May 18, 2022 | By Lee Spencer

Is Ricky Stenhouse Jr. NASCAR's leading rebounder this year?

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has spent the last 10 weeks digging out of a hole in the NASCAR Cup standings.

Three DNFs in a six-race period, along with an average finish of 28th on short tracks—usually his bread-and-butter—mired Stenhouse at 31st in points. That’s a tough place to be when there are only 32 drivers who have competed in the first 13 races of the season. 

It’s even worse when you’re a 34-year-old driver in a contract year. 

But over the last three weeks, the driver of the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet has been racing like the Stenhouse of old.

“I’m really happy with the result,” Stenhouse said after finishing eighth at Kansas Speedway on Sunday. “We were solid on pit road. We made some good adjustments to get our car better. I felt like I was really strong at points, but we were around an eighth-place car.

“The top five were really, really fast, and I didn’t have anything for them.”

Driving for a single-car team, it’s challenging for Stenhouse to compete against the Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing juggernauts of the NASCAR world. But over the past three races, Stenhouse finished second to Chase Elliott at Dover and posted a pair of eighth-place finishes at Darlington and Kansas. Considering the depth of the organizations that finished ahead of Stenhouse on Sunday—and the hurdles he had to clear after blowing a left-rear tire during practice and starting 36th—his hard-fought top-10 result was quite remarkable.

“I’m really happy with where we ran,” said Stenhouse, who has risen to 25th in the standings. “We didn’t make any mistakes and brought home another top 10. That was our goal coming in, to try and keep that momentum going.”

After winning back-to-back Xfinity Series titles in 2011-2012, the Olive Branch, Mississippi, native faced great expectations when he graduated to the Cup tour with Roush Fenway Racing. But after seven years and just one winning season, Stenhouse parted ways with Jack Roush and was recruited by JTGD, along with his crew chief Brian Pattie for 2020. 

Then the pandemic hit. After changing teams and manufacturers, there was little to no practice available to get up to speed. Qualifying was also eliminated. The affable driver—who is the ideal frontman for a mega-retailer such as Kroger—didn’t have the opportunity to cultivate a normal relationship with his sponsor over the past two years. That changed dramatically this February when Kroger had a huge presence for the Daytona 500. 

Still, in an era when team owners are opting for younger, cheaper options behind the wheel, Stenhouse doesn’t seem concerned.

“I don't really think about it,” Stenhouse said. “I've never thought about it in the past. Obviously, I've had long deals to deal with (laughs). So when it came up last time—and (owner) Tad (Geschickter) has always been very straightforward—and, ‘Hey, let me get the sponsorship stuff done, we’ll do yours and we'll keep going.’ 

“So I really love being with Tad and everybody at JTG Daugherty Racing and all the Kroger people have been, finally, we've been able to all get to hang out and do things together. For the first two years that I was here, we didn't build. We weren't able to get around each other very much but I feel really good about where we are now. These last few weeks have been really strong for us and you know, I feel like we've had some solid race cars. 

“And for us, it's just about trying to put everything together.”