The second half of this series begins with a set of names that include some of the biggest names in motorsports history. You have probably guessed half these already. They are stone cold obvious. But the 40s include a few mysteries. While some of their brothers have become iconic, a few numbers are relatively forgotten and are hard to award.
We will do our best.
#49: Brad Sweet
Sweet has won the last two World of Outlaws championships, and while that doesn't seem like much it is important to point out that Sweet is one of only six drivers with multiple World of Outlaws championships.
Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell, Mark Kinser, Donny Schatz and Jason Meyers are the only five multi-time champions. Sweet ranks 14th all-time in A-Main victories, but he sits on 59 victories and in his last three seasons he has won nine, 16 and eight races respective. If he has an average 11-victory season, he will become just the 12th driver with 70 victories.
His 2019 title came by four points over Schatz, who had won five consecutive championships and ten of the previous 13. It is the closest championship finish in series history. He won the title last year by 46 points. Sweet also won the 2018 Knoxville Nationals.
Honorable Mentions:
Parker Johnstone (Johnstone won three consecutive IMSA GT Lights class championships from 1991-93 driving for Comptech. Most of the 1991 season was in the #48 Spice-Acura, but he won the 1991 finale in the #49 Spice-Acura, five of his six victories in 1992 came in the #49 Spice-Acura, including at Daytona and Sebring, and all seven of his victories in 1993 were in the #49 Spice-Acura).
Jack McGrath (Responsible for the only victories for car #49 in IndyCar history. He won at Langhorne and Syracuse in 1950).
Calvin Fish (Fish drove the #49 Ralt-Ford in the 1986 and 1987 Formula Atlantic championship seasons. All seven of his Atlantic victories and his 1987 championship came with that number. In 1987, h was on the podium in eight of nine starts with his worst finish being fourth).
#48: Jimmie Johnson
Who else could it be? A seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, Johnson is one of three drivers tied for the most championships in Cup Series history. He won five consecutive championships from 2006 to 2010, the longest championship reign in series history.
The championships alone are impressive, but dive into his 83 career victories and you get a true sense of his career. Two-time Daytona 500 winner. Four-time Coca-Cola 600 winner. Two-time Southern 500 winner. Four-time Brickyard 400 winner.
He has 11 victories at Dover, the most all-time at the one-mile oval. He won nine times at Martinsville, tied for third all-time with Jeff Gordon and only behind Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip. His eight victories at Charlotte are a record. His seven victories at Texas are a record. In the modern-era, Johnson ranks third all-time in victories behind only Gordon and Waltrip.
He was the 2009 Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year, the only motorsports competitor to take that award. To get a sense of how incredible that honor is, Johnson's award is sandwiched between Michael Phelps and Drew Brees.
Johnson's winning percentage of 12.1% has him ranked 13th all-time among drivers with at least 100 starts. In 686 Cup starts, he had 232 top five finishes and 374 top ten finishes, those are batting averages of 33.81% and 54.51% respectively. He ranks ninth all-time in laps led with 18,941.
Every one of his Cup starts came in the #48. Prior to Johnson, the #48 had three victories. The number is his.
Honorable Mentions:
Dan Gurney (All seven of Gurney's IndyCar victories were in car #48. He won at Riverside twice, swept a doubleheader at Mosport, and won at Indianapolis Raceway Park, Brainerd and Sears Point).
Bobby Unser (In 1974, Uncle Bobby adopted the #48 Eagle, and he only won five times in that car, but that included the 1975 Indianapolis 500).
#47: Jack Smith
I will admit, the #47 was a toss-up and none of the drivers stood clearly above the rest, but I will go with Jack Smith, a forgotten driver from NASCAR's early days.
Smith won 21 Cup races in his career and 18 of those were in car #47. Notable victories included one in a 1960 Daytona 500 qualifying race and the 1960 Firecracker 250. He was fifth in the Cup championship in 1957 and 1958. In 1962, he picked up a personal best five victories, 27 top five finishes and 35 top ten finishes on his way to finishing fourth in that championship.
