Even on Wednesday, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was still enjoying his hard-earned Daytona 500 week of esteem.
The new JTG Daugherty Racing driver won the Daytona 500 pole position Sunday in his first official outing with the team and is coming off a celebratory media blitz earlier this week.
Although he drove the car, Stenhouse was insistent during a Daytona 500 media day question-and-answer period that his good fortune on the grid was primarily a result of the JTG Daugherty Racing team – more preparation than driver skill on the single lap qualifying run in the No. 47 Chevrolet.
“It’s been really neat so far,” Stenhouse said of the one-of-a-kind media tour the Daytona 500 pole winner is treated to in the wake of his work.
“As soon as I won the pole, we were like, ‘Hey, we’re going to fly out at 6 o’clock and to go to New York,’ and they were gracious enough to let me push that time back so I could go to the dirt track (Volusia Speedway) and watch my sprint car team run, and then we headed to New York.
“But getting up in the morning and going to FOX and doing all the shows and then all the interviews in between is just pretty cool to see everybody talking about our race team and what we were able to accomplish on Sunday.
“A lot of hard work went into that this offseason,” Stenhouse stressed. “A lot of Saturdays, long nights in the shop, long days in the wind tunnel, and to see it all kind of come together, pay off and get to see all the media that our team was able to get is pretty special. I got to enjoy it for a week, or we get to enjoy that for a week before the race on Sunday, so it’s a big deal for our team.”
The pole was Stenhouse’s third in eight full-time seasons; the first since the two-time Xfinity Series champion won the Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway NASCAR Cup Series race from the pole in 2017. It’s also the third pole position for the JTG Daugherty team and first since 2015 when A.J. Allmendinger topped qualifying at both road course events (Sonoma, Calif., and Watkins Glen, N.Y.).
Stenhouse conceded he has plenty of motivation to make good on this prime starting position – especially starting the 2020 season with a new team – but with a familiar crew chief in Brian Pattie, who worked with Stenhouse at Roush-Fenway Racing from 2017-2019. Neither considers the performance at Daytona last weekend to be a surprise effort considering their track record together, particularly on superspeedways, where Stenhouse has earned both career wins.
“I know about (calling the pole position) an upset,” Stenhouse said. “Brian and I together have shown what we can do on speedways. I think it shows the work that the team put in and the resources that we have to come down here and be the fastest car in Daytona 500 pole qualifying.
“So I wouldn’t say it would be an upset. I don’t know how you’d put it, but I feel confident. Maybe an eye-opener, but I am confident in what our ability is and our race car, especially here at Daytona.”
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.