JTG Daugherty leadership: Who owns Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s NASCAR team?

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. put JTG Daugherty Racing in the spotlight after winning the 2024 YellaWood 500 from Talladega Superspeedway. The driver gave the team its first win since securing a victory at the season-opener at Daytona 500 last year.

While JTG Daugherty Racing has been around NASCAR for quite some time, the Harrisburg-based outfit is still considered a small team. It belongs to the set of teams that have been in the league since the 20th century.

However, even newer teams like 23XI and Trackhouse Racing seem to have more presence in the sport than Stenhouse Jr.'s team.

Let’s know more about the team by checking out the personalities behind it.

JTG Daugherty Owners

JTG Daugherty Racing was founded by husband and wife Tad & Jodi Geschickter in 1994 with sponsor support from Sunoco. The duo initially ran in the Nationwide Series, also known as Xfinity Series today, before going full-time in the Cup Series in 2009.

Making the transition possible was NBA All-Star Brad Daugherty, who joined the team as a co-owner in 2008. Daugherty is a former professional basketball player who played for the Cleveland Cavaliers from 1986 to 1996. With career averages of 19 points and 9.5 rebounds per game, his No. 43 jersey was retired in 1997 and was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 2001.

Brad Daugherty had a 10-year career at the NBA - Source: Imagn

Daugherty already owned a NASCAR Trucks team called Liberty Racing in the late 90s before climbing aboard Tad & Jodi Geschickter’s team.

The team was branded as JTG Daugherty Racing and formed a technical partnership with Michael Waltrip Racing. However, the team brought in Richard Childress Racing in 2014.

Another change in the technical department was made four years later as the team signed with Hendrick Motorsports.

In 2016, Gordon Smith joined the team as a co-owner. He works in the maritime industry and is the president of the US-based maritime company Hyak Maritime. His interest in stock car racing began in 2012, eventually leading to a connection with Tad & Jodi Geschickter.

A year after Smith joined the team, it expanded to two cars, fielding AJ Allmendinger and Chris Buscher. However, the team returned to a single-entry car in 2022.

Today, the one-charter outfit has a 130,000-square-foot facility in Harrisburg, North Carolina. The team may still be considered small but has made huge strides since the 90s when it only had a barn and a few tools.

JTG Daugherty Driver

As mentioned, JTG Daugherty Racing only has one car in the NASCAR Cup Series piloted by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. since 2020. The 37-year-old Mississippi native drives the No. 47 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, which he recently parked in victory lane at the Talladega Superspeedway.

His best finish was the Daytona 500 in 2023 after the race ended under a yellow flag, spoiling the win from Joey Logano. The victory marked the first Daytona 500 win for both the driver and the team.

So far, Stenhouse Jr. has two wins, 10 top-5s, and 26 top-10s in his five-year stint with the team. He will continue racing the No. 47 Chevy having signed a multi-year contract extension earlier this May.