Ricky Stenhouse Jr ‘pumped up’ as he aims for second Daytona 500 win

The Daytona 500 weekend is right here and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. needs to additional etch his title into historical past.

Stenhouse, the winner of the 2023 race, would grow to be the thirteenth driver to take house the checkered flag of the Daytona 500 twice.

After just a few months off after the season began, Stenhouse is “pumped” to get again to racing competitively.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. celebrates in victory lane after successful the sixty fifth annual NASCAR Cup Sequence Daytona 500 at Daytona Worldwide Speedway on February 19, 2023 in Daytona Seaside, Florida. (Chris Graythen/Getty Photos)

“I am able to go. My staff, we have accomplished numerous good issues with our staff, and everybody is able to go,” Stenhouse not too long ago instructed Fox Information Digital in an interview.

Stenhouse’s win three years in the past did not precisely change his view of himself as a driver, however he is aware of the Daytona 500 is the place legacies are made.

“I believe it modified the best way numerous followers noticed me as a driver. I imply, anytime you may put Daytona 500 champion subsequent to your title, that is one thing we have strived for,” he stated.

“I imply, I ran my first 500 in 2012, and it took me till 2023 to test that field. It was an enormous win for a small staff like ours. I felt like that actually pushed us to have an amazing season that 12 months, and I nonetheless really feel like we’re taking momentum from that. Despite the fact that final season wasn’t the season we needed, we’ll nonetheless present up on the 500 this 12 months with full confidence that we are going to have a superb season.” shot to win.”

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. drives throughout observe for the sixty fifth annual NASCAR Cup Sequence Daytona 500 at Daytona Worldwide Speedway, Feb. 17, 2023, in Daytona Seaside, Florida. (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Photos)

See also  MLB news: Yankees make remarkable home run history in win over Rays

FAMOUS NASCAR, MOTORCROSS STAR RETURNS TO DAYTONA WEEKEND WITH A HIGHER GOAL FOR VETERANS, FIRST RESPONDERS

Since then, Stenhouse has gained only one race: the 2024 YellaWood 500 at Talladega. Successful in NASCAR is not straightforward, after all, and it is a fixed thoughts recreation for everybody within the sport.

“It is so much like golf in {that a} good season is 2, three wins, proper? You have obtained guys leaping into that 5 and 6 class, however there’s not lots of them. You are going to see guys making a dwelling within the prime 10, proper? It is robust,” Stenhouse stated.

“However I believe for us, Hyak and our staff, we’ve 35 workers. We’re a small staff. We form of know our place, we all know our sources, the issues that we’ve.

“If we get into the highest 15 each week, that can be a house run for us. However I believe that retains us motivated, retains us going and does not convey us down. So each week is a distinct course, a distinct course. And if it was a foul week, you simply have to choose up your stuff and transfer on to the subsequent one.”

So, how do they keep away from that dangerous week? Or higher but: how do they expertise a profitable week?

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. celebrates together with his staff after successful the sixty fifth annual NASCAR Cup Sequence Daytona 500 at Daytona Worldwide Speedway on February 19, 2023 in Daytona Seaside, Florida. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Photos)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“It takes a automobile that you simply’re snug with, you could push, you may push folks, you may maneuver it left and proper in a short time. If it’s essential get on the observe, off the observe, make the blocks,” Stenhouse stated.

However then you definitely additionally want a superb technique. You want to have the ability to save gasoline, preserve your observe place and when it is time to pit, your pit crew has to do the work whenever you get within the pit field to get you out and ensure you’re nonetheless within the lead whenever you get again. And I’d say that is most likely the toughest a part of successful the Daytona.

“So I’d say the throttle man on that final pit cease for the final three years, 4 years at Daytona, has been form of a recreation changer. He can prevent seconds, and seconds is so much. So put your self in the precise place and miss the wrecks and the chaos, you by no means know what is going on to occur.”

Comply with Fox Information Digital’s sports reporting on Xand subscribe to the Fox Information Sports activities Huddle publication