Top 5 NASCAR Cup series victories according to car number

Certain numbers appear more frequently than others, just as they do for NASCAR drivers and teams. Not all numbers are created equal, at least not in the history of NASCAR Premier Series racing, which began in 1949.

Several car numbers have visited Victory Lane more frequently than others during the previous 73 years, sometimes by a significant margin. The reasons behind this are debatable, but the data speak for themselves, painting portraits of varied degrees of success. With that in mind, here are the top five car numbers in NASCAR history with the most premier series victories.

#5 No.24, 99 wins

Jeff Gordon (2019) won all 93 of his premier series races and four titles in Rick Hendrick's No. 24 Chevrolets (2017). No one has ever won in the No. 24 but Gordon until his replacement at Hendrick Motorsports, Willian Byron, broke through with his first career win in 2020 and another last season.

#4 No.3, 101 wins

While Dale Earnhardt (2010) won 67 races driving the No. 3 for team owner Richard Childress (2017), Austin Dillon, Childress' grandson, won the 100th race at Texas Motor Speedway in 2020. Junior Johnson (2010) won nine races at No. 3, David Pearson (2011) won three, and Fireball Roberts (2014) won one. In addition, the father-son team of Buck (2013) and Buddy (2020) Baker won twice in the No. 3 position.

#3 No.2, 102 wins

Brad Keselowski's victory in last season's spring race at Talladega Superspeedway, driving for Roger Penske (2019), moved the No. 2 to triple-digit win territory for the first time. Keselowski's 34 career wins in the No. 2 behind another Penske driver, Rusty Wallace (2013), who has 37 No. 2 victories. Also at No. 2, Bobby Allison (2011) won seven races, while Dale Earnhardt (2010) won six.

#2. No.43, 200 wins

Richard Petty (2010) won 192 of his record 200 premier series victories while driving the No. 43. Petty, who holds the majority of the premier series' performance records, also won twice in the No. 42 and six times in the No. 41. Bobby Hamilton and Jim Paschal, both of whom won twice in the No. 43, were the only other drivers to win more than one race in the car. Erik Jones drove the #43 car to its 200th NASCAR Cup Series victory in 2022.

#1. No.11, 228 wins

Four drivers have won at least 40 races in the No. 11, including three Hall of Famers. Cale Yarborough (2012), winner of 55 races in the No. 11 owned by Junior Johnson, is one of them (2010). In No. 11, Ned Jarrett (2011) won 49 times, while Darrell Waltrip (2012) won 43 times.

Denny Hamlin, a 46-time winner, is still racing and has a chance to become the winningest driver with this vehicle number. Johnson, Bobby Allison (2011), Bill Elliott (2015), Terry Labonte (2016), and Buddy Baker all won races in the No. 11 car (2020). Denny Hamlin has 48 wins in 17 complete seasons, including victories in the Coca-Cola 600 (2022), Daytona 500 (2016, 2019, 2020), and Southern 500 (2010, 2017, 2021).

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NASCAR will decide soon on the potential team Hendrick penalty

NASCAR has told teams that they can't change louvers and that new ones will be provided soon. The question is whether any unlawful alterations were made by the Hendrick team.

NASCAR officials will not comment on the matter since the components will be sent to their research lab for further examination. All penalties will be assessed on Tuesday or Wednesday.