Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet, spoke with the media ahead of the NASCAR Cup Series’ practice and qualifying session at Phoenix Raceway. Stenhouse discussed his friendly Twitter banter with fellow driver Noah Gragson, saying, “He likes to have a lot of fun and give people a hard time, so I like giving it back to him.”
Stenhouse also shared his thoughts on the two tire options for the weekend, saying, “I think it’s definitely made things more interesting. You know, you get one data point on each set, and it’s like, ‘Okay, which one do I want to use?’…I think what’s nice is that we’re going towards softer tires and tires that wear out. So, hopefully, we can continue to build on that.”
When asked about running the wall at larger tracks, Stenhouse said, “I think you’ve got to have a good car that can do it…it’s like, I feel like a lot more people can run closer to the wall now…it’s not like you’re sliding up to it. You can touch the fence and get away with it.”
Stenhouse also discussed the High Limit kickoff at Las Vegas, saying he’ll be running his sprint car at Talladega and Texas, and potentially more events later in the season.
Regarding Christopher Bell’s transition to the High Limit series, Stenhouse said, “It’s been cool to see him get as excited as he is. I think it’s something that’ll elevate his overall performance…he’s just as excited as I am to get back in a sprint car.”
Finally, Stenhouse reflected on the upcoming normal tracks like Las Vegas and Homestead, saying, “I think for us, this is a big test for us. We know it’s going to be tough, and we’re just trying to elevate our game at all racetracks.”