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The 2023 Daytona 500 was all about the last-lap thriller as the race went into double overtime and saw an unexpected winner in the form of Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
The win ended his 199-race winless streak and marked JTG Daugherty Racing’s first win since a 2014 victory by A.J. Allmendinger at Watkins Glen, N.Y. Despite that, Stenhouse Jr’s critics are still raising their voices, but this time he is ready to change their opinion.
Richard Childress Racing driver Kyle Busch came out of the infield center after his last-lap wreck and had a four-word dig aimed at the Daytona 500 winner. During the Daytona 500 post-race, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. stated that he heard nicknames for his aggressive driving style. He also spoke about the haters.
Stenhouse said:
“Obviously, you’re going to have haters everywhere, and when you have somebody at the time like Kyle Busch getting out and bashing you, that’s difficult to overcome. I mean, I feel like I’ve put myself in some bad spots throughout my career, but the faster we get our cars, the more I can take care of them and still run them close to the front."
"It’s something I’ve always tried to do, which is at sometimes an expense, is try and take a car and try and get way more out of it than what’s there."
He continued:
“I feel like that’s my job to do as a race car driver, is to get the most speed out of a race car that you can, but also in this sport you’ve got to take care of it, and you can’t just leave it all out there every single race.”
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. takes the win in NASCAR’s longest Daytona 500
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., the driver of #47 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at JTG Daugherty Racing, earned the crown jewel race, making his way to the lead on the final lap in double overtime and then emerging ahead of Joey Logano at the time of caution to secure his first career win at Daytona 500.
Expressing his feelings about the win, Stenhouse Jr. said:
“Man, this is unbelievable. This was the site of my last win back in 2017. We’ve worked really hard. We had a couple shots last year to get a win and fell short. It was a tough season, but man, we got it done, Daytona 500.”
Catch Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in action at the Auto Club Speedway on February 26, 2023.
