“Wrong decision at the same time”: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. shares his take on Daytona 500 wreck with NASCAR veteran

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., the renowned NASCAR driver, shared his insights on the incident that ended his race early at the Daytona 500. Being candid, Stenhouse Jr. didn’t blame Joey Logano for the incident in a conversation with the NASCAR legend, Kenny Wallace.

During the Daytona 500, Logano and Stenhouse Jr. were involved in a significant crash on lap 186 of the Great American Race. The Team Penske driver attempted to move past Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Blaney from the outside line. During this Logano was blocked by Stenhouse Jr. As the block block occurred, Logano tapped Stenhouse Jr.’s car resulting in an eight-car crash on the backstretch.

In conversation with Kenny Wallace on Trackside Live, a renowned name amongst NASCAR Fans, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. shared his insights on the incident. He explained the incident from his perspective :

"I didn't make a block and then all of a sudden, I got hung three wide in the middle and I ended up 28th and then I got in the next wreck that happened. So I told myself if I get up towards the front, you know, within 15 to go, I was gonna make some blocks to make sure I kept myself in that position to have a shot to win. And you know, we were in the top lane, I was waiting for Joey to go to the middle because I knew he was going to. And so I followed him down there, late block, got it done, and then... When I drifted high, I was looking to see where the O1 was. He thought I was going back to the top, so he throttled up, shot the middle. I squeezed him, and then, yeah, I think he went down, and he ended up getting into Kyle, got back into me. So we just, I mean, you make decisions so fast, and we both, I felt like, just made a wrong decision at the same time, which resulted in a massive crash."

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. competes in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series, driving the #47 Chevrolet for Hyak Motorsports, which was rebranded from JTG Daugherty Racing. The driver started his career in the ARCA Re/Max Series and later moved up to the Xfinity Series, a series where he won the championship back-to-back in 2011 and 2012. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. moved up again to the Cup Series with RFR (Roush Fenway Racing), with his first win coming in at the Talladega Superspeedway in 2017. The 2023 Daytona 500 saw him as the winner, a major landmark in his career. He later regained the title of the winner at Talladega in 2024.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. revealed the $12M-worth HMS star he rooted for to win in Atlanta

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. revealed that he was rooting for Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) driver Kyle Larson to win the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Both drivers started the race outside the top ten, with Larson qualifying 17th and Stenhouse Jr. qualifying 34th. Notably, Larson has a total net worth of $12 million (as per Celebrity Net Worth).

"It was an up-and-down day for the No. 47 Chevy team. We were at the back. We were at the front. We got some stage points. All-in-all, our Martin’s Famous Potato Rolls Chevy was really, really good. I could go anywhere I wanted to on the race track. I thought we had a shot at the end. I was bummed.. I wanted the No. 5 (Kyle Larson) or us to win," Stenhouse Jr. was quoted as saying by Speedway Digest.

"I thought my only shot was to push the No. 20 (Christopher Bell) as hard as I could, which I did. And then I was hoping to get to the outside of the No. 20 in (turns) one and two, but somebody got me in the fence down the frontstretch, and then we were just trying to hold on for a top-five. Our car was really good and I had a lot of fun today," he added.

Despite their starting positions, both drivers showed impressive performances throughout the race.