The penultimate part of this Greatest by Number series is here, and we are into the teens. This is a difficult section. There are plenty of notable names in the honorable mentions and in some cases, there are easily three or four drivers you could have named as the greatest for some numbers.
We are getting a lot of mixing here. Two wheels and four. World championships and domestic. Pavement and dirt. You are going to see the names Andretti, Fangio, Pearson, Allison, Schatz, Power, Jarrett, Yarborough, Kanaan, Clark and Taylor all listed below and none of those names earned the top honors.
#19: Freddie Spencer
During his famous 1985 season, Spencer used the #19 in the 250cc class.
He opened the season with a victory in the 250cc class at South Africa and a second in 500cc. He picked up his first 500cc victory at Jarama while finishing ninth in 250cc and he was second in both races from Hockenheim.
At Mugello, Spencer pulled off two remarkable rides to sweep the weekend and he would sweep the Salzburgring races the week after that as well. His five consecutive victories from Mugello to Le Mans allowed him to clinch the 250cc title with a fourth at Silverstone with two races remaining.
With the 250cc title out of the way, he turned his focus at the 500cc class and his victory in Sweden clinched that title a race early over Eddie Lawson. Between the two classes, Spencer won seven races in each. He had four total sweeps, having also swept the Spa-Francorchamps and Le Mans weekends. Spencer remains the last driver to win multiple classes in a season and he is one of five riders to win the top two grand prix classes in the same season.
On top of all Spencer accomplished in 1985, he opened the year with a Daytona 200 victory.
Honorable Mentions:
Bill Auberlen (Auberlen used the #19 during his early days in the IMSA GTU class and his first career IMSA victory was in the #19 Mazda at Road America in 1993. He would also win two races in 1994 and he picked up three more victories in the #19 in 1995).
Ben Spies (Spies won the 2009 World Superbike championship on the #19 Yamaha. He won 14 races and he set the single season record of 11 pole position).
Patrick Carpentier (Carpentier won the 1996 Atlantic Championship with nine victories, 11 podium finishes, and his worst finish was fourth).
Ayrton Senna (Senna's first season in Formula One was in the #19 Toleman, which included his famous runner-up finish at Monaco and a pair of third-place finishes at Brands Hatch and Estoril, which put him ninth in the championship).
#18: Kyle Busch
Since joining Joe Gibbs Racing in the 2008 season, Busch has won 53 NASCAR Cup races in the #18 car, the most all-time for the number.
Busch started with eight victories in his first season, including a victory in the Southern 500. While his championship results were disappointing considering his number of victories, Busch broke through in 2015, despite suffering a break of his own in his leg, which caused him to miss the first 11 races of the season.
He won on his fifth race back at Sonoma and won three consecutive races at Kentucky, Loudon and Indianapolis. Busch would go on to win the Homestead finale and take his first championship. He would go on to add his second Brickyard 400 victory the following season and in 2018 he scored his first victory in the Coca-Cola 600, the highlight of an eight-victory season. In 2019, he picked up his second championship.
On top of all his success in the Cup Series, Busch won the 2009 NASCAR Grand National Series championship in the #18 Toyota. Fifty-eight of his 97 victories in the second division have come in the #18 car. Add to it 16 Truck victories and 127 of Busch's 214 victories in the three NASCAR national touring series have come using the #18.
Honorable Mentions:
Michael Andretti (Driving for Kraco Racing, Andretti won seven IndyCar races in the #18 car, including his first victory at Long Beach in 1986 and the 1987 Michigan 500).
Bobby Labonte (Labonte won the 1999 NASCAR Cup Series championship and 21 NASCAR Cup races in the #18 car).
Dale Jarrett (Jarrett won the 1993 Daytona 500, a popular victory and it was Joe Gibbs Racing's first NASCAR Cup Series victory).
Juan Manuel Fangio (There were only four numbers Fangio won multiple races with in his Formula One career. One of those was the #18, which he won the 1954 French Grand Prix, the 1954 German Grand Prix and the 1955 Italian Grand Prix with. That French Grand Prix victory was Mercedes-Benz's first in Formula One. That Italian Grand Prix victory was its last until Nico Rosberg won the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix).
#17: Dick Johnson
Johnson was one of the best drivers in Australia throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s.
Johnson won five Australian Touring Car Championships, including back-to-back titles in 1981 and 1982. In 1981, he won five of eight races with his worst finish being third. In 1984, he again finished every race on the podium and took his third championship. In 1988 and 1989, Johnson took his second set of back-to-back championships. He won six of nine races in 1988 with two runner-up finishes and he won four of eight races in 1989 with six podium finishes.
On top of his five championships, which has him tied for second all-time for in ATCC/Supercars championships, Johnson won the Bathurst 1000 three times, including in his 1981 and 1989 championship seasons. His final Bathurst victory came in 1994.
As a car owner, Johnson has won ten titles, including three with Scott McLaughlin when Johnson's team was in partnership with Team Penske.
Honorable Mentions:
David Pearson (For as well-known as Pearson is with the #21, Pearson won three NASCAR Cup championships and 30 races in the #17 Ford for Holman-Moody).
Scott McLaughlin (McLaughlin won three consecutive Supercars championships from 2018 to 2020. He won 48 races in the #17 Ford, including the 2019 Bathurst 1000).
Matt Kenseth (Kenseth won the 2003 NASCAR Cup championship and 24 races in the #17 Ford, including two Daytona 500s).
#16: James Weaver
Primarily driving for Dyson Racing, Weaver scored loads of success in the #16 car across a handful of sports car series.
