Ricky Stenhouse Jr. signs three-year extension with JTG Daugherty Racing

Good news for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. The NASCAR driver just signed a contract extension to stay in the No. 47 car for JTG Daugherty Racing. He will stay with the organization for the next few seasons.

The 36-year-old driver won the Daytona 500 last season. He now has an extension that will keep him in the 47 for the next year and then some. It comes amid news that JTG Daugherty could have a big shakeup soon in ownership and sponsorship.

Rumors sprang up a couple of weeks ago that co-owner Tad Geschickter could move to Joe Gibbs Racing and take the Kroger sponsorship with him. This extension would seemingly push against those rumors.

“I feel really good about where we are as a race team. All the guys in the shop, everybody in the front office, it’s all about racing, getting better and moving the team forward, ” Stenhouse said, via Catchfence.com. “I feel like we have a lot of really good people—and we’re close.

“We’ve had really good runs this year, and I don’t feel like we have the finishes to show the good runs that we’ve had. I’m excited for the future and what it holds with this race team. I think a lot of good things are going to continue to come down the pipeline.”

So, this feels like good news for both Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and JTG Daugherty Racing. At the very least, it signals stability in the organization. While there could be a shakeup at JTG Daugherty in the future, right now it feels like things will remain the same. At least for now.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. struggling in 2024

Compared to the first 11 races of the 2023 season, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has not been doing great. At this point last season he had a win, two top-10s, a top-5, and only two finishes outside of the top-20. No DNFs in those races.

This season, Stenhouse has one top-10, one top-5, and two DNFs. He has six finishes of P21 or worse this season as well. Things have not gone well, but there is time to turn it around. Perhaps with the extension behind him, Stenhouse can start to focus more on the track.

Even if Stenhouse didn’t have a win last season, he would have been close to making the playoffs on points. He held his own in the top-20 the entire season. This year, not so much. They haven’t had the same speed.

While it hasn’t been ideal this season, the next couple of months offer opportunities to this 47 team. A few top-15 runs could turn into top-10 runs. I think Stenhouse can find that groove again and make the most of it, but it has to turn around soon.