Former Daytona 500 champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has decided to pull double duty during the trip to Bristol Motor Speedway.
Videos by FanBuzz
The NASCAR veteran will join Niece Motorsports on Friday night as he competes at the Tennessee short track. He will drive the No. 4 Chevrolet Silverado RST.
This will mark only his third career start in the Craftsman Truck Series and his first in the series at Bristol Motor Speedway. It also appears to be a late addition to his schedule.
Stenhouse told FanBuzz at Daytona in February that he planned on competing at EchoPark Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, and Michigan International Speedway.
He’s back 4️⃣ @ItsBristolBaby! @StenhouseJr will pilot the No. 4 @CLI_Logistics Chevy Silverado Friday night. #PressTheAttack | #TeamChevy pic.twitter.com/GqlxBI0r3x
— Niece Motorsports (@NieceMotorsport) April 6, 2026
The 2026 season marked the first time that Stenhouse, a two-time O'Reilly Auto Parts Series champion, competed in the Craftsman Truck Series. He joined Niece Motorsports for the season opener at Daytona International Speedway, and he drove the No. 45 Chevrolet Silverado to a sixth-place finish.
Stenhouse then returned to the series the following weekend at EchoPark Speedway outside of Atlanta, Georgia. He piloted the entry to a ninth-place finish while fellow Cup Series driver Kyle Busch won.
#NASCAR - Ricky Stenhouse Jr. crossed the line sixth in his Truck Series debut, and he had an absolute blast.
What he said about his experience and the other races on his schedule.
A couple seconds of audio in the middle are choppy because of some wireless interference. pic.twitter.com/gyLO8bxcgf— John Newby (@JohnNewby_) February 14, 2026
While Stenhouse has very little experience in the Truck Series, he has embraced it. As he explained to FanBuzz at Daytona International Speedway, the race was wild. Yet, he had a blast the whole time.
"They handle a lot worse than our Cup cars," Stenhouse said in February. "Obviously, I wish our cars handled worse. I think the racing would be better, you would have to work on your setups a little bit."
Stenhouse will have another opportunity to take on the Truck Series, and he will do so at a track where Niece Motorsports has considerable experience.
The team has fielded trucks at the short track 34 times with a variety of drivers since the 2017 season. Andres Perez de Lara, Kaden Honeycutt, and Ross Chastain have all finished eighth at the track. Chastain also finished third there in 2019.
Carson Hocevar has delivered two top-10 finishes at Bristol to Niece Motorsports. He finished sixth in 2021 and fourth in 2023.
