“Haven’t seen you run”: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Todd Gilliland engage in banter on FRM driver’s new IG post 

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. recently reacted to fellow NASCAR Cup Series driver Todd Gilliland's post on Instagram. Stenhouse Jr. had a tough season this year with speed issues and losing sponsor Kroger.

The 37-year-old will continue in the No. 47 Chevy with his team, JTG Daugherty Racing (now changed to Hyak Motorsports) with principal owner Gordon Smith.

Gilliland, who will pilot the Front Row Motorsports (FRM) No. 34 car in 2025, shared a year-ending video and wrote:

"Ready to close out this year and hit the ground running in 2025!"

Hyak Motorsports' Stenhouse Jr. commented on the post and joked about his gym absence.

"Haven’t seen you run in awhile. Come back to the gym," Stenhouse Jr. wrote.

Meanwhile, FRM will bring back the popular ‘Pickle Car’ design. Gilliland will drive the green Ford Mustang sponsored by Grillo’s Pickles for three races, Pocono Raceway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and the Chicago Street Race.

Chris Lawson will be the crew chief for Gilliland’s No. 34 team. Lawson has worked with Gilliland before in the NASCAR Truck Series.

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"Everything’s a little more consolidated" - Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on team rebrand to Hyak Motorsports

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spoke about JTG Daugherty Racing changing its name to Hyak Motorsports on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio in early December.

"Obviously, we have a big shift in the organization. You can look at it a couple different ways and I think the way we’re looking at it is everything’s a little more consolidated, we got all the same great employees, the same crew guys and processes will stay the same," Stenhouse Jr. said (via on3.com).

Stenhouse Jr. also talked about Kroger which shifted its support to Brad Keselowski’s RFK Racing team. Ryan Preece, who moved to RFK's No. 60 car after SHR closed at the end of 2024, worked with Kroger as his sponsor at JTG in 2021.

The Ohio real estate company sponsored Stenhouse's car for five years at JTG. He thanked Kroger for their support and said he is happy to see them continue in NASCAR.

"Still glad they’re [Kroger] in the sport, they’ve been a part of our sport for a very long time and cool to see them not leaving like other big companies have lately. So, that’s really cool that they’re sticking around and wish them the best, but all our eyes at HYAK Motorsports are definitely looking forward and trying to get our performance back to kind of 2023 season," he added.

Stenhouse Jr. finished 25th in the point standings last season with one win, three top-5s and six top-10s. In 2023, he qualified for the playoffs and won the Daytona 500.