Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who had begun appearing in the rumormill for this year’s free agent driver class, will not be on the move ahead of the 2027 NASCAR Cup Series season. On Monday, Stenhouse and Hyak Motorsports announced that they had reached an agreement on a multi-year contract extension, which will keep Stenhouse as the driver of the team’s No. 47 Chevrolet for years to come.
As Hyak Motorsports continues to try to build itself into a contending race team, two seasons after an ownership split, which saw the departure of Tad and Jodi Geshickter, Gordon Smith knew that keeping Stenhouse in-house was the move that the organization needed to make.
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“Ricky has been a huge part of what we’re building at Hyak Motorsports, and we’re proud to continue this partnership for years to come,” said Gordon Smith, owner of Hyak Motorsports. “He brings experience, leadership, and a competitive mindset every weekend, and we believe there’s still a lot ahead for this team with Ricky in the No. 47.”
The 38-year-old Stenhouse is always a threat to win at superspeedways in the NASCAR Cup Series, evidenced by his four career wins on drafting tracks, including a 2024 triumph in the Daytona 500. Earlier this season, Stenhouse captured a runner-up finish in the Daytona 500.
Stenhouse says that he and the team have been working on this contract extension for some time, and he’s glad to have it in the rearview mirror so they can focus on building more and more speed into their racecars.
“I’m thrilled to finally get this contract extension done. It’s something we’ve been working on for a while, and I’m really thankful to everyone at Hyak Motorsports, especially Gordon,” said Stenhouse. “His vision for this race team and the passion he brings to it every single day is special. A lot of people may not know Gordon that well yet, but he truly cares about motorsports, NASCAR, and this No. 47 team, and that shows in everything he does.”
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Stenhouse continued, “Along with Gordon, Brad, Mark, Ernie, and everyone at Hyak Motorsports, I feel like we’re continuing to improve week after week. It’s never easy being a single-car team, but the experience we’re gaining and the notebook we’re building is helping us get better and better. More than anything, this team feels like one big family. On and off the racetrack, we’re building something that has me really excited about the future of Hyak Motorsports and what we can accomplish together moving forward.”
Having their driver set in stone with a multi-year extension allows Hyak Motorsports the freedom to chase multi-year partnerships to go along with Stenhouse being in the car, and it allows the team to make deeper long-term investments aligned with Stenhouse’s strengths behind the wheel.
Stenhouse, a two-time champion in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, has four wins, 27 top-five finishes and 65 top-10s in 484 starts in NASCAR Cup Series competition.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/onsi/racing-america as Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Lands Multi-Year Extension With Hyak Motorsports.
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