Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has been a full-time presence in the NASCAR Cup Series since 2013 and has become a highly regarded veteran. Born in Tennessee, he got into racing at the age of six and built his career from there. A memorable part of his childhood and later career is the Charlotte Motor Speedway and the Coca-Cola 600.
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The 1.5-mile quad-oval in Concord is where he made his Cup Series debut. He started behind the wheel of the No. 21 Ford Mustang for Wood Brothers Racing in 2011 and finished the race in 11th place.
What made this result even more special was the fact that Charlotte Motor Speedway was the track he regularly visited as a young boy.
Stenhouse Jr. said in an interview with Donut Podcasts earlier this year, “The first ever Cup Series race I went to was in 1992. I was born in 1987. It was the Coke 600 in Charlotte. That’s the longest race of the year for NASCAR, and it was where I made my Cup Series debut in 2011.
“So, a really cool significance to that race. I got pictures of me falling asleep in the grandstands.”
Junior’s grandparents resided in North Carolina at the time, and he visited races at the track every time he visited them. The story of how he got the chance to debut in the Cup Series is an interesting one. He had been a full-time driver for Roush Fenway Racing in the Nationwide Series in 2011. After a series of injuries had left his future in doubt a year before then, he was making a strong comeback.
When he reached Victory Lane for the first time that year, in Iowa, Wood Brothers Racing decided that he would be a good choice to replace the ill-struck Trevor Bayne in the No. 21 Ford. And so, he was provided a temporary promotion, and he climbed into the car with a task at hand. After securing 11th position, he went back to his full-time ride in the Nationwide Series and continued causing a storm.
Stenhouse would go on to win at Iowa once again and secure the 2011 championship. He repeated the feat the next season and secured the 2012 championship as well. As for his tryst with Charlotte, he has never achieved a win at the track yet. In the 2025 Coca-Cola 600, he finished in 11th place. Later in the Charlotte ROVAL, he secured a 19th-place finish.
