Stenhouse Jr. highlights the power of a positive mindset as NASCAR heads to Iowa

After a rare weekend off following the running of the Brickyard 400, the NASCAR Cup Series returns to the fray this weekend with the Iowa Corn 350 at Iowa Speedway. On the starting grid – and in possession of a new multiyear contract with Hyak Motorsports – will be Ricky Stenhouse Jr., the wheelman of the No. 47 Chevrolet since 2020 and winner of the 2023 Daytona 500. Stenhouse currently stands 26th in Cup Series points thanks to two top-five and three top-10 finishes.

With 14 Cup races yet to be run before everything wraps up at Miami-Homestead Speedway on November 8, Stenhouse is determined to post up additional top-15 results and continue climbing the leader board in what remains of his 14th NASCAR Cup season. Prior to packing everything up and flying on over to Iowa Speedway, Stenhouse weighed in on what’s coming at him and the No. 47 effort both now and into the future.

"I’m looking forward to getting back to the track," he said. "I grew up being in the race car every weekend, and that’s what I love doing. I enjoy off weeks and love spending time with the family, but I’ve been racing since I was five years old and I do miss that as well.”

Putting pen to paper on a new contract extension with Hyak Motorsports earlier this season has allowed Stenhouse and the entire No. 47 organization to continue planning and building for the future.

“It's great to have this done,” said Stenhouse of the extension. “It’s nice for our team guys to know and for our partners to know. It’s nice for me to know, as well. It’s good to know what we’re doing for years to come, and you can keep building on that. I’m really just happy with where I’m at, and I’m looking forward to continuing that process this year.

"We know that we don’t have to make big jumps overnight. We’ve got some time to do it. That’s what we’re looking at for our race team. We’re a single car team, and you can’t change things overnight. We’re continuing to build, and I’m glad that we’ve got all that stuff out of the way so we can focus on the race car.”

Stenhouse talked about where he believes the No. 47 effort sits at this point in the season.

“I don’t think we’re in a bad place,” explained the two-time NASCAR Xfinity Series champion. “I think we’re in a better spot than we were last year. I think we’re not where we want to be, but we can see where we want to be, if that makes sense. We've done a really good job in areas, we've struggled in some areas. We fixed those areas, then struggled at those things again.

"You want to make the post-season and you want to win races, and that’s always in our thoughts, but realistically, I would say anywhere from 18th to 22nd in points would be a good season for us. Looking at the point standings with 14 or so races left, we really have a great shot at still being that 22nd team in points, so that’s what I’m eyeing.

"We still have ourselves in contention for that, and I think if we do that, we would go into the offseason happy and knowing that we had accomplished one of the goals that we wanted to accomplish. We can build on that for next year.

“For us, as a small race team without the support that the other teams have, we’re working at understanding the aero changes that happened. We have an aero change coming up at Daytona that we’re going to have to figure out. Tire changes can throw us for a loop faster than anything. When you’ve got a 20-minute practice session and you’re trying to figure that stuff out on the fly, it is very difficult.

"Just like Iowa this weekend – we’ve run well here, we’ve finished in the top five, [but] last year couldn’t have been any more different. We were probably the slowest car on track. The only thing that was different was that they changed the right side tire. We're just trying to keep up with those things as a race team.

"We need to take really good notes that we can go look at and fall back on at a lot of these tracks. Not just for this year, but for next year, as well. We just had a solid race car at Indy, and if we go back there and nothing changes as far as the tires and the aero, then we’ve got really good notes. I feel good about that.

"Things like that are what we are really working on. We’re just trying to make our process [one] where we show up with better race cars. The faster you make your first practice lap, the better you are in the race. I can get down on things, but I’m trying to stay positive. I get to race cars for a living. I’ve got a great family that loves racing and supports me, a great race team that supports me, and we have great partners. NOS has been with me since 2012. It’s all really cool.

"You can get down on yourself if you’re not winning every week. This sport is tough. I think [staying positive] helps the morale of your race team and the guys working at the shop. If you show up with a negative attitude, it’s tough to run well. It is very competitive. It doesn’t take much to be really good, and it doesn’t take much to be really bad. It can go either way really quick.”

Coming up next for Stenhouse Jr. and the NASCAR Cup Series will be consecutive races at Iowa Speedway, Richmond Raceway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Daytona International Speedway.

“I’m looking forward to Iowa. This is always a great race. I get to go down to Knoxville and watch our sprint car team race, as well. Really cool going to the Knoxville Nationals and being with all of our NOS friends and family and our race team. And yeah, then headed to Richmond.

"Richmond is a short track with really tight corners, some banking, and really old asphalt. A lot of fun. Then you go to New Hampshire, where it's pretty rough getting in Turn 3. Really, really flat. Still feels like a short track. Really a tricky place to get around. Then, obviously, I’m looking forward to Daytona. I’m looking forward to this rules package change. I think that is going to kind of throw a wrench into what everybody normally does and how it drafts.

"We’re going to be figuring that out on the fly. It’ll be interesting to see what teams get that setup right. I’m looking forward to that challenge because it’s a racetrack that if we get close, we can go win. Daytona Victory Lane is really special.”