As a fan of racing and a race car enthusiast, I want to give a quick shout out to Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. in the way that he defeated the odds. Growing up in Jackson, there was only one name from Mississippi that I knew was involved in racing, and that was Lake Speed, retired American stock car driving. Being so close to NASCAR and other racing venues, you’d think there would be more sports racing professionals coming out of the state of Mississippi.

With this win, Stenhouse is the only other person, since Lake Speed in 1997, from Mississippi that has made a full-time presence in racing. In 2010, he was the Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year and won Nationwide championships in 2011 and 2012. He was also the Spring Cup Series Rookie of the Year in 2013. And on May 7, 2017, he earned his first Monster Energy Series win at Talladega.

In the end, always good to see someone beat the odds, even at such a young age. Congrats to Stenhouse on your most recent win.

Any opinions are those of Paul Snow and not necessarily those of Raymond James. Raymond James is not affiliated with Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. or NASCAR.