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coimbrabertone · 28 days

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NASCAR Numerology: How NASCAR's Current Teams Got Their Numbers: Part Three.

Alright guys, we've done Trackhouse, Penske, Wood Brothers, RCR, and SHR, now we're gonna cover the numbers for Hendrick Motorsports, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, and Spire Motorsports. That's a grand total of nine cars to cover and some very historic numbers, so let's get on with the origins, the meaning, and some of the notable events in the history of some of the most significant numbers in modern day NASCAR.

We start with Hendrick Motorsports, which is a bit of a mess for two reasons:

The first is that Hendrick has like three different numbering schemes simultaneously: One built around the #5, one built around the #24, and a handful of car numbers that don't fit into either scheme.

The other is that Hendrick Motorsports has recently restructured, to the point where...the #5 is the #48, the #48 is the #88, the #9 is the #24, and the #24 is the #5.

Confused yet? Don't worry, I'll explain it all.

The Hendrick Motorsports story begins in 1984 with the All-Star Racing #5 of Geoff Bodine. This team initially had high aspirations, trying to sign the likes of Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, and Tim Richmond, but after sponsorship and co-ownership deals fell through, Rick Hendrick was left holding the bag alone, he and Geoff Bodine would need to make do with each other.

Well...they won Martinsville, Nashville Fairgrounds, and the season finale at Riverside.

This was enough to keep the #5 team alive, and for 1985, they returned, now properly under the Hendrick Motorsports banner. The #5 didn't win in 1985, but improved results throughout the season moved them up from 9th in the standings to 5th.

This was enough to finally win over Tim Richmond, who came over to start a second team with Folgers sponsorship - this was the #25, and Rick Hendrick's dad, Papa Joe, co-owning this entry.

Tim Richmond took seven wins in 1985 and finished 3rd in the standings, but unknown to everyone else...he was suffering from AIDS all this time. This would keep him out of the car for most of 1987 - with Benny Parsons running a Folgers #35 car in his place - but he would return midseason and immediately win two in a row at Pocono and Riverside.

Unfortunately, Richmond's return would only last eight races. Tim Richmond would attempt to return to NASCAR for 1988, but the medications he was taking to manage his illness conflicted with NASCAR's drug testing policy. Richmond would die from AIDS complications in August 1989.

Hendrick Motorsports at this point ran three numbers built around the #5 - the #5, the #25, and the #35.

They were also running the first non-scheme numbers in the form of the #17 with Darrell Waltrip, however, DW would take his team and his number in 1991 to start his own team, Darrell Waltrip Motorsports. The split was amicable, and Rick Hendrick actually helped DW get the team setup.

The next team - and the next numbering scheme - came in 1993, when Hendrick Motorsports hired Jeff Gordon to drive the #24. Initially, the team had intended to run the #46 - because for the movie Days of Thunder, Hendrick Motorsports provided the car and had Greg Sacks race at Phoenix 1989, Atlanta 1990, and Darlington 1990 to acquire footage.

The City Chevrolet sponsorship on the $46 Days of Thunder car is actually modeled on a real Chevrolet dealership that Rick Hendrick owns in Charlotte.

Unfortunately, issues with Paramount - who distributed Days of Thunder - prevented Hendrick Motorsports from running the #46 for real. So instead, they picked the #24, because it had relatively little history in NASCAR prior to Gordon, it was available, and it came right before #25. Thus began the most dominant partnership of the 1990s.

Jeff Gordon would win 93 times and would win championships in 1995, 1997, 1998, and 2001.

Terry Labonte in the #5 would add to Hendrick's 1990s domination with a 1996 championship.

Such was Jeff Gordon's success that, in 2001, Rick Hendrick allowed Jeff to become the co-owner of a new entry - the #48 of Jimmie Johnson. #48 was double #24, beginning the new numbering scheme. This would also see a part-time #84 car for Kyle Busch in 2004.

Jimmie would win the 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, and 2016 championships in the #48, equaling the 7 titles of Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.

Then we get the #88 car, which was set up in 2008 for Dale Earnhardt Jr. when he moved to Hendrick Motorsports. Why #88? Well, his DEI number was #8, Dale Jr. had a rabid fanbase, and a lot of people already had #8 merch and #8 tattoos. How to keep those people invested in Dale Jr.? Simple, make his new number two 8s, hence #88.

Thus, come 2017, Hendrick Motorsports has the #5 of Kasey Kahne, the #24 of Chase Elliott, the #48 of Jimmie Johnson, and the #88 of Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Then everything started to change.

For 2018, Chase Elliott moved to the #9, taking the number most associated with his famous father, Bill Elliott. Bill had run the #9 at his own team from 1975-1981, then continued running it at Melling from 1982 to 1991, and then ran the #9 again at Evernham Motorsports in 2001, 2002, and 2003 as he spearheaded Dodge's return to NASCAR.

Chase was in the #9, but he took his #24 team with him. Hence my joke about the #9 really being the #24.

Meanwhile, Kasey Kahne dropped out of Hendrick due to chronic dehydration issues impacting his ability to race. Kahne's #5 team became the #24 team for rookie William Byron.