Smith's winning percentage of 7.95% is 29th all-time among drivers with at least of 100 starts, directly ahead of Tony Stewart, Marvin Panch, Rusty Wallace and Buck Baker.
Honorable Mentions:
Brad Frisselle (1976 IMSA GTU champion)
Charles Morgan (1993 IMSA GTO champion)
Ron Bouchard (Bouchard took a famous NASCAR Cup victory at Talladega in 1981. It was only his 11th career start and Bouchard beat Darrell Waltrip and Terry Labonte in a three-wide battle across the line. It was his only Cup victory. He did sweep the NASCAR Grand National Series races at Darlington in 1984, both in the #47 Pontiac).
#46: Valentino Rossi
Who other than the doctor?
Rossi has used the #46 since he made his 125cc debut on an Aprilia in 1996. Since then, he has made 414 grand prix starts, won 115 grand prix and finished on 235 podiums. He is a nine-time champion, third most all-time in grand prix motorcycle history behind only Giacomo Agostini and Ángel Nieto.
From 1997 to 2010, Rossi was in the top three of the championship in every season. He won five consecutive 500cc/MotoGP championships from 2001 to 2005. Rossi has the most premier class victories at 89, the most premier class podium finishes at 199 and he holds the record for most premier class victories at Assen, Mugello, Jerez, Barcelona, Sepang, Donington Park, Estoril, Brno and he holds a share of the record at Phillip Island.
He is the only rider to win the premier class championship at three different engine displacements, with titles at 500cc, 800cc and 990cc. He is the only rider to win a race with four different engine displacements, the three mentioned before and 1000cc.
His record of 23 consecutive podium finishes from Portugal in 2002 to South Africa in 2004 still stands.
At 42 years old, Rossi keeps going. He is the only rider to start in over 400 grand prix. That record will get extended a little further in 2021.
Honorable Mentions:
Frank Kimmel (Ten-time ARCA champion, Kimmel was in the top five of the ARCA championship in every season from 1992 to 2014. Seventy of his 80 ARCA victories were in the #46 car).
Dennis Setzer (Setzer has the dubious distinction of being the runner-up in the NASCAR Truck championship in three consecutive seasons and each of those seasons were in the #46 Chevrolet. Eleven of his 18 Truck victories were in the #46 Truck).
#45: Greg Hancock
You might not know who Greg Hancock is, but he might be the one of the greatest American competitors in an international motorsports championship.
Hancock spent nearly 30 years competing at the highest levels of speedway motorcycling racing. The flat-track, oval racing series has long been popular in Europe, but Hancock was one of a handful of American riders who found success in the late 1980s into the 1990s. He won three Speedway World Team Cups for the United States.
Individually, Hancock started competing in the Speedway Grand Prix series in 1995 and won the championship in 1997 at 27 years old. He would not win another championship another he was 41 years in 2011. He would win three championships from 2011 to 2016. Hancock competed until he was 49 years old, retiring after the 2019 season.
Why does he get the #45? Speedway didn't allow riders to adopt their own number until the 2014 season and Hancock took #45. He won his third championship that year and his fourth two years later. Considering how competitive Hancock while competing against riders half his age he deserves some sort of recognition even if no one in his native country has a clue who he is or what he has achieved.
Honorable Mentions:
Patrick Long/Jörg Bergmeister (Long and Bergmeister won consecutive American Le Mans Series GT2 class championships in 2009 and 2010 driving the #45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche. They won ten of 19 races over those two seasons and were on the podium 11 times. The American-German combo stayed together through 2012 and in the #45 Porsche alone they won 12 races).
#44: Lewis Hamilton
Similar to Johnson and Rossi, this was a no-brainer.
Though the first portion of his Formula One career came in the number rotation era, since 2014, Hamilton has taken on the #44 and he has been flawless ever since.
Adorning the number that days back to his karting days, Hamilton has six world championships in the #44 Mercedes. Seventy-three of his record 95 grand prix victories have been in the #44. In every season he has used the #44, Hamilton has led 450 laps or more. He has had at least 14 podium finishes in all seven of his seasons. He has won at least nine races in every season with the #44.
