As a result of the team’s increased performance and success in 2022, Trackhouse Racing drivers Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez will be removed from this column going forward. The column following the Daytona 500 gives a list of the current underdog drivers, which can be found at the bottom.
Top Dog: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Let’s just call Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s first 10 races of the season for what they were: abysmal. Despite a top 10 at Auto Club Speedway, Stenhouse entered the DuraMAX Drydene 400 at Dover Motor Speedway (May 2) sitting 31st in points and on pace for career lows in rank, average start and average finish.
But there was good news for Stenhouse and the No. 47 JTG-Daughtery Racing team: This season is far from over. While the 34-year-old will very likely need a win to make the playoffs, he has the talent to do so. As I argued in last week’s “2-Headed Monster,” Stenhouse has a tendency to have a breakout race on a non-superspeedway. And, if he had finished one spot higher at Dover, that win would be in the bank.
The Olive Branch, Miss. native ignored his woes thus far to score his first top five of the season, and in a big way. Stenhouse passed Chastain on a restart with less than 60 laps to go to advance to the runner-up position. Despite a challenge from both Chastain and Martin Truex Jr., Stenhouse held them off to finish second to race winner Chase Elliott.
After the race was moved to Monday after 78 laps due to rain, Stenhouse began to creep his way to the top 10. He entered it on lap 131. Different strategies with pit stops led Stenhouse to finish stage 1 in the 12th position. In stage 2, he boosted that by seven positions to finish fifth and earned six stage points.
The final stage is where Stenhouse’s No. 47 The Frozen Farmer Chevrolet really came alive. He quickly worked his way back into the top five, then drove up to third only 12 laps after the stage began.
Just as Stenhouse was about to bring his car down pit road for a…
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