In late April this year, NASCAR Cup Series drivers bit their nails. Their anxiety peaked ahead of the race at Talladega Superspeedway, an Alabama oval track notoriously known for its wrecks. So drivers resorted to all kinds of preparation – consulting veterans like Dale Jr., going over past seasons’ notes, etc. However, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. enjoyed a night of dirt racing – driving his 360 winged sprint car at the Talladega Short Track.

The Hyak Motorsports driver had a lackluster NASCAR season, failing to achieve any race trophies. What’s more, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. collected only 1 top five and 3 top tens, leading for only 8 laps. Nonetheless, his enthusiasm is no less, as was evident in his words encouraging fans to follow a more unfiltered motorsport.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. upholds his roots

In a recent interview with IndyCar and NASCAR expert Chase Holden, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. did not hold back. The NASCAR star nudged fans to watch dirt racing, which comprises his roots. “I would very highly encourage people to come check it out, just watch how close we run to the wall. Slide jobs have come over to stock car racing a little bit. It came from here. To me, it’s almost the purest form of motorsports where a driver can take a car and get more out of it than the car’s capable of.”

The first time Ricky Stenhouse Jr. went to a dirt track, he was only 6 months old. He watched his father race until he jump-started his own sprint car racing career, driving 360 cubic inches winged sprint cars. In 2003, he won the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Driver Poll. In 2004, he joined the USAC sprint car series, grabbing memorable accolades. At Manzanita Speedway, Stenhouse stole the show, notching two wins in three starts during the 2007 Copper on Dirt showcase. It was only in 2008 that Stenhouse joined stock car racing.

And now, even while competing as a full-time Cup Series driver, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. stays true to his roots. He continued with his words of inspiration: “Sprint car racing is 1,000 horsepower. They weigh 1500 lb with the driver and fuel in it. It’s just kind of chaos out there. It is probably the fastest form of motorsports in a small venue. Buy you a $30 pit pass and come on in, and you know, check things out. So, the racing’s exciting. Traveling all across the country, and now it’s super accessible online.”

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s Sprint Car team, Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing, co-owned with Richard Marshall, changed this year. They made a series of crew changes that he and Marshall have made, specifically cutting ties with crew chief Kyle Ripper. It happened the day after Sheldon Haudenschild took the SJM Racing No. 17 team to Williams Grove National Open victory lane at Mechanicsburg, Pa.’s Williams Grove Speedway.

Meanwhile, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s personal memories in dirt racing are hard to scrub off.

A drastic change in routine

Of course, dirt racing and stock car racing are poles apart. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. himself pointed out a few differences. “The harder you drive a sprint car, the better it feels and the faster it goes. It fixes a lot of problems. Stock car racing’s not necessarily like that.” Yet the Chevrolet driver has undoubtedly had a successful transition. In 2023, he became the first World of Outlaws team owner this century to win a Daytona 500 crown. Stenhouse’s four Cup Series trophies (2017 in Daytona and Talladega, 2023, and 2024) keep proving his skills.

Nevertheless, the star admitted to a particular habit that still makes him struggle. In his sprint car days, he used to help his crew till late at night, sleep till noon the next day, and go racing in the evening. But NASCAR had a different routine:

“I would say for me, the biggest challenge when I came to stock car racing was that the test started at like 8:00 a.m., and then you would test all day long. Dude, by the end of the test, I’d be tired.”

However, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is still making it work. As the 2026 season rolls into view, let’s see how the former dirt star performs in the NASCAR Cup Series.