DAYTONA Fla. – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. enters 2020 with a new team and a new manufacturer, joining JTG Daugherty Racing after a 7 year stint with Roush Fenway Racing. This marks Stenhouse Jr.’s 3rd career pole and 1st since 2017.
“Our Camaro ZL1 1LE was really strong. And the winds started picking up there, down the back straightaway; a little headwind for the other guys, so I’m really proud to put our Kroger Chevy on the pole on Kroger pole day for the Daytona 500,” said Stenhouse Jr. after winning the pole. “That was our goal coming down here. Pattie was working really hard all off-season for that goal. And everybody chipped in, the whole shop. We cut bodies off. We put them back on. So this goes out to the whole shop and I’ve got to thank our other partners as well.”
Stenhouse Jr. turned a 46.253-second lap in the No. 47 Kroger Chevy to earn his first Daytona 500 pole. It was the first time since 2014 that a Hendrick Motorsports car didn’t claim the Daytona 500 pole, ending a 5 year streak. Hendricks fastest driver on the track in qualifying was Alex Bowman in the No. 88 Valvoline Chevy, who took the 2nd position, was 0.052-seconds slower than Stenhouse Jr.
These two will lead the field to the drop of the green flag on the front down of the 62nd running of the Daytona 500 Sunday, February 16th 2020. The rest of the field will be settled in the Bluegreen Vacations Duels on Thursday, February 13th.
Written by Adrian Beecher
