NASCAR driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. makes Maine visit
NASCAR driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. answers questions at Luke’s Lobster in Portland on Tuesday afternoon. Stenhouse was making a promotional stop for next month’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. (Dave Dyer/Staff Writer)
PORTLAND — Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has raced 18 times in the NASCAR Cup Series at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire, but had never crossed the border to Maine.
“I’ve been just about to every other state, but never made it this far,” said Stenhouse, 38, a native of Olive Branch, Mississippi. “(Ricky Craven) and I have always talked about Maine, and he said I needed to get up here, so I finally have.”
Stenhouse, a veteran driver in the NASCAR Cup Series, made a promotional stop in Portland ahead of the Dollar Tree 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Aug. 23.
Stenhouse, who drives the No. 47 car for Hayak Motorsports, has had a successful career. The 2013 Cup Series Rookie of the Year, Stenhouse won the Daytona 500 in 2023, holding off Joey Logano on the final lap. In 493 starts in the Cup Series, he has four wins, 28 top-5 finishes and has led 603 laps. He won NASCAR’s second-tier O’Reilly Auto Parts Series title in 2011 and 2012.
NASCAR driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. answers questions at Luke’s Lobster in Portland on Tuesday afternoon. Stenhouse was making a promotional stop for next month’s Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. (Dave Dyer/Staff Writer)
Stenhouse is 27th in the Cup Series standings this season, with two top-five finishes.
But New Hampshire — classified as an intermediate track, measuring 1.058 miles — has been one of the trickier tracks of Stenhouse’s career. His average finish at the track is 20th, and his best was seventh in 2024.
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“It’s a technical, tough race track,” Stenhouse said. “You’ve got to have a good car, doing what you need it to, getting the right setup on it. You, as a driver, have to really put it on the edge. (The track) is really flat. A lot of the race tracks have banking in the corners. It’s all about limiting mistakes and making sure you have a good-driving car.”
Stenhouse starting racing karts at the age of six before eventually moving on to sprint car racing in 2003. While NASCAR drivers like Newburgh native Craven, Geoff Bodine, Kevin Harvick and the late Kyle Busch have made race appearances at Oxford Plains Speedway, including at the Oxford 250, Stenhouse has little experience in racing Late Model cars, but he’s not opposed to it.
“For me, I grew up dirt racing, so I go back and do a lot of dirt races,” Stenhouse said. “I definitely would get behind the wheel of a Late Model. It’s cool to go see other parts of the country and see what racing is like.”
Stenhouse has seen many changes in NASCAR over the past 10 years, from the car specifications for the Cup Series, to changes in the playoff format and reduced practice and qualifying sessions.
“Right now, the sport of NASCAR is in a good spot,” Stenhouse said. “I feel like NASCAR is listening to the drivers and teams, and not that we have it all right, but the collaboration with everyone is in a really good spot. Do I necessarily love the car? Not exactly, but we’re continuing to change stuff. I’m looking forward to see the new speedway package when we get to Daytona. (NASCAR) is willing to pull the trigger and change some stuff a lot quicker than I think we used to.”
The drivers have changed as well. Several well-known drivers have retired over the past decade, including Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Carl Edwards.
A younger generation is now making names for themselves in the Cup Series standings, including Tyler Reddick, Ty Gibbs and Chase Elliott. It’s a noticeable shift for veterans like Stenhouse.
“When I came into the sport, you were scared to do anything wrong,” Stenhouse said. “Today, the kids aren’t scared. At the same time, I can kind of see why. The guys before me were in for a long while. Today, the kids are like, ‘Man, I don’t know how long I have to make my mark, to keep my seat.’ There are seats that seem to be rotating a lot more often. You can’t blame them too much.”
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Tagged: auto racing, nascar
Dave Dyer is in his second stint with the Kennebec Journal/Morning Sentinel. Dave was previously with the company from 2012-2015 and returned in late 2016. He spent most of 2016 doing freelance sports. More by Dave Dyer
