Driver Profile: Ricky Stenhouse

​Ricky Stenhouse. The first NASCAR driver that I truly became a fan of. Stenhouse is unique in that he is one of the few drivers competing for a single-driver race team, JTG Daugherty Racing out of Harrisburg, North Carolina. Stenhouse was born in Olive Branch, Mississippi, just southeast of Memphis, Tennessee. ​

Stenhouse's roots begin at the dirt level. Early in his career, he raced sprint and midget cars and continues to do so part-time. Stenhouse is widely known and respected across the dirt racing community because of his success on dirt tracks nationwide in his early racing career. 

Stenhouse made his NASCAR Cup Series debut at the 2011 Coca-Cola 600, where he drove the #21 car for Wood Brothers Racing (JTG Daugherty Racing garage is where Wood Brothers Racing used to be). In his Cup Series debut, he finished 11th behind Denny Hamlin. Kevin Harvick would win his first Coca-Cola 600 in this race. 

Before joining JTG Daugherty Racing, Stenhouse spent eight seasons racing for Roush Fenway Racing, sporting the #6 car in 2012 (2 races) and the #17 car from 2013 to 2019 (full-time). In the 2017 season, Stenhouse won two races with RFR in the Gieco 500 at Talladega and the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona. The 2017 season was also the best in his Cup Series career when he finished 13th in the points standings. 

Before racing full-time in the Cup Series for RFR in 2013, he competed full-time at the Xfinity level for RFR for three seasons between 2010 and 2012. Stenhouse had a lot of success in his short Xfinity career, finishing first in the points standings in 2011 and 2012. He racked up six wins in 2012, including wins at Vegas, Texas, Iowa, Atlanta, Chicagoland, and Kansas. 

Since joining JTG Daugherty Racing, Stenhouse has found little spurts of success over three and a half seasons, but this season is one that NASCAR fans are paying attention to. Ricky and JTG Daugherty Racing came out swinging and clinched their playoff spot in the first race of the year, the Daytona 500—a crown jewel race in NASCAR. 

Since the Daytona 500, Stenhouse has not found himself back in victory lane again but has had a stellar run with his one-driver team. He has finished in the top 10 in five races this season, including the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte and the Bristol Dirt Race. 

JTG Daugherty Racing and Ricky Stenhouse are not everyone's go-to driver in the NASCAR Cup Series, but for the team to have just one driver and 50ish employees working for the team, they have put together an impressive run this season. They currently sit 14th in the points standings, which would be Stenhouse's and the team's second-best season if the season ended today.  

Looking ahead to this weekend's race in Sonoma, historically, Stenhouse does not perform well at this track finishing outside of the top 20 in the last four races. Stenhouse did perform well in the only road course race so far this season at the Circuit of the Americas, finishing in the top 10, so he has a chance to change his luck in Sonoma. 

 You can catch the race on Fox Sports 1, Sunday at 3:30!