Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

35-Year-Old Driver  
JTG Daugherty Racing
JTG Daugherty Racing
2023 Fantasy Outlook
Stenhouse struggled through another inconsistent campaign with JTG Daugherty Racing last year. He would collect five Top-10 finishes, which were a four-season high mark. However, Stenhouse would labor with week-to-week consistency and post his lowest average finish (22.8) of his last seven seasons. The veteran driver will be back with the No. 47 Chevrolet team in 2023 and hope to reverse some of these trends. Stenhouse will have a new crew chief in the form of Mike Kelley. Hopefully, the shakeup in leadership will have a positive effect on team chemistry. Stenhouse has signed a multi-year extension, so the team has complete confidence in the 10-season veteran to turn things around. To dig out of their current hole, it's going to take some time and effort for this rebuild process. Read Past Outlooks
Great Drive to Fourth
NASCAR Cup
April 9, 2023
Stenhouse Jr. finished fourth in the Food City Dirt Race NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway Sunday night.
ANALYSIS
Stenhouse would use his great dirt racing background to his full advantage Sunday night in Bristol. He'd pass a lot of cars on his drive from 22nd-place on the starting grid up to the front. Stenhouse would finally arrive there in the late laps and start contending for the win. He'd be in the final green-flag laps battle among the leaders but would be running fourth-place when the final caution flag of the night came out on the last lap. It was the veteran driver's third Top-10 finish of the season.
Read More News
Racing Stats
Loading Racing Stats...
Track Stats
Loading Track Stats...
Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Ricky Stenhouse Jr. See More
Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 Preview: Round of 12 Begins
4 days ago
Mark Taylor previews the first race of the Round of 12 at Texas Motor Speedway and he has his eye on the last two winners at the Fort Worth facility, Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick.
NASCAR Barometer: Denny Hamlin Lands Third Bristol Victory
7 days ago
Denny Hamlin knocked some of the recent bad luck off and picked up his third win of the season at Bristol. C.J. Radune breaks down Saturday night's race and reassess the drivers ahead of the Round of 12.
NASCAR DFS:  Bass Pro Shops Night Race
10 days ago
Christopher Bell picked up his lone win of the season back in the spring at Bristol Dirt. C.J. Radune thinks the driver of the No. 20 has a good chance to replicate it this time on the concrete Saturday night.
Bass Pro Shops Night Race Preview: World's Fastest Half Mile
11 days ago
Kyle Larson heads to his favorite track this weekend looking for win No. 4 this season. Mark Taylor tells us the contenders and pretenders for the Bristol Night Race.
NASCAR Barometer: Tyler Reddick Wins Kansas in OT
14 days ago
Luck finally broke Tyler Reddick's way in Kansas and helped the No. 45 pick up his second win of the season. C.J. Radune gives a barometer of where playoff drivers stand with the cut looming at Bristol.
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2014
2008
The Mississippi native has fallen into a bit of a predictable rut the last three seasons. Stenhouse has averaged about three Top 10's and a 23rd-place slot in the driver points for the last three years. While he improved his average finish slightly in 2021 (19.7), the Top 10 totals failed to impress and he finished 22nd-place in the final standings. The big news at JTG Daugherty Racing during the off-season is the reduction from two to one race team as Ryan Preece and the No. 37 Chevrolet are now no more. The change could be good for Stenhouse as he'll receive all the support and attention this race team can muster. There are no changes to the crew chief or team lineup, so chemistry should continue to improve. The lone x-factor would seem to be how quickly Stenhouse adapts to the new Next-Gen race car. From most feedback it's more difficult to drive and that favors veteran drivers like Stenhouse.
The 33-year-old veteran has fallen into a bit of a rut the last couple seasons, and is now posting similar stat lines that slot him in the middle portion of the driver standings. Stenhouse notched just four Top 10s in all of 2020 and finished 24th in the driver point standings. These were remarkably similar marks to his 2019 campaign and a sign that Stenhouse has stalled in terms of performance. The move to JTG Daugherty Racing has failed to yield the fruits that this driver posted in his career-best Cup Series campaign of 2017 at Roush Fenway Racing. He now enters a contract year at the No. 47 Chevrolet team. Stenhouse will again be paired with crew chief, Brian Pattie, and the two will look to figure out a way out of this malaise. He will be racing for his job in 2021, but will face major hurdles to get back where Stenhouse was just three seasons ago.
Stenhouse has been on a two-season slide after posting his career-best Cup Series campaign in 2017. The slump cost this veteran driver his job at Roush Fenway Racing, so now he moves to JTG Daugherty Racing this season. Crew chief Brian Pattie also makes the move with Stenhouse to the No. 47 Chevrolet team. This familiar face should help in the transition. Pattie guided Stenhouse to that two victory, nine Top-10 finish campaign back in 2017. However, they do come to a team of fewer resources than the No. 17 RFR Ford so we have to be a bit reserved about the potential for the upcoming season. Stenhouse and Pattie need a fresh start, but it could take them some time to find their way with this new race team. We have a very cautious and reserved outlook for Stenhouse in 2020.
