NASCAR Wins By Car Number
by Tom Jensen January 26, 2022
Just like NASCAR drivers and teams do, some numbers come up big more often than others.
Not every number is created equal, at least not in the history of NASCAR premier series racing, which dates all the way back to 1949.
Over the last 73 years, some car numbers found their way to Victory Lane more often than others, sometimes by a huge margin.
Why that is can be debated, but the numbers are what they are, painting pictures of varying degrees of success. With that in mind, here are the 10 car numbers with the most premier series victories in NASCAR history.
Rex White, the 1960 NASCAR champion, was best known for his short-track prowess. Photo courtesy of NASCAR Archives & Research Center via Getty Images
10. No. 4, 80 wins
New on the list is the No. 4, the car number Rex White (2015) drove to 26 premier series race victories and the 1960 championship. The driver with the most wins in the No. 4 is Kevin Harvick, who earned 35 victories since joining Stewart-Haas Racing a team co-owned by Tony Stewart (2020).
In 1949, Red Byron became NASCAR’s first premier series champion. Photo courtesy of NASCAR Archives & Research Center via Getty Images
Tied – 8. No. 22, 83 wins
The very first NASCAR Strictly Stock Division title in 1949 was won by Hall of Famer Red Byron (2018, driving the No. 22 Oldsmobile owned by fellow Hall of Famer Raymond Parks (2017). Byron and Parks teamed up for a pair of wins in the No. 22 in 1949, but neither of them won again. Fireball Roberts (2014) on the other hand set a career mark, winning 30 races in No. 22 Chevrolets, Fords and Pontiacs. Bobby Allison (2011) won the 1983 premier series title in the No. 22 DiGard Racing Buick.
Mark Martin enjoyed some of the best years of his career driving No. 6 Fords for fellow Hall of Famer Jack Roush. Photo courtesy of NASCAR Archives & Research Center via Getty Images
Tied – 8. No. 6, 83 wins
Hall of Famers played a prominent role in the success of the No. 6 in NASCAR. Driver Mark Martin (2017) and his team owner Jack Roush (2019) combined to win 35 races in Roush-owned No. 6 Fords, starting in 1989. In 1966, David Pearson (2011) won his first of three championships, this one in the No. 6 Dodge owned by fellow South Carolina racer Cotton Owens (2013). For his career, Pearson won 27 races in the No. 6, with Owens winning six more times as a driver.
All 83 of Jimmie Johnson’s race victories came behind the wheel of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Photo courtesy of Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR
7. No. 48, 90 wins
At this juncture, it’s a safe bet to refer to seven-time premier series champion Jimmie Johnson as a future Hall of Famer. Johnson, of course, earned all of his championships and all of his 83 race victories driving No. 48 Chevrolets owned by Rick Hendrick (2017). Johnson’s replacement, Alex Bowman, already has found Victory Lane four times in his first season behind the wheel of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
In their heyday in the mid-1970s, David Pearson and the Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 Mercury Cyclones were a threat to win at most every track they raced at. Photo courtesy of NASCAR Archives & Research Center via Getty Images
6. No. 21, 92 wins
Talk about talent: Wood Brothers Racing founder Glen Wood (2012) and his brother Leonard (2013) have been competing in NASCAR since 1950, with a Who’s Who lineup of drivers and always in Ford Motor Co. products. David Pearson (2011) led the way with 43 victories in the Wood Brothers No. 21, followed by Cale Yarborough (2012), who won 13 times in the No. 21. Other Hall of Famers who won at least once in the No. 21 include Dale Jarrett (2014), Curtis Turner (2016), Buddy Baker (2020) and Glen Wood himself.
With 93 race victories, all with Hendrick Motorsports, Jeff Gordon ranks third on NASCAR’s all-time win list. Photo courtesy of Jerry Markland/Getty Images.
5. No. 24, 95 wins
Up until 2020, this one was easy: Jeff Gordon (2019) won all 93 of his premier series races and his four championships in No. 24 Chevrolets fielded by Rick Hendrick (2017). No one other than Gordon had ever won in the No. 24 until his replacement at Hendrick Motorsports, Willian Byron, broke through with his first career victory in 2020 and another one last season.
Some 37 of Rusty Wallace’s 55 career victories came behind the wheel of Team Penske entries. Photo courtesy of NASCAR Archives & Research Center via Getty Images
Tied-3. No. 2, 100 wins
Driving for Roger Penske (2019), Brad Keselowski’s victory in last season’s spring race at Talladega Superspeedway pushed the No. 2 to triple-digit win territory for the first time. Keselowski’s 34 career wins in the No. 2 trails another Penske driver, Rusty Wallace (2013), a 37-time winner in the No. 2. Also, Bobby Allison (2011) won seven races in the No. 2, while Dale Earnhardt (2010) won six.
Dale Earnhardt won 67 races and six of his seven championships behind the wheel of No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolets. Photo courtesy of NASCAR Archives & Research Center via Getty Images
Tied-3. No. 3, 100 wins
Another car number to enter the rarified air of triple-digit win totals is the No. 3. While Dale Earnhardt (2010) won 67 races driving the No. 3 for team owner Richard Childress (2017), the 100th victory for No. 3 came when Childress’ grandson Austin Dillon won at Texas Motor Speedway in 2020. Junior Johnson (2010) won nine races in the No. 3, while David Pearson (2011) earned three victories and Fireball Roberts (2014) one in the No. 3. Also, the father-son duo of Buck (2013) and Buddy (2020) Baker won twice each in the No. 3.
The vast majority of Richard Petty’s victories came behind the wheel of various No. 43 Petty Enterprises race cars. Photo courtesy of NASCAR Archives & Research Center via Getty Images
2. No. 43, 199 wins
No surprise here, as the No. 43 saw Richard Petty (2010) earn 192 of his record 200 premier series victories behind the wheel of the No. 43. Petty, who owns most every performance record in the premier series, also won twice in the No. 42 and six times in the No. 41. The only other drivers to win more than one race in the No. 43 were Bobby Hamilton and Jim Paschal, both of whom won twice.
South Carolina racer Cale Yarborough was the first of only two drivers to win three consecutive NASCAR premier series championships. Photo courtesy of NASCAR Archives & Research Center via Getty Images
1. No. 11, 226 wins
This one truly boggles the mind: Four drivers, including three Hall of Famers, have won at least 40 races each in the No. 11. They include Cale Yarborough (2012), winner of 55 races in the No. 11 owned by Junior Johnson (2010). Ned Jarrett (2011) won 49 times in the No. 11, while Darrell Waltrip (2012) claimed 43 wins. Still active is 46-time winner Denny Hamlin, who has a shot at becoming the winningest driver with this car number. Five other Hall of Famers won races driving the No. 11: Johnson, Bobby Allison (2011), Bill Elliott (2015), Terry Labonte (2016) and Buddy Baker (2020).
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