Ricky Stenhouse Jr. - Fr8 Racing 208 Race Preview
Event: Fr8 Racing 208 (135 laps / 208 miles)
Round: 2 of 25 (Regular Season)
Track: Echo Park Speedway
Location: Hampton, Georgia
Date & Time: Saturday, February 21 | 1:30 PM ET
Tune-In: FOX Sports 1 | NASCAR Racing Network (NRN) | SiriusXM Ch. 90
Team Stats & Notes
- Niece Motorsports Atlanta Stats:
NCTS Starts: 27; Top-Fives: 1; Top-10s: 6; Best Finish: 4th (Bayley Currey, 2025).
- Off to a Good Start: Niece Motorsports drivers showed flashes of speed in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) season opener in Daytona and look to parlay that success in the second super speedway style race at Echo Park Speedway in Atlanta.
No. 45 J.F. Electric Chevrolet Silverado RST
Driver: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Crew Chief: Phil Gould
- Stenhouse Jr.'s Atlanta Stats:
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will make his first-career NCTS start at Echo Park Speedway on Saturday.
NCS Starts: 18; Poles: 1 (2013); Top-Fives: 1; Top-10s: 5; Best Finish: 5th (2025).
NOAPS Starts: 3; Wins: 1 (2012); Top-Fives: 2; Top-10s: 3.
- Gould's Atlanta Stats:
NOAPS Starts: 6; Top-10s: 3; Best Finish: 7th (2014).
NCTS Starts: 7; Top-10s: 4; Best Finish: 6th (2019, 2024, & 2025).
- On the Truck: Stenhouse Jr.'s No. 45 Chevrolet Silverado RST will race with support from J.F. Electric and Utilitra.
- Recapping Daytona: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and the No. 45 J.F. Electric team started the season off on a great foot with a top-10 finish. In his Truck Series debut, Stenhouse Jr. ran a methodical race and avoided trouble to stay in the hunt. As the event neared the checkered flag, Stenhouse Jr. pushed his way to the front. The past Daytona 500 champion finished the night in sixth-place.
- Owner Points Outlook: Coming off Stenhouse Jr.'s top-10 finish at Daytona, the No. 45 team sits eighth in owner points standings, currently tied with TRICON Garage's No. 5 truck. The team has a three-point buffer over McAnally-Hilgemann Racing's No. 18 Chevrolet in 10th-place.
- Quoting Stenhouse Jr.: Since the track has aged since its repave, do you think we will have a pack race or similar to a normal intermediate track race?
“I don’t know, our Cup races are starting to string out a bit. I think the asphalt is getting aged a little bit, and there are a lot of aspects of it still being a super speedway, but it’s more trending towards an old, worn out surface like Daytona. I was just watching an old O’Reilly Daytona race from 2010 a few days ago and I think it will be similar to what we’ve got in Atlanta just because it’s got another year of sitting there and another cold winter on it.
Talking to Phil (Gould), we’ve got a totally different style truck that we take to Atlanta versus Daytona, so that tells me that handling is a big portion of that. You’ll still need to draft, but you have to have a truck that handles well to be able to do that. I’d rather take a truck that’s a little bit slower that handled well so you could hold the throttle down. I’m looking forward to it.”
About J.F. Electric: J.F. Electric is an electrical contractor that provides engineering expertise, backed by construction and installation know-how in a diverse range of service offerings, from utilities and commercial projects, to industrial and telecommunications customers. When having a long family history in an industry, a company not only builds on its knowledge and experience, it takes pride in cultivating a solid understanding of client needs, all the while nurturing strong relationships with its employees. Evolving through five generations of the Fowler family, J.F. Electric has matured into a well-managed and thoughtfully diversified electrical contractor which is poised to continue its growth and expansion into the future.
About Niece Motorsports: Niece Motorsports is a professional auto racing team that has competed in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series since 2016. The team is owned by Josh Morris of DQS Solutions and Staffing and the Fowler Family of J.F. Electric and Utilitra, and was founded by United States Marine Corps Veteran Al Niece. At its 80,000 sq. ft. headquarters in Salisbury, NC, Niece Motorsports is a full-service race vehicle build shop as well as a customizable fabrication shop for any manufacturing needs.
Follow the Team: To keep up to date with the latest team news, visit niecemotorsports.com or connect on Facebook and Instagram (@NieceMotorsports) as well as X (@NieceMotorsport).
