‘Unbelievable’: Olive Branch native wins longest Daytona 500 ever

OLIVE BRANCH, Miss. (WMC) - Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. is the 2023 Daytona 500 champion.

Stenhouse, from Olive Branch, won the milestone race on Sunday in double overtime and under caution.

The race went a dozen laps more than usual, and in the end it was Stenhouse taking the checkered flag.

The extra laps made it the longest Daytona 500 in history.

His father says he couldn’t be more proud of his son.

“It was just unbelievable. I mean, I can’t even put it into words because he has worked so hard to get to this point and me and my family and JTG (Daughtery Racing), they’ve been behind him and its been just a big team effort,” Ricky Stenhouse Sr. said.

Stenhouse Sr. says he and his family are taking the time to go to Disneyland to celebrate.

But the long grind of the NASCAR season continues when Stenhouse competes next weekend in California.

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