In NASCAR, every car number has its own identity, statistics, and emotions around it. Some carry with them nearly 80 years of stock car racing history, evoking strong reactions from fans whenever it appears on the track. Others have yet to find their place in the pages of stock car racing greatness, but numerology has always been an interesting trend to follow in a sport where the car numbers are an integral part of each driver and team's identity.
Historically, no number has earned more victories than the No. 11, while none have run more races than the No. 43, and some have reached a level of idolatry that most drivers can only dream of — like the iconic No. 3, which still graces the back windows of passenger vehicles across America today.
Is numerology interesting? Yes! But does it really mean much? No, not particularly. But as someone who loves parallels and finding curious trends, we just had to dive into the numerology of NASCAR’s biggest race – the Daytona 500. Specifically, the numbers driven by the race winners in the previous 67 editions of this prestigious event. To put it all in perspective, 22 Daytona 500-winning numbers are present in this year’s field, and potentially 23 if Justin Allgaier makes the cut in the No. 40. Only seven numbers formerly victorious in the 500 are not part of this year’s rather large entry list.
The 'King' of Daytona numbers
The winningest number in the Daytona 500 should come as no surprise to anyone. Seven times the No. 43 has driven to Victory Lane at Daytona, and all seven occasions were courtesy of ‘The King’ Richard Petty. The longtime rival of that Petty No. 43 is of course the Wood Brothers-owned No. 21, which trails just behind with five victories in the 500. But unlike Petty winning seven all on his own in the No. 43, five different drivers have wheeled the No. 21 to victory between Tiny Lund in 1963 and Trevor Bayne in 2011. Perhaps that’s an even more impressive feat.
The No. 28 also has five wins in the 500 but none since 1992, and as it’s no longer actively used in the Cup Series, that’s not likely to change anytime soon. The No. 11 is another with five victories in the 500 — and three in the last decade thanks to the success of Denny Hamlin. Hamlin nearly added another win to the tally last year, but was wrecked out of the lead with half-a-lap to go. It was William Byron who won that race, delivering the No. 24 its fifth victory in the Daytona 500.
The spread between wins is something else the No. 11 can claim as there were 53 years between its first and most recent 500 victories [1967 - 2020]. No number crosses a greater period of time but coincidentally, the No. 22 has achieved the same feat with 53 years between its first and most recent 500 win as well [1962 - 2015]. Both have a very good chance of visiting Victory Lane yet again this weekend with Hamlin and Logano representing these iconic palindromic race numbers.
Now, the aforementioned record could be toppled by other numbers if they win it all this year and they are the Nos. 20, 21 , 42, 40, and 43. Just look at Christopher Bell, who is trying to lead the No. 20 to victory in the 500 for the first time since Marvin Panch in 1961, but the No. 42 of John-Hunter Nemechek (shockingly) hasn’t won the big prize since the inaugural running of the event with Lee Petty in 1959.
Predicting the winner, via a car number?
But do the recent trends give any hint to who may be crowned winner for 2026? Well, we did our best to uncover something that one might dare to call a trend, but in truth, we didn't come up with much.
The last time we went into the 500 with a driver (and by association his car number) attempting the three-peat, the No. 34 was victorious (2021), so keep an eye on Todd Gilliland? It's all a bit meaningless when you start trying to predict things with this, but it's a fun exercise. The other car numbers to win when the quest for a three-peat was thwarted were the No. 88 (1996), No. 9 (1985), and the No. 72 (1975). Again, not much you can read into that. But hey, Bill Elliott won his first Daytona 500 in the No. 9 after a back-to-back 500 winner tried to make it three, so maybe his son Chase will follow suit in the same number his year?
Moving on, what does history say about who we should be betting against? 30 different car numbers have won the Daytona 500, but a number in the 50s or 60s has never actually done it. So hey, drivers like Ty Gibbs [No. 54] and Ryan Preece [No. 60] could go out and make some history, and Preece did just go to Victory Lane in the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray. Other drivers running numbers in the 50s and 60s this week include Cody Ware, Anthony Alfredo, Casey Mears, and Corey Heim -- with those final three all being open entries.
