Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s game plan to defend his Daytona 500 Champion title in 2024

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. etched his name into the history books after clinching a historic Daytona 500 victory in the 2023 season.

However, the 36-year-old driver isn't done just yet. Stenhouse Jr. recently laid out his game plan to secure back-to-back triumphs at the iconic Daytona International Speedway.

In an interview with NASCAR.com, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. reflected on his 2023 performance in the Cup Series. Acknowledging the moments where small adjustments could have yielded better results, Stenhouse Jr. said:

"There’s definitely, I would say, five to 10 areas throughout the season where I could have done something different to get a better result — whether it be qualifying, throughout the race — and the team’s doing the same thing. And so how do we fix that going forward, that’s been fun."

Stenhouse Jr. highlighted the importance of the off-season to fine-tune his strategies.

"That’s what I enjoy about the offseason, really just dissecting everything. We’re not in a hurry to fix it because we’ve got till February to get going, and a lot of this stuff is race craft and driving on that given weekend, and our guys are looking at setups and things like that. They do that every day, but it’s fun for me to kind of dissect every little part of our race team," Stenhouse Jr. added.

Looking ahead to the 2024 season, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. revealed his eagerness to defend his Daytona 500 title.

"It’s something that I’ll cherish these next couple of months, and then go back down in February trying to defend," he said. "I think that it’s been done a few times, and it’d be cool to do it again."

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Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s 2023 season: what to expect from the JTG Daugherty driver in 2024?

The 36-year-old Cup Series driver turned in one of the best statistical years of his career in 2023, and his best since 2017.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. earned two top-five finishes for the first time in three years. With a historic win in Daytona, 2 top fives, 9 top 10s, and 39 laps led, he concluded his 2023 season ranking in the 16th position, making it to the playoffs for the first time since joining the single-car JTG Daugherty Racing.

Additionally, the former Roush Fenway driver registered his best average finish (17.8) in the last six years in 2023.

Heading into the 2024 season, fans can expect Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to carry this momentum forward and deliver yet another impressive season piloting the No. 47 Chevy.