In case you missed it, StatChat is counting down the days ‘til the 2021 Daytona 500. Every two days, we will have a new article featuring one of the Top 30 Drivers of 2020.
24th Place – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – 584 pts
By the Numbers: 8 DNFs in 2020 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. tied with two other regular drivers for most DNFs (Did Not Finish) this year with 8. He tied with Ryan Preece and Brennan Poole. If Ricky wants to have a better next year, he’s going to need to keep his car clean. 4.75 Average Places – 2020 was Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s first year at JTG-Daugherty Racing, essentially swapping teams with Chris Buescher. In 2019, Buescher had an average finish of 17.83, and this year Stenhouse finished with a 22.58. This means that in basically the same equipment, Ricky finished an average of 4.75 places worse than Buescher did a year earlier. 6.82% Less Miles Driven – Piggybacking off the DNF stat above, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., while he started all 36 races of the season, finished with 6.82% less miles driven than even Ryan Newman, who missed 3 races after his wreck at Daytona. Newman actually drove 921.47 more miles than him in 3 less races. 1 Stage Win – 2020 wasn’t a complete write-off for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. He managed to score a stage win and nearly even had a victory, all in the same race. Race 13 at Talladega featured Ricky winning stage 2, and finishing in 2nd place behind Ryan Blaney. 4 “Under Green” Penalties – Tied for most with Joey Logano, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had 4 penalties while under green flag conditions. While no penalties are necessarily good during a race, having to serve one under green flag conditions can be more costly than when under yellow. Having to pass through Pit Road while the other drivers are able to continue racing can result in a lot of lost time. Despite a less-than-stellar season, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will look to bounce back in 2021. Always a threat at Super Speedways, he will be returning to the JTG-Daugherty Racing No. 47 Chevrolet for a second year. Coming up in two days – Michael McDowell