Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s 2021 Nashville top-10 finish fits in with '22 stats
Not even halfway through the 2022 season, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has matched his top-five tally and topped his top-10 tally from 2021.
The driver of the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet owns one top-five and five top-10 finishes through 16 races. In all 36 last year, he had one and two, respectively.
Better yet, in the last six events alone, Stenhouse has finished in the top 10 four times. That stretch alone exceeds last season. It started at Dover Motor Speedway with a runner-up highlight. He was then eighth at both Darlington Raceway and Kansas Speedway. At Charlotte Motor Speedway, he placed seventh. The 32nd run at World Wide Technology Raceway and 25th showing at Sonoma Raceway that follow bucked his streak.
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It‘s clear Stenhouse is having a stronger season. JTG Daugherty Racing noticed and responded. Stenhouse and the team announced a multi-year contract extension Friday.
Stenhouse not only capitalized but cashed in on recent changes.
The introduction of the Next Gen car has shaken up the competition overall. There have been four first-time winners — most since 2011 at this point — and 12 different winners overall — tied for second most all-time at this point.
Also, new this year, JTG Daugherty Racing is fielding only one car. It used to be a two-car operation. So, Stenhouse now receives all of the organization‘s resources.
With all that said, Stenhouse is still far outside the NASCAR Playoffs picture with 10 races remaining in the regular season. He‘s seven spots and 135 points below the cutline. The number of different winners doesn‘t help, leaving just four berths on the table. Stenhouse hasn‘t made the 16-driver postseason field since 2017, when he ultimately closed out the season 13th, his career-best ending. That was also the last time he won, and he did so twice.
NASCAR‘s next stop on the schedule is Nashville Superspeedway (Sunday, 5 p.m. ET on NBC, NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). It‘ll be just the second time the Cup Series has ever visited the 1.33-mile track in Lebanon, Tennessee. Kyle Larson from Hendrick Motorsports won the inaugural event in 2021. Stenhouse turned out sixth.
That sixth place was Stenhouse‘s second-best result last year, but it was his best on a non-dirt surface (was second in the Bristol Dirt Race). He fired off 14th and crossed the line seventh at the end of Stage 1 and eighth at the Stage 2 conclusion, leading to an average running position of 6.3.
“We‘re hoping for another good concrete track run at Nashville like we had a Dover, where we finished second,” Stenhouse said. “This style of race track has been better for us than some of the other ones and I love Nashville. It was a really good track for us last year, but of course it‘s a totally different car. The biggest thing for us is to have a good practice session on Friday and make sure we have a car that handles good and is easy on the tires for our race.”
Stenhouse has also performed well as of late on intermediate-length venues like Nashville this season. Darlington, Kansas and Charlotte all fall under that category, and those were sites of the three most recent top 10s.
BetMGM lists Stenhouse at 50-1 odds to win Sunday.
