The City of Brotherly Love embraced NASCAR Cup Series star Ricky Stenhouse Jr. with open arms Wednesday during a visit in advance of Dover Motor Speedway’s July 18-20 NASCAR tripleheader weekend.
Stenhouse, who will drive the No. 47 Chevrolet for Hyak Motorsports in the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday, July 20 (2 p.m., TNT, Performance Racing Network), took in several iconic Philadelphia venues, greeted racing fans, signed autographs, posed for photos with children and met with media members previewing America’s best drivers visiting The World’s Fastest One-Mile Oval next month.
“Dover is just its own animal, no pun intended,” said the 2023 Daytona 500 winner and two-time NASCAR Xfinity Series champion of the Monster Mile. “You feel like you’re qualifying every lap.”
Stenhouse’s first stop came at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, best known for its front entrance steps featured in the “Rocky” film series, the famous statue depicting the underdog boxer at the top of the steps and its expansive views of the Philadelphia skyline.
Next was an exclusive tour of The Franklin Institute, one of the nation’s top science museums, with Franklin Institute President and CEO Larry Dubinski. Before participating in a combustion demonstration showing off the wonders of oxygen, heat and fuel, Stenhouse, a four-time NASCAR Cup Series race winner, walked through exhibits featuring a lightning rod constructed by Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, a working robot dating from the 1790s and an early locomotive prototype.
Finally, Stenhouse hit Citizens Bank Park, home of Major League Baseball’s Philadelphia Phillies, who defeated the visiting Chicago Cubs 7-2. After visiting the field during pre-game warmups, Stenhouse grabbed a famous Philly cheesesteak for lunch before a roundtable session with media members previewing the Monster Mile’s upcoming NASCAR weekend.
“With the race in July, the track should be slicker and take rubber better,” Stenhouse said. “There will be multiple grooves to work with. I’m anxious to get there and see what it’s like.”
Stenhouse has four top-10 finishes in 21 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Dover with two top-5 finishes and three top-10 placements in six NASCAR Xfinity Series races at Dover.
The Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 NASCAR Cup Series race is race No. 4 in NASCAR on TNT’s debut five-race in-season tournament, which runs five consecutive weeks from June 28 (Atlanta) through July 27 (Indianapolis).
2025 marks 56 consecutive years that Dover Motor Speedway has hosted a NASCAR Cup Series event. The Monster Mile is one of only 10 tracks in the country to host 100 or more NASCAR Cup Series races.
