt tracks before moving to stock cars in 2008.

Ricky is a big fan of the Ole Miss Rebels football team. In 2014, he even led the team onto the field before a big game. He is also a devout Baptist and enjoys classic country music.

From 2012 to 2017, Ricky was in a relationship with fellow racer Danica Patrick. In November 2021, he announced he was engaged to Madyson Goodfleisch. They got married on October 26, 2022, in Charleston, South Carolina.