Ricky Stenhouse Jr. could not partake in the burn session.
Out of fuel at the end of Sunday’s Daytona 500, the NASCAR Cup Series driver earned the checkered flag with fortuitous positioning and opportunistic driving on the backstretch of the double-overtime session, darting from seventh place to the front of the pack.
If the race didn’t end on a caution when it did, Stenhouse may not have had enough juice to get to the start/finish line. When race officials awarded Stenhouse his third career win, he didn’t have enough gas to entertain the crowd with traditional post-race burnouts.
A tow truck eventually pushed the winning machine off the 2.5-mile oval at Daytona International Speedway.
What an exit.
RT to congratulate Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on his #DAYTONA500 win! pic.twitter.com/OstRwcdmFi
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 19, 2023
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Gets Drafting Help to Secure Daytona 500
What a finish.
Capping the longest Daytona 500 in race history, Stenhouse began the final re-start on the outside front, next to Kyle Larson, the 2021 series champion. Along the first turn, Larson received a push from Christopher Bell and Stenhouse fronted Joey Logano, the defending series champ.
Fifth-place driver Kyle Bush started on an island, but soon accelerated to give the outside duo an extra push. The new trio pushed past Larson/Bell.
As Stenhouse briefly pulled away, two new trios of drafting partners lined up behind the leader. On the outside, Logano, Bush and Bubba Wallace threatened to make a run. On the inside, Larson, Bell and Bowman aimed for the front.
As both lines prepared to overtake Stenhouse, Larson turned up to make it three-wide racing with Stenhouse and Logano. He got caught in the middle lane and finished 18th.
“The 5 (Larson) split me in the middle, but another fellow dirt racer with Bell gave me a good shot down the little, short chute into (Turn 1), and we were out front when the caution came out,” Stenhouse said via team press release.
Bell told Fox Sports: “I’m happy for Ricky.”
The ‘note’ @StenhouseJr team put in his car…he saw it after he won it. #DAYTONA500 pic.twitter.com/aqq2EKR0vS
— Jamie Little (@JamieLittleTV) February 20, 2023
Stenhouse’s Team ‘Believed’ In Daytona 500 Checkered Flag
Moments after learning he became the 42nd driver to capture the Daytona 500, Stenhouse received a call over his team radio: “We believed, man. Look above your head. Look on the roll bar.”
He did and saw these words of inspiration written with a Sharpie: “We believe! Today.” Today was underlined.
Stenhouse, whose previous best season-opening finish was seventh, replied: “I see it, boys. I see it.”
Stenhouse proved his endurance Sunday. The 212 laps, caused by the OT and caution periods, were the most in race history.
Last year, Stenhouse was passed on the final lap by another first-time race winner, Austin Cindric.
This year, Stenhouse earned the victory in a race that featured 52 lead changes. With one of the series’ smaller organizations, JTG Daugherty Racing, he also provided a boost to the circuit’s other single-car garages.
“I hope y’all had fun,” Stenhouse said. “That was a heck of a race.”
If only he could have burned out just once.
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