Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and JTG Daugherty Racing will continue their relationship for a fourth consecutive season, announcing on Friday that the Olive Branch, Mississippi-native will pilot the organization’s No. 47 entry for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season and beyond.
“We’re pleased to announce Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is returning to the company,” Said Tad Geschickter, co-owner of JTG Daugherty Racing. “Ricky has done a solid job on the racetrack and off the track during Kroger Racing in-store activations for our esteemed partners. We’re continuing to learn the new car and we’re making progress. We’ve led laps, earned stage points, and been close to winning this year.”
Stenhouse – who joined the now single-car operation at the start of 2020 – has continued to put together solid results year after year, amassing five top-five and 11 top-10 finishes in 108 starts for the organization.
“I’m ready to continue our progress together as a team,” said Stenhouse Jr. “We’ve made some strides with this new car at some tracks and we know there’s some work to do on others. I look forward to that process with the good group of people that we have in place to make our program better. I’m really happy with the first three years here at JTG Daugherty Racing.”
As the series prepares for its 17th event of the season, the Olive Branch, Mississippi-native currently sits 24th in points, with one top-five and five top-10 finishes – the most in a single season for a JTG Daugherty Racing driver since 2017.
Stenhouse’s four consecutive top-10 finishes at Dover, Darlington, Kansas, and Charlotte, marked the first time the organization has secured four consecutive top-10 results in its 14-year tenure at NASCAR’s top level.
The contract renewal for the 34-year-old comes as the organization attempts to make the Playoffs for the first time together, in what would be the second post-season berth for both Stenhouse and JTG.
According to a press release from JTG Daugherty Racing, Stenhouse and the organization have agreed to a multi-year extension, solidifying a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series for the two-time Xfinity Series champion for years to come.
2023 NASCAR Cup Series Team Chart: