NASCAR CUP SERIES
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
APRIL 26, 2025
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session at Talladega Superspeedway.
DO YOU HAVE A MOMENT THAT STANDS OUT AS THAT DEFINING MOMENT IN YOUR MEMORY OF AVOIDING THE BIG CRASH OR MAKING THE RACE-WINNING MOVE?
“Honestly, I haven’t gone back and watched the 2017 one in a while. Saw some highlights that Roush posted the other day. But yeah, missing a wreck is very vital in that. I think in 2017 we got some damage and went to the back and ended up missing the big wreck, which was obviously key. I would say the race in the fall here, the biggest thing we did was that we were one of the best as saving fuel. So that made our green flag pit stop faster, and got onto and off of pit road and into the lead, which ultimately put us in position to miss the last wreck again. We got some damage from it, but we were in the best place possible when that wreck happened. I would say that was definitely the defining moment. Us executing on pit road as well as we did and that is the name of the game now, especially when it comes to speedway racing. How can you spend less time on pit road on the last stop. That is the easiest way to jump track position. I felt like we nailed it then and hopefully we can do that again.”
YOU STARTED ON THE POLE IN 2017 AND SIXTH IN THE OTHER, BUT YOUR TWO WINS AT DAYTONA YOU STARTED OUTSIDE THE TOP 30. IS THAT PUR COINCIDENCE OR IS THAT SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE WAY THIS CAR RACES?
“It’s not coincidence. At Roush we worked really hard to find speed in our speedway cars over the years from like 2014, 2015, 2016. We felt like those were our best opportunities to win and we put a lot of effort into that. Jimmy Fenning kind of ran that program and then obviously Brian Pattie brought a lot of info over and made our cars really fast. The car we sat on the pole with here, I think we were like two-tenths faster than Dale Jr., who was second. So, that car was really fast, and we qualified well. And then in the Next Gen cars since we have been coming to the superspeedways, we have put every kind of different set up that we could to try and qualify better. We feel like we do have a really good race package, so we don’t want to jeopardize that, especially at Daytona and Atlanta where I feel handling matters a little bit more than Talladega. We have tried to get a little more aggressive in qualifying here at Talladega, but just can’t seem to find something that works for speed for us. So, we got another shot at it today and my guys are getting aggressive and where we are qualifying today, we haven’t qualified before. So, we will see if that helps. We would like to qualify better and if you look at our average running position throughout the races, in the Next Gen, at the superspeedways, obviously in the first Stage we are kind of mired in the back and we are trying to figure out how to get track position. It’s not always it, because it’s easier to save fuel back there. Once you get to about 20th or 25th, it’s the best place to save fuel and be most efficient. So, we don’t feel like we have to qualify on the pole to win for sure.”
WITH THE NEXT GEN CAR, HAVE YOU HAD TO CHANGE YOUR MINDSET OF HOW YOU APPROACH SPEEDWAY RACING?
“Yeah, but I don’t feel like that has…..if the teams had learned quicker that we needed to save more fuel and have a quicker pit stop, then I think we would have been doing this a long time ago. I think everybody just has the same information now and all the same people are working on it at the shop so yeah, I think the mindset is different than back in the day when I first started speedway racing when you just tried to stay up front. Now it’s like if you are somewhere in the top 15 or 15th to 20th, you can leapfrog a lot of people and put yourself in a position to win. So for me, my guys are continually giving me updates of where I am at and saving fuel relative to everybody else in the field on every run that we have. I am taking that information and trying to position myself as far forward as I can without using fuel. And so that is a totally different mindset now in my opinion. I don’t really think its car related, but it’s a strategy. And it’s different plays and sometimes its not the most fun.”
NOS IS YOUR PARTNER ON YOUR CAR THIS WEEKEND. HOW BIG OF A PARTNER HAVE THEY BEEN IN GENERAL FOR YOUR CAREER AS FAR BACK AS THE RELATIONSHIP GOES?
“Yeah, we have been together since 2012 and man, we have finished second so many times with them. Some really close ones here at Talladega. We have really been wanting to get them into victory lane. NOS Energy Drinks has been a huge partner of mine and in dirt racing as well. I feel like they have really elevated the sport of dirt racing since they came into the sport. They continued to evolve and do things different in dirt racing and all across the board. Very thankful for their partnership, and I think a lot of dirt racing teams are thankful for their partnership and for what they do in the series and throughout the community. It would be huge to get them a win and I am pumped to have them back here and racing our sprint car across the street. Got rained out last night, so hopefully we can get a win tonight and Sunday as well.”
REGARDING FUEL SAVINGS AND IF THIS IS SOMETHING WE ARE GOING TO CONTINUE TO SEE MOVING FORWARD…
“Yeah, because tires don’t mean anything, for the most part, especially here at Talladega. The only thing that matters is how much fuel you have in your car. So I guess, no matter what, if you shorten the Stages and you can make it all the way on fuel, you are still trying to save so that your stop between the Stages is shorter. Because you can put four tires on it faster than you can fill it full of fuel. So, no matter what, people are still going to save fuel and try and make it through your pit stops as fast as possible. Yeah, I don’t see a way that you can drastically change it to not ride around and save fuel. I haven’t really thought about it either, I just play the game that we have.”
REGARDING THE SINGLE FILE LINES WE USED TO SEE AND DIFFERENCES IN SAVING FUEL NOW…
“Yeah, I mean that is kind of where the fuel savings started. I guess for the fans at least we are three and four wide here. Then you will have guys that want to make a run to the front and when you are three wide, it is more difficult to make that run to the front because you are gridlocked and nowhere to go. When we were single wide around the top, and you had a few guys that were impatient and wanted to go to the front, they could just drop down and really just drive to the front because we were all part throttle around the top. So yeah, I don’t mind the side-by-side and three wide, it puts on a show. Then you always get the top lane that if they want to go to the front, they can, and they generally do. Then they will drop down and start saving fuel on the bottom and kind of stack the bottom line up. So, there are ways to get to the front, and I do find that nice.”
WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT THE DEBUT WITH THE WOOD BROTHERS AND THAT TIME OF YOUR CAREER?
“Yeah, that was huge. I was just talking to Leonard at Martinsville and talking about the year that they are having and he reminds me of that day. Its so cool, once you drive for the Wood Brothers, and I drove for them for one race and they act like I drove for them for a lifetime. They make you feel like family, and they made me feel like family as soon as I was told that I was going to drive their car. It was a huge opportunity and we ran well, qualified well, and that was a fuel mileage race and things were all shook up there at the end. It was a cool debut, and I was very honored to be able to drive the Wood Brothers No. 21 and see them at the racetrack. It’s cool to see them back in victory lane and the success that they are having. Leonard is pumped up and that is cool to see.”
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