A team founded in 1995 as ST Racing that grew into JTG Daugherty Racing, won its first Cup race in 2014 and took the 2023 Daytona 500 before its 2025 rebrand.
Hyak Motorsports is a Cup Series team founded in 1995 as ST Racing. It won its first Cup race in 2014 with A. J. Allmendinger and the 2023 Daytona 500 with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., before the 2025 rebrand.
Hyak Motorsports is an American stock car team in the NASCAR Cup Series, fielding the No. 47 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 full-time for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. It was founded in 1995 as ST Racing, scored its first Cup win in 2014 and won the 2023 Daytona 500, before taking its current name for the 2025 season.
What is Hyak Motorsports?
Hyak is a Cup Series team that works with Hendrick Motorsports through a technical alliance, which gives it access to shared engineering know-how. It runs a single full-time car, and its history runs through several names, from ST Racing to JTG Racing and JTG Daugherty Racing.
The name Hyak means fast in Chinook Jargon, and it also refers to the marine transportation company of the team's principal owner, Gordon Smith.
A 1995 Busch Series start that became a Daytona 500 winner and was renamed Hyak for 2025.
How did the team begin?
ST Racing opened for business in 1995, set up by advertising executive Tad Geschickter together with crew chief Steve Plattenberger. It competed in the Busch Grand National Series, now the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, and its first driver was Jeff Fuller.
In 2006 the team rebranded to JTG Racing under Geschickter and his wife Jodi. Its Cup entries started as a shared arrangement with Wood Brothers Racing, and it attempted its Cup debut at Las Vegas with Ken Schrader in a No. 47 Ford Fusion.
How did JTG Daugherty become independent?
Former NBA All-Star Brad Daugherty joined the ownership group in 2008, and the team became JTG Daugherty Racing. It began competing independently of the Wood Brothers in 2009, when it signed a technical alliance with Michael Waltrip Racing and switched from Ford to Toyota.
Marcos Ambrose drove the No. 47 in its first full-time seasons. He finished fourth at Talladega and third at Sonoma in 2009, and he ended that season eighteenth in the points standings.
Who drove the No. 47 between 2011 and 2013?
Bobby Labonte, the 2000 Cup champion, drove the No. 47 in 2011, when he finished fourth at the Daytona 500. He finished 29th in the points that season and 26th in 2012.
In 2013 Labonte struggled through the first fourteen races before splitting the rest of the season with A. J. Allmendinger. The No. 47 finished 31st in the points standings that year.
How did the team win its first Cup race?
On August 29, 2013 it was reported that Allmendinger would drive full-time for JTG Daugherty in 2014. The squad also moved to Chevrolet and set up a tie with Richard Childress Racing.
Allmendinger led 29 laps at Watkins Glen in 2014 to give the team its first Cup win and a place in the Chase. He ended the season 13th in the points, the highest finish in the team's history at that point.
What happened with Chris Buescher and the No. 37?
In November 2016 the team announced plans to expand to two cars for 2017. Roush Fenway Racing leased its No. 16 charter to the team and loaned driver Chris Buescher, and the new car was revealed as the No. 37 on December 12, 2016.
Buescher's best finish in the No. 37 was fifth at both Daytona races in 2018. His best points finish was twentieth in 2019, and he left at the end of 2019 to return to Roush Fenway Racing. Ryan Preece then drove the No. 37 in 2020 and 2021 before the team was shut down after 2021.
How did Ricky Stenhouse Jr. change the team?
On October 16, 2019 the team announced that Ricky Stenhouse Jr. would drive the No. 47 in 2020. He won the pole for the 2020 Daytona 500, the first pole for the team on an oval, and he finished second at Talladega in a close race that season.
Stenhouse won the 2023 Daytona 500, his third career victory and the team's second Daytona 500 win. He was eliminated at the end of the 2023 Round of 16, and he went on to win at Talladega in 2024 by .006 seconds over Brad Keselowski.
Stenhouse's seasons after 2020 show a driver with both high points and long slumps. In 2021 he started 18th at Daytona and earned second at the inaugural Bristol Dirt Race. In 2022 he began with a 28th-place DNF at Daytona and then finished second at Dover.
The 2025 season started well, with ten top-20 finishes in the first 15 races and a climb as high as 13th in the points. He struggled over the second half of the regular season, however, missed the playoffs and finished 30th.
Stenhouse began 2026 with second place at the Daytona 500 and signed a contract extension with the team on May 11.
In 2024 NASCAR fined Stenhouse US$75,000 after a fight at the All-Star Race. The incident was one of the most talked-about moments of the team's run under his driving.
