Ricky Stenhouse Jr. weighs in on wreck with Joey Logano with counter-narrative response

One of the major storylines coming out of the Daytona 500 pertained to Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Joey Logano, as drivers, media pundits and fans alike argued over who was at fault for the duo coming together and causing a major accident during last Sunday’s race.

Logano has been outspoken about the criticism he’s received for seemingly being over-aggressive when Stenhouse Jr. hit him with a block, and the latter isn’t going away quietly either. The 2023 Daytona 500 winner took some time to counter Logano’s narrative on Saturday, as he explained his side of the incident.

“From my standpoint, you know, I watch a lot of race film, and we took the lead with 15 laps ago in the 500 in 2024, and I didn’t make a block down the back-stretch and I ended up P28 in the next two laps. Took myself right out of contention,” Stenhouse Jr. harkened back, via Kelly Crandall of RACER. “So, you know, 15 laps to go sounds like a lot, but you can also lose all your track position and not have a shot to win.

“So, that’s where, from my standpoint, you know, we were in the top lane. I was watching Joey in my mirror. I knew he was going to the middle. So, I was just kind of waiting on the move to go with him. All that worked out. He, you know, lifted enough to like — I was, you know, still in front of his front bumper, which was good. I thought, kind of everything settled down.

“I think where it got a little mishapped is, you know, that brought the field together. Then, I was looking at the No. 01 [Corey LaJoie], who I thought would be going down with us. When I looked up, he was higher than I had expected. So, I kind of wanted to be in line with him, to kind of get the draft down the back stretch. At that time, I thought Joey was just in line. Then, when I started easing back down, you know, Joey was in there, getting pushed. We just all kind of ran out of room.”

Even though the debate between which driver is in the wrong has been contentious, Stenhouse Jr. wasn’t quick to blame Logano, believing that the No. 22 wheelman gave him enough room, it just didn’t work out with some other external factors.

“I think he gave me a room,” the Hyak Motorsports driver explained. “I think he hit the No. 8 [Kyle Busch] first, and then, you know, kind of caused us all to run into each other. But, you know, I think he was trying to give me room to ease down. The No. 8, you know, was just down there in the bottom lane, drafting as well. So, yeah, it all happened so fast.

“You know, when you watch it outside the car, it’s — you know, it’s easy to go back and say, ‘I should have done this or that.’ You know, I didn’t want to be in the top lane, because at that point I felt like Joey was the only reason the top lane was you know, there. He was pulling — there was only three cars in it. So, you know, I really wanted Joey behind [me].”

All told, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Joey Logano are two of the best at super-speedway racing, and they’re not going to let last weekend’s incident hamper the way they compete moving forward. Still, it’s a bitter pill for them to swallow, as both drivers have tasted victory at Daytona, and wanted to notch their second Harley J. Earl Trophy.