Ricky Stenhouse Jr. presently sits twenty fourth within the 2025 NASCAR Cup sequence factors desk with simply two top-10 finishes to his identify. His efficiency comes with the newly fashioned Hyak Motorsports within the No. 47 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Hyak Motorsports is a single-car workforce and this brings challenges that larger fish like Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing don’t need to face.
Stenhouse spoke about this in a current interview with Frontstretch journal. He mentioned that the optimistic of being a driver for a single-car workforce is that every one the eye is on the suggestions that he alone offers. Nonetheless, on the draw back, the workforce has to work with fewer knowledge factors than they might have with extra drivers.
In his phrases, “We come right here and we obtained one knowledge level. We don’t have 4 knowledge factors. Each race that goes, I really feel you get a little bit bit additional behind. So, it’s simply troublesome to progress as a single-car workforce making an attempt to maintain up with all people else. So, I feel our guys are doing job with what we obtained. It’s simply very troublesome and difficult. However we’re up for the problem.”
NASCAR does its greatest to assist such groups stand as much as the larger groups. The Subsequent-Gen automotive, launched in 2022, was an initiative taken to implement parity throughout the sector. However even with such measures, there’s nonetheless a sure diploma of benefit that multi-car groups have, as Stenhouse has identified.
How NASCAR lowered follow occasions to assist single-car groups
Apply classes within the Cup Sequence was for much longer than the 20-minute observe time that’s supplied now forward of race day. The explanation for this restrict is to scale back the benefit that multi-car groups maintain over single-car groups.
Stenhouse defined this to Autoweek in 2024. “In the event you begin stretching that (follow) out, the massive groups undoubtedly, I feel, begin gathering extra knowledge on a weekend and might ship all 4 vehicles in a distinct course and form of hone in on one thing. In 20 minutes, it’s powerful for them to run that many various setups after which change it for qualifying and the race,” he mentioned.
In some circumstances, he needs that the follow classes have been not less than a bit longer. Stenhouse can be conscious that much less follow time would damage the possibilities of rookie drivers. However these points, he believes, might be addressed by means of different options. Placing the single-car groups on equal footing with the massive groups stays his high precedence.