What changed in ownership?
The Geschickters left the team before the 2024 season and moved into a role at Joe Gibbs Racing. Entrepreneur Gordon Smith became principal owner, and Mark Hughes and Ernie Cope completed the ownership group.
Under the new name Stenhouse kept the No. 47 Chevrolet, and the group finished the season with him in the car, placing him 30th in the standings.
What happened in the Busch Series years?
The team began in the Busch Grand National Series, and its early drivers were a mix of rising talent and experienced racers. Jeff Fuller drove the No. 47 Sunoco Chevrolet in 1995 and finished tenth in points, with six top-ten finishes. He returned in 1996 and won from the pole at the Food City 250, before he was released in 1997.
Other drivers filled the Busch seats in the late 1990s. Adam Petty drove the No. 22 Spree Chevrolet in three races in 1998, with a best finish of 27th. Kevin Lepage drove the No. 42 at Homestead in 1997 and finished seventeenth, while Larry Pearson took the No. 46 to 22nd at the 1996 All Pro Bumper To Bumper 300.
The No. 59 car carried much of the team's Busch effort. Robert Pressley ran part of 1998 in it and won two poles, Mike Dillon finished sixteenth in points in 1999, and Phil Parsons qualified for all 32 races in 2000 and finished 12th in points. Stacy Compton then drove the car from 2002 to 2006, and Marcos Ambrose won the team's first race at Watkins Glen in 2008.
How did the No. 47 team's drivers fare in the 2000s?
Robert Pressley drove the Clorox-sponsored No. 47 Taurus in 2004 and finished 15th in points, with two top-ten finishes. Jon Wood took over in 2005 and posted six top tens, also finishing 15th in points, before medical problems forced him out of the car.
Kelly Bires followed Wood and drove full-time in 2008. In 2009 Michael McDowell began the season with Tom's Snacks sponsorship, but he left midway through the year when the sponsor departed, and the team became a start-and-park operation for the rest of the season.
What did the Truck Series programme look like?
The No. 20 truck arrived in 2006 at the GM Flex Fuel 250, with Air Force backing and a link to JTG Racing. Jon Wood drove it at Daytona and Fontana, and Marcos Ambrose took over for the rest of the season, earning one pole and two third-place finishes.
In 2007 the truck's number changed to No. 09, and Joey Clanton, who brought Zaxby's as a sponsor, won Rookie of the Year that year despite running only a few races. The truck team lasted only eight races in 2008 before shutting down for lack of funding.
Chris Buescher's tenure ran alongside a growing second car. The No. 37 team ran from 2017 to 2021, and Spire Motorsports bought its charter for 2021 before the team closed after that season. Ryan Preece finished last four times in 2020, but he scored two top-ten finishes and ended the year 29th in the standings.
Allmendinger and Kroger signed a multi-year extension after 2015, which showed how important the sponsor relationship had become for the team's Cup programme.
What were the team's sponsors like?
JTG Daugherty had long-term relationships with Clorox and Kingsford from its Busch days, and those brands often appeared on the decklid of the car. The team also worked with Bush's Baked Beans, Kroger, Kimberly-Clark and Charter Communications.
In November 2024 RFK Racing acquired Ryan Preece, and Kroger moved to that team as a primary sponsor. Hyak had wanted fresh sponsors, so the Kroger deal ended.
What are the team's key results at a glance?
| Year | Driver | Event | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Jeff Fuller | Busch Series debut at the Goody's 300 | Eleventh place, later named Rookie of the Year |
| 2011 | Bobby Labonte | Daytona 500 | Fourth place |
| 2014 | A. J. Allmendinger | Watkins Glen | First Cup win for the team |
| 2018 | Chris Buescher | Daytona | Fifth at both Daytona races |
| 2020 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Daytona 500 | Pole position, the first on an oval for the team |
| 2023 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Daytona 500 | Win, the team's second Daytona 500 victory |
| 2024 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Talladega | Win by .006 seconds |
| 2025 | Ownership | Rebrand | Team renamed Hyak Motorsports |
Why does Hyak Motorsports matter?
Hyak matters because it shows how a small Cup team can grow from a Busch Series entry into a Daytona 500 winner. Its results since 2014 mark a steady rise from a small operation to a team with a Cup win and a Daytona 500 title on its record. Its alliances with Wood Brothers, Michael Waltrip Racing and later Hendrick show how it kept adapting to the sport.
The team's story also shows how ownership changes can reshape a name and a sponsor list. The 2025 rebrand kept the racing group intact while giving it a new identity for the next phase.
