It seemed a little bit hard to believe, but Ricky Stenhouse Jr. entered the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway having never previously competed in a Truck Series race.
And he didn't stop there.
He competed in the season's first two races at Daytona and EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta Motor Speedway) and finished sixth and ninth, respectively, behind the wheel of the No. 45 Chevrolet for Niece Motorsports.
He returned at Bristol Motor Speedway in April and finished 26th in the No. 4 Chevrolet and he was in the No. 4 truck again this past weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He finished ninth.
The No. 4 truck is a part-time entry, but the team have opted to enter it again at Nashville Superspeedway this weekend. However, it won't be the 2023 Daytona 500 champion behind the wheel.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. replacement confirmed for Nashville
Stefan Parsons is set to make his first appearance of the 2026 season in any NASCAR national series this weekend behind the wheel of the No. 4 Chevrolet.
Parsons has competed part-time in either the Truck Series, the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, or both each year since 2018. He made one start for Niece Motorsports in the 2024 season finale at Phoenix Raceway and finished in 23rd place.
His most recent Truck Series start also came at Phoenix in the 2025 season finale. He finished that race in 12th for Spire Motorsports.
Parsons' career-high Truck Series finish is a sixth place finish at Daytona for Henderson Motorsports in 2024. He has run a total of five national series races at Nashville, including two in a truck. In the Truck Series, he placed 22nd at the track in 2022 with Young's Motorsports and 26th at the track in 2024 with Henderson Motorsports.
He finished 15th in the O'Reilly Series race at the track with Alpha Prime Racing in 2022.
As for Stenhouse, he does not currently have any other Truck Series starts lined up for the rest of the 2026 season.
Nashville Superspeedway is scheduled to host the Allegiance 200 this Friday, May 29. Live coverage is set to begin at 8:00 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1, so start a free trial of FuboTV now and catch all of the action!
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