When digging through all of this, one quickly notices the growing unpredictability in recent winning numbers, which follows a very real trend of unexpected victors in the modern Daytona 500 -- with the exception of William Byron, who appears to have found Jimmie Johnson's golden horseshoe laying around the Hendrick Motorsports shop. But nonetheless, the event has become radically unpredictable in recent years, and the 2021, 2022, and 2023 editions of the race were won by car numbers that have never won it before (Nos. 2, 34, 47). Of all the numbers that earned a 500 win for the first time during the 21st century, only one of them has gone on to win multiple times over the past two-and-a-half decades — the No. 48 with Jimmie Johnson. So perhaps we should be looking to a number that hasn't yet won the 500 on Sunday, unless you're all in on Byron achieving the unprecedented three-peat.
So close to victory...
What about those unfortunate numbers that remain relevant in the field each weekend, but still have yet to know Daytona 500 glory? Of them, the Nos. 6, 16, and 99 have been the closest over the years with two runner-up finishes apiece. They, along with the No. 97 (which is now back on the grid with Shane van Gisbergen), are the only numbers to have more than one runner-up finish in the 500 without ever actually winning the big race. We’ll see if drivers like SVG, Brad Keselowski [No. 6], A.J. Allmendinger [No. 16], or Corey LaJoie [No. 99] can change that this year.
In 2025, Tyler Reddick became the highest-finishing driver in the history of the No. 45 at the 500 when he finished second, and Johnson did the same when he piloted the No. 84 to a third-place finish last February.
But of course, the true keys to victory in NASCAR's crown jewel event isn't the number on the door, but the execution by the driver, team, and sometimes intercession of Lady Luck. But these numbers, some far more famous than others, have all been a part of the 500's story from the very start in some fashion, and one will add a champagne-covered chapter this weekend.
The winning car numbers of the Daytona 500
| Car No. | Years | Drivers |
| 42 | 1959 | Lee Petty |
| 27 | 1960 | Junior Johnson |
| 20 | 1961 | Marvin Panch |
| 22 | 1962, 2002, 2015 | Fireball Roberts, Ward Burton, Joey Logano |
| 21 | 1963, 1968, 1972, 1976, 2011 | Tiny Lund, Cale Yarborough, AJ Foyt, David Pearson, Trevor Bayne |
| 43 | 1964, 1966, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1979, 1981 | Richard Petty |
| 28 | 1965, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1992 | Fred Lorenzen, Buddy Baker, Cale Yarborough, Davey Allison |
| 11 | 1967, 1977, 2016, 2019, 2020 | Mario Andretti, Cale Yarborough, Denny Hamlin |
| 98 | 1969 | LeeRoy Yarbrough |
| 40 | 1970 | Pete Hamilton |
| 72 | 1975 | Benny Parsons |
| 15 | 1978, 2001, 2003 | Bobby Allison, Michael Waltrip |
| 88 | 1982, 1996, 2000, 2014 | Bobby Allison, Dale Jarrett, Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
| 9 | 1985, 1987 | Bill Elliott |
| 5 | 1986 | Geoff Bodine |
| 12 | 1988, 2008 | Bobby Allison, Ryan Newman |
| 17 | 1989, 2009, 2012 | Darrell Waltrip, Matt Kenseth |
| 10 | 1990 | Derrike Cope |
| 4 | 1991, 1994, 1995 | Ernie Irvan, Sterling Marlin |
| 18 | 1993 | Dale Jarrett |
| 24 | 1997, 1999, 2005, 2024, 2025 | Jeff Gordon, William Byron |
| 3 | 1998, 2018 | Dale Earnhardt, Austin Dillon |
| 8 | 2004 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
| 48 | 2006, 2013 | Jimmie Johnson |
| 29 | 2007 | Kevin Harvick |
| 1 | 2010 | Jamie McMurray |
| 41 | 2017 | Kurt Busch |
| 34 | 2021 | Michael McDowell |
| 2 | 2022 | Austin Cindric |
| 47 | 2023 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