Prior to Hamilton, the #44 had only one victory. It was a big one, the 1955 Monaco Grand Prix with Maurice Trintignant driving a Ferrari, but it had only been used in 51 races and it had not been used since the 1977 British Grand Prix when Tony Trimmer failed to pre-qualify for that race. It had not been on the starting grid for a grand prix since the 1970 Italian Grand Prix with Jack Brabham. It was Brabham's fourth-to-last start.
Besides victories, Hamilton holds the record for most pole positions with 98, most podium finishes with 165, most races with at least one lap led at 162 and he has led 5,099 laps in his career. Hamilton needs to lead another 13 laps to surpass Michael Schumacher's record. He is second all-time in grand slams with six, two off of Jim Clark's record.
He is tied with Schumacher on seven World Drivers' Championships.
Need I say anymore on Hamilton?
Honorable Mentions:
Terry Labonte (Labonte's first Cup championship came in the #44 Chevrolet driving for Hagan Racing. His first six Cup victories came in the #44).
Bobby Labonte (Off the success of his brother, Bobby Labonte used the #44 driving for his father's team in the NASCAR Busch Series. He would win the 1991 NASCAR Busch Series championship in the #44 and eight of his ten victories in the series were won the #44 car).
#43: Richard Petty
Another softball, no one else comes close to what Richard Petty did in car #43.
Petty was the first driver to win seven NASCAR Cup Series championships, his first came in 1964, a 62-race season that actually started prior to Thanksgiving in 1963 and spanned 363 days.
His 1967 championship might be his greatest. He won a record 27 races, which included ten consecutive victories. He had 40 top ten finishes in 48 starts.
Petty won the final championship prior to the modern era with 21 victories in 46 starts in 1971 and then he won the first championship in the modern era, winning eight of 31 starts in 1972.
He went back-to-back again in 1974 and 1975. Petty won ten races in 1974 and 13 the year after that. In each of those seasons he had over 20 top five finishes. He led over 3,100 laps in each of those two seasons.
Petty's seventh and final Cup championship came in 1979 with five victories, 23 top five finishes and 27 top ten finishes over 31 starts.
Championships aside, Petty won 200 races in his NASCAR Cup career, 192 of those came in the #43 and 1,125 of his record 1,184 starts were in the #43. All seven of Petty's Daytona 500 victories were in the #43. His two Coca-Cola 600 victories and his only Southern 500 victory were in the #43. He won with seven different manufactures in the #43: Plymouth, Ford, Dodge, Oldsmobile, Chevrolet, Buick and Pontiac.
Petty is still the all-time leader in victories at Daytona (ten), Martinsville (15) and Richmond (13). He also holds the record for victories at North Wilkesboro (15), Rockingham (11) and the Nashville Fairgrounds (nine).
It is simply remarkable.
Honorable Mentions:
Nigel Mansell (A veteran of 187 Formula One starts, Mansell's first two were in the #43 Lotus at Österreichring and Zandvoort. He retired from both races, first with an engine failure at Austria and then with a brakes failure in the Netherlands).
#42: Lee Petty
Like father, like son. Before Richard Petty, Lee Petty was on top of NASCAR.
Lee Petty won 53 NASCAR Cup races in car #42 and he won three Cup championships, then the all-time record. In his 1954 championship season, Petty won seven races and he was in the top ten for 32 of his 34 starts. He had seven victories again when he won the 1958 championship and he followed that up with 11 victories in 42 stars to successfully defend his championship.
From 1949 to 1960, Petty's worst championship finish was sixth. When he retired, he was the all-time leader in Cup championships and Cup victories. His son would surpass him in both categories.
Petty won the inaugural Daytona 500. He won once on the original Daytona Beach circuit. His most victories came at Asheville-Weaverville Speedway, where he won four times. He had three victories at Martinsville and North Wilkesboro. He won twice at Hickory and Richmond. He even won North of the Border at Exposition Stadium in Toronto.