Stenhouse took some steps back last season after his career-best 2017 campaign. He registered just five Top-10 finishes during the year, and finished 18th in the final driver standings. The six-season veteran failed to make the Chase field, and failed to crack the win column after picking up two victories in 2017. Still, Stenhouse was pretty fast and reliable on the superspeedways. That's has been this team and driver's biggest strength the last few seasons. Two of Stenhouse's three Top-5 finishes last year came in both Talladega races. However, we saw the 31-year-old driver take some steps back on intermediate and larger ovals. The good news is that the team is the point car for the Roush organization and sponsorship and contracts look good for the foreseeable future. Brian Pattie returns at crew chief, and he and Stenhouse will look to regain some of their lost 2017 swagger.
Last year was a career season for the driver of the No. 17 Ford. Stenhouse nabbed a couple victories on the superspeedway circuit and posted nine total Top-10 finishes. It all led to a career-best 13th-place mark in the final driver standings. The entire No. 17 team and crew chief Brian Pattie return in 2018. It's taken five seasons to turn around this floundering race team, but Roush and Stenhouse have finally started to make some headway. We don't expect any quantum leaps for this driver and team, but another campaign of steady improvements and consistency. Another berth in the Chase for the Cup would be dependent on winning a race. Stenhouse has proven to be a dangerous driver on the superspeedways, so we wouldn't rule out a playoff seeding win.
With the departure of Greg Biffle, Stenhouse now finds himself the elder statesman of this now two-team stable at Roush Fenway Racing. The trend line for this camp hasn't been good, but at least they have some youth to point to in the driving department. Stenhouse is a two-time Xfinity Series champion, but he's yet to make his mark on NASCAR's top division. Now entering his fifth full-time season of competition in the Monster Energy Cup Series, the pressure to perform will be squarely on Stenhouse's shoulders. He posted career-best marks in Top 5s and Top 10s last season with four and six respectively. However, his 21st-place finish in the driver standings is what is most concerning. Unless some major things change in the No. 17 Ford camp, a berth in the Chase is a slim possibility this season.
As we enter season four of the Stenhouse era at Roush Fenway Racing, the young driver comes to a crossroads in his Sprint Cup Series career. Rather than improvement, we've seen some fairly consistent performance marks from the driver of the No. 17 Ford through his first three seasons in NASCAR's top division. Last year he only collected three top-10 finishes and ended up a lowly 25th in the driver standings after Homestead. Those are marks comparable to previous years. The time to improve is now, and the burden is on Roush to give Stenhouse better cars and better guidance. Nick Sandler returns as crew chief for this driver and team in 2016, but both Sandler and Stenhouse will be on the hot seat if they turn in another lackluster performance this season. This is a contract year for the young driver so we believe they'll be some improvement, but not tremendous by any measure.
1. The two-time reigning Nationwide Series champion will take on his first full season of racing in the Sprint Cup Series. Stenhouse takes over the famous No. 17 Ford for the departed Matt Kenseth and he has some pretty big shoes to fill right off. The young driver is not completely unacquainted with the Cup car. Stenhouse made five starts in NASCAR’s top division over the last two years. He’ll use that experience to his full advantage in 2013. When we look back in history and Roush Fenway Racing rookies we’re reminded of David Ragan. The comparisons between him and Stenhouse are striking. In fact, we think their rookie campaigns could be just as similar. Lots of lessons learned and around 7-9 Top-10 finishes for the ROTY candidate.
More Fantasy News
Wins Daytona 500
NASCAR Cup
February 19, 2023
Stenhouse Jr. won the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway Sunday evening.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
New Crew Chief for 2023
NASCAR Cup
November 10, 2022
Mike Kelley slides into a familiar role as crew chief of Stenhouse Jr.'s No. 47 Kroger Racing Camaro team for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season. After three seasons, crew chief Brian Pattie is departing the racing organization with Kelley picking up where Pattie's leaving off, JTG Daugherty Racing reports.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Signs Extension
NASCAR Cup
June 24, 2022
The ink is dry on a multi-year contract extension for NASCAR Cup Series driver Stenhouse Jr. and JTG Daugherty Racing. Stenhouse joined media members in Nashville Superspeedway's deadline room Friday afternoon to share the news that he's returning to the team, which will enter its 29th year in the sport of NASCAR in 2023.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Looking to move to front
NASCAR Cup
May 29, 2022
Stenhouse will start at the rear of Sunday's Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway for unapproved adjustments, Jim Utter of Motorsport.com reports.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Wins Open Stage 1
NASCAR Cup
May 22, 2022
Stenhouse Jr. won stage 1 of the NASCAR All-Star Open at Texas Motor Speedway Sunday afternoon.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.