NASCAR driver Stenhouse may have the little engine that could (win a Cup championship)

Forgive Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for believing a one-car entry can win a NASCAR Cup championship.

It’s happened before.

In 2017, Martin Truex, Jr., driving the Denver-based Furniture Row entrant, breezed to the title and proved a modestly financed team can beat the powerhouses.

“We’re up for the challenge,” said Stenhouse, driver of the No. 47 JTG-Daugherty Racing Chevrolet. “It will definitely be tough, but look at what Martin Truex did. It can be done. It’s an uphill battle for sure, but we have to take the resources that we have and use them to the best of our ability.

“I feel really good about where our team is and what we’re doing with what we have. I feel good about the progress that has been made from last season to this season. It’s been a big improvement, and I’m looking to the improvements in the playoffs as well. “

After three years of mostly pedestrian finishes, Stenhouse and JTG-Daugherty pulled off a stunner by winning the Daytona 500 in February. It was the organization’s first Cup victory since 2014 and second in 687 Cup starts dating to 2008. It also was the first single-car team to win the Daytona 500 since Trevor Bayne won for the Wood Brothers in 2011.

That win not only clinched a playoff spot — the second of Stenhouse’s 11-year Cup career — but energized an underdog organization of about 45 employees that lacks the deep pockets of heavyweights such as Joe Gibbs Racing, Team Penske and Hendrick Motorsports, which supplies engines to JTG.

“Anytime you can win a race, to get a Daytona 500 win was next level,” Stenhouse said. “For our career, for all our partners and fans, and every single one of us on our team … what I was most excited about was knowing how hard a lot of people had worked at JTG, some had been in the industry for 30 years and hadn’t gotten that win.

“Or some had worked and gotten wins but never had that Daytona 500 win. It’s a huge win, a career win for anybody on our race team and really propelled us so far to have a good season.”

Ten years ago, Stenhouse appeared to be a rising star, becoming just the sixth driver to win consecutive Xfinity Series championships in 2011-12 and earning Cup Rookie of the Year honors in 2013 for Roush Fenway Racing.

He qualified for the Cup playoffs in 2017 after winning Talladega and also won the summer race at Daytona. Then, Stenhouse’s career cratered. He lost his ride with Roush Fenway after the 2019 season and resurfaced with JTG, the only NASCAR team with both minority (Brad Daugherty) and female (Jodi Geschicker) ownership.

Through the adversity, he never lost faith in himself.

“I definitely never thought about giving up,” said Stenhouse, who had gone 199 starts without a win until this year’s Daytona 500. “I felt like, yeah, 2017, winning a couple races was huge for us, but I’ll even look back at that season, and we still weren’t super stellar. We had our ups and downs. But obviously two wins kind of puts a Band-Aid on some of those things that you can overlook.

“But I think for me, coming to JTG Daugherty Racing was a nice reset. I came from Roush Fenway Racing and saw all the resources that they had and the support from the manufacturer, and then I went to JTG Daugherty Racing, and honestly, I was surprised at how much nice equipment and how they ran things.”

Stenhouse also believed JTG’s moving from a two-car to a single-car team was beneficial.

“We’ve been able to put a lot of focus on the 47 car, and everybody in the shop,” he said. “The details are really paid attention to.”

It also helped that Stenhouse, 35, was reunited this year with Mike Kelley, who served as crew chief when they won the two Xfinity championships.

“Mike’s been a great asset,” Stenhouse said. “He saw the ins and outs of building this new race car, seeing what we struggled with over the last year, and being able to come in and maybe do things a little differently.

“He’s got the confidence in me, and he makes a lot of the crew members feel they’re the best in the garage. That’s what it takes when everybody has cars that are identical, you have to make sure you believe in yourself and the people behind you, and he’s brought that leadership to the team.”

On the morning of the Daytona 500, Kelley, as was his custom during their Xfinity days, left a note on the roll bar in the race car that only Stenhouse could see.

“We Believe.’’

“That’s been our team’s motto all offseason, ‘We believe,’’’ Kelley said after the Daytona 500 win. “We’re a small team. But I have 45 people that believe in what we’re trying to accomplish. We’re trying to get people to believe in Ricky Stenhouse again. We’re trying to get people to believe in myself and the vision that we have.”

The 47 team did not get off to good start in the playoffs, as Stenhouse finished 16th last week at Darlington and sits 15th in the 16-driver field, four points behind the cutoff line for advancing to the Round of 12.

Stenhouse won’t let that get him down.

“The one thing about Ricky is his confidence is there,” Kelley said. “I’ve worked with a lot of drivers … some really great drivers, and the one thing Ricky does different than every single driver I’ve ever worked with is … he has the ability to shut off what happened before better than anyone.

“If we have a bad practice, the next practice he believes he still has a shot at winning the race, or a bad pit stop he believes he’s going to be able to do it.”

Even with a one-car team.