Surprisingly, he never won at Darlington, but if that is the only blemish on his career no one will hold it against him.
Honorable Mentions:
Kyle Petty (Six of Petty's eight NASCAR Cup victories came in car #42)
Juan Pablo Montoya (Montoya used the #42 for the majority of his NASCAR Cup Series career and he won at Sonoma and Watkins Glen in the #42).
#41: Curtis Turner
Turner went toe-to-toe with Petty and the other NASCAR greats of its first decade.
He was the first driver to reach three career NASCAR Cup victories and he was the all-time leader in Cup victories from May 21, 1950 to October 21, 1951.
Thirteen of Turner's 17 NASCAR Cup Series victories are in car #41, including his first nine victories. He also won the first race at Rockingham driving the #41 Wood Brothers Ford. He only finished in the top five of the championship once, fifth in 1950. He won four races that season.
Turner might be remembered most for attempting to establish a driver's union and was banned from NASCAR in 1961. He would sit out for four seasons before returning in 1965. His Rockingham victory was in his seventh start back.
A fragmented career, Turner's do not tell a complete story, but it is a glimpse of greatness. He still ranks 25th all-time in winning percentage for drivers with over 100 starts at 9.24%, just behind Kyle Busch and use ahead of Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick.
Honorable Mentions:
Gaston Chevrolet (Chevrolet has the most IndyCar victories in the #41 car. All those victories came in 1919, two at Sheepshead Bay and one at Uniontown. He had one more victory in his career, the 1920 Indianapolis 500, but that was not the #41. He dropped the one and kept the four.
Noriyuki Haga (Perhaps the best World Superbike rider not to win the championship, Haga won 43 races in his WSBK career, he is still fourth all-time, but he has the most victories of a rider without a championship. In eight seasons between 2000 and 2002-09, Haga was in the top four of the championship in every season with three runner-up finishes. He lost the 2007 title by two points and the 2009 title by six points).
#40: Adrián Fernández
The #40 does not have a wealth of great options but I am going with Fernández though a few other names may stick.
Fernández drove the #40 Reynard-Ford in three seasons for Patrick Racing in CART. He won two races in each of those three seasons. In 1998, he won at Motegi and Mid-Ohio. Mid-Ohio was a Patrick Racing 1-2 with Scott Pruett in second. Fernández was fourth in the championship that season. He won at Motegi again in 1999 and he closed the season with a victory at Fontana to claim sixth in the championship.
In 2000, he won the final race at Rio and he won at Surfers Paradise to claim second in the championship, falling ten points shy of Gil de Ferran for the championship. After that, Fernández went on to start his own team where he continued to see success not only in IndyCar but sports cars as well.
Fernández is kind of a forgotten driver from the CART-IRL split era. He won on both sides, he got a later start in IndyCar, not making his debut until he was 28 years old and his final IndyCar start came when he was only 40 years old. He did so much in a short period of time but imagine if he had a full IndyCar career.
Honorable Mentions:
Wally Dallenbach (Dallenbach won five races in his IndyCar career in car #40, including a victory in the 1973 California 500, a season where he was runner-up in the championship despite failing to qualify in two races).
Parnelli Jones (Jones famously drive the STP-Paxton Turbocar in the 1967 Indianapolis 500 with a #40 smacked on the Day-Glo orange scheme. We all know how this story goes. Jones led 171 laps before a bearing failed with four laps to go. Gone was the victory, but the legend remains).
Emerson Fittipaldi (Fittipaldi's first IndyCar victory came in the #40 March-Cosworth for Patrick Racing in the Michigan 500).
This could be the Murder's Row of this Greatest by Number series.
There are two drivers who combine for 14 NASCAR Cup championships, oh and then a driver who adds another three NASCAR Cup championships.
Then there is a driver tied for the most World Drivers' Championships.
Then there is a nine-time grand prix motorcycle champion with a four-time Speedway Grand Prix champion.
These aren't minor championships we are talking about. These are the top series in the world.
The 40s are going to be difficult to beat.
