It is not after every race weekend that Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finds his name in the newspaper headlines. But the 36-year-old has had his moments over the past decade and secured the prestige of his right. Moreover, the JTG Daugherty Racing driver is a Daytona 500 champion and one of the higher authorities when it comes to long-serving tenures in the NASCAR Cup Series.
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That’s precisely why his opinion on the misconception that fans have about drivers holds a lot of roots. In a recent interview with Jeff Gluck from The Athletic, he was asked about what it was that fans did not understand about his job. He responded by noting that racing wasn’t just a weekend job like people seem to think and that he has one too many obligations to fulfill even on weekdays.
His words went, “There’s a lot of stuff I do outside of the racetrack. I might have a day or two off a week, but I’ve got something to do for racing just about every day — whether that be with partnerships or NASCAR or the team. I’m at the shop two days a week just with meetings, and then you’ve got the sim. It’s not just a weekend job. And I think fans know that, but they probably don’t see a ton of it.”
Drivers like Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson keep themselves busy by participating in a tonne of races outside of NASCAR. But even those who don’t take that path are bombarded with a busy schedule that includes being present in sponsor events, race analysis, practice, and so on. As a full-time driver in the highest order of NASCAR, Stenhouse Jr.’s contention is only more than valid.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. uses Iowa expertise to secure top-5 result on Sunday
Stenhouse Jr. secured his second top-5 finish of the ongoing season on Sunday during the inaugural race at Iowa Speedway. A strong performer in the Xfinity Series, he has plenty of experience racing at the track and he put those learnings to good use right when it mattered. Though he did not qualify well, he was able to execute during the race and finished in fifth place.
He told the press after the race, “I’m just really pumped at, you know, what we were able to do on a night that we really needed it. We’ve struggled as of late just you know kind of finishing off races and we’ve done a lot of good things you know here and there throughout these races.” He is currently 25th on the points table and needs a victory over the next nine races to secure a playoff spot.