Also in 2018, Alex Bowman took over the #88 for Dale Jr.

Fast forward to 2021, and Hendrick Motorsports shuffles things around again.

Kyle Larson started the 2020 season win Chip Ganassi Racing, however, during the COVID-19 hiatus, Kyle Larson used a racial slur on a hot mic during an iRacing event. McDonalds, Credit One Bank, and Chevrolet dropped him that day. This left Chip Ganassi no choice but to fire Larson the next day.

Kyle Larson was highly rumored to replace Jimmie Johnson in the #48 for 2021, but after the n-bomb incident, sponsor Ally didn't want to touch him.

Nevertheless, Larson dominated in dirt racing in 2020, completed a racial sensitivity course, and made outreaches to black communities to apologize for his actions, including a visit to the George Floyd Memorial in Minneapolis.

All of this convinced Rick Hendrick that he should hire Kyle Larson after all, but he needed to shuffle things around to make it happen.

The flagship #5, Hendrick's original number, would return for the first time since 2017, with Kyle Larson running it, primarily sponsored by Hendrick Cars, but also Valvoline, Cincinnati Inc., and Tarlton. The team, however, would be the same as Jimmie Johnson's 2020 #48 team.

Alex Bowman's #88 team, however, would switch to the #48 plate and take on Ally as their sponsor.

Thus the #24 became the #9, the #5 became the #24, the #48 became the #5, and the #88 became the #48.

An awful lot for one team, huh?

Roush is thankfully a bit simpler.

The #6 is Roush's flagship car and has been ever since they were founded in 1988. Why the #6? Then sponsor Stroh's Light wanted a one-digit number to be instantly recognizable. Thus, Mark Martin's time with the #6 began.

Initially, Roush built around the #6 brand, with their second car being the #16 Family Channel Ford and them running the #60 Winn-Dixie car for Martin's Busch Series starts.

Their third car in in 1996 was the #99, which didn't really fit - other than the coincidental of 9 being 6 upside-down so #99 is kinda like two sixes, but Jack Roush says that was a coincidence. But Roush Racing went back to the sixes scheme in 1998 with the #26 car. They also bought the #97 John Deere Pontiac in 1997 and changed it over to a Ford for 1998, bringing it into the team for a five-car effort.

Roush had a couple of six car races in 1999 because Jack grew interested in Busch series racer Matt Kenseth, who was running a Chevrolet for Robbie Reiser. Jack didn't seem to mind too much, and by the time 2000 rolled around, he took Reiser, Kenseth, and their #17 car into the Cup series, running the DeWalt Ford.

Matt Kenseth won Roush's first Cup championship in 2003 with the DeWalt #17, and so in 2024, RFK Racing's two cars are the #6 and the #17.

The original Roush number, and their first championship winning number.

Now for Spire Motorsports real quick.

The #7 car in NASCAR became famous due to owner-driver Alan Kulwicki, who in the late 80s and early 90s, insisted on doing things himself even as NASCAR was starting to move towards bigger, multi-car teams. Alan winning the championship himself in his own equipment in 1992 would inspire a slew of drivers to follow his lead in this era, but for Alan himself...well, he died in a plane crash on the way to Bristol in 1993.

He never got the chance to defend his title.

The #7 AK Racing team was taken over by Geoff Bodine in 1993 - 'member him from Hendrick? - and ran as Geoff Bodine Racing for awhile, before selling to Ultra Motorsports for 2000. Ultra Motorsports and the #7 car of Jimmy Spencer had precisely one notable moment to their name.

At the 2003 MBNA America 300 at Dover International Speedway, the #7 Sirius Satellite Radio Dodge was a lap down when the caution came out, becoming the first car to benefit from NASCAR's new beneficiary rule - implemented to stop drivers from racing back to the line after the caution flag came out - which led to commentator Benny Parsons dubbing him the lucky dog.

Sirius' logo at this point included a little dog.

So yeah, that's where the term "Lucky Dog" in NASCAR comes from, the more you know.

The #7 then went through Robby Gordon Motorsports for awhile, followed by Tommy Baldwin Racing - in which Danica Patrick made her final NASCAR start in the 2018 Daytona 500 - before winding up at Spire Motorsports for the 2021 season.

Corey LaJoie has run the #7 from 2021 to 2024, accomplishing fuck all, and will be replaced for the 2025 season. It is currently unknown who will replace him. Justin Haley has been linked to the ride, and he actually won Spire's only Cup series victory in only his third start at a rain-shortened 2021 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona.

Spire then built out their numbering scheme off the #7, with Carson Hocevar running the #77 and Zane Smith running the #71 - though he is due to be replaced by Michael McDowell for 2025.

So yeah, that's Hendrick, Roush, and Spire down. We've done #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, and #10 already, so next time we'll pick up with Joe Gibbs Racing and their #11 Toyota.

#motorsports #racing #nascar cup #nascar #hendrick motorsports #rfk racing #roush #spire motorsports #kyle larson #chase elliott #william byron #alex bowman #brad keselowski #chris buescher #carson hocevar #Zane Smith

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