Weaver started with Dyson Racing in the IMSA GT Championship in 1987 and he won on debut with Price Cobb at the 500km Road Atlanta. He won 12 times from 1987 to 1997, including his victory in the 1997 24 Hours of Daytona.
In 1998, he won the United States Road Racing Championship. Sixteen of his 17 Grand-Am victories were in the #16 car, including both his championship in 2000 and 2001. In 2000, he won five of nine races and he won five of ten races in 2001, including three consecutive victories to close the season. He was also a three-time winner of the 6 Hours of the Glen.
In the American Le Mans Series, Weaver had five victories, one of which was an overall victory at Sonoma in 2003 over the Audi R8 of Marco Werner and Frank Biela, while driving an MG-LolaEX257 in the LMP675 class. It was the first time the smaller of the prototype classes took an overall victory in ALMS history. Weaver and Butch Leitzinger would win overall in the LMP1 class the following season again ahead of an Audi R8, this time with Werner and JJ Lehto in second. Leitzinger and Weaver would win overall again in 2005 at Mid-Ohio and Mosport.
Honorable Mentions:
Ron Hornaday (Hornaday won 25 NASCAR Truck races and two Truck Series championships).
Greg Biffle (Biffle won 19 NASCAR Cup Series races in the #16 Ford, including two Southern 500s).
Jim Clark (Clark's first grand prix victory came in the #16 Lotus at the 1962 Belgian Grand Prix. Clark started 12th, qualifying 7.9 seconds off Graham Hill on pole position, but Clark would lead the final 34 laps and win by 44.1 seconds over Hill).
#15: Alain Prost
For three seasons, Prost used the #15 when driving for Renault.
Prost scored his first three grand prix victories in the 1981 season. His first career victory fittingly came in the French Grand Prix at Dijon. He would later go back-to-back with victories at Zandvoort and Monza, where he led 123 of 124 laps between the two races. He led all 52 laps at Monza, despite starting third. Despite, the late uptick in form, early season retirements kept Prost to fifth in the championship.
He opened the 1982 season with victories at Kyalami and Jacarepagua and he was one of five drivers to win exactly two races that season. However, he would pick up only two podium finishes for the rest of the season and he lost what appeared to be a sure victory at Dijon to Keke Rosberg despite leading 77 of 80 laps. Prost was fourth in the championship.
For 1983, he won at Circuit Paul Ricard, Spa-Francorchamps, Silverstone and the Österreichring and after a runner-up finish at the penultimate round at Brands Hatch, Prost went into the finale at Kyalami with a two-point championship lead. However, Prost retired with a turbo failure after 35 laps, allowing Nelson Piquet to take the championship with a third-place finish.
Prost would rejoin McLaren for the 1984 season and no longer use the #15 again in Formula One.
Honorable Mentions:
Donny Schatz (Schatz is a ten-time World of Outlaws champion and a ten-time Knoxville Nationals winner).
Bobby Allison (Allison won 14 races in the #15 car driving for Bud Moore, including the 1978 Daytona 500).
Buddy Rice (Rice won the 2004 Indianapolis 500 and all three of his IndyCar victories came in that 2004 season).
#14: A.J. Foyt
This one was obvious.
Foyt used the #14 for majority of his career and it was his number for two of his four Indianapolis 500 victories. Overall, 30 of Foyt's 67 IndyCar victories came in the #14, and three of his seven championships were in the #14. His first victory in the #14 came in the penultimate round of the 1962 season at Sacramento. He would use it again for the 1967 season, but the #14 would not become Foyt's regular number until the 1973 season.
Foyt won seven 500-mile races in the #14 car. Besides Indianapolis, other notable places Foyt took the #14 to victory lane included Milwaukee, Trenton, Phoenix, Mosport and even Silverstone. Foyt used the number up until his final Indianapolis 500 start in 1992 and the number has remained with his team to the present day.
Honorable Mentions:
Bill Vukovich (Vukovich used the #14 twice in his IndyCar career, the 1953 Indianapolis 500 and the 1954 Indianapolis. Vukovich won both).
Tony Stewart (Stewart took on the #14 after he purchased part of Haas Racing and formed Stewart-Haas Racing ahead of the 2009 NASCAR Cup Series season. Stewart won the 2011 Cup championship and he won 16 races in 262 Cup starts in the #14).
Al Holbert (Hobert was a three-time IMSA GTP champion. His 49 IMSA victories include two 24 Hours of Daytona victories and two 12 Hours of Sebring victories. Holbert also won the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice).
#13: Johnny Rutherford
Only one time has the #13 won a NASCAR Cup Series race.
It was the second Daytona 500 qualifying race in 1963 and it came at the hands of Johnny Rutherford driving the #13 Chevrolet for Smokey Yunick. It was Rutherford's NASCAR Cup Series debut! In the Daytona 500, Rutherford was ninth, four laps down.
The #13 does not have much a great history in any motorsports history. Triskaidekaphobia is rampant in motorsports. Therefore, it is all yours Mr. Rutherford.
Honorable Mentions:
Johnny Sauter (Sauter has won seven NASCAR Truck Series races in the #13 Truck).
Sam Hornish, Jr. (Hornish, Jr. used the #13 in the 1999 Atlantic Championship season and he won at Chicago Motor Speedway, ending up seventh in the championship).
#12: Ayrton Senna
I went back and forth on this one but ultimately settled on Senna.
The Brazilian's first 14 Fomrula One grand prix victories came in the #12, starting with the 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix in the #12 John Player Special Lotus. His first Monaco Grand Prix victory was in 1987, this time with the Camel Lotus.
When Senna moved over to McLaren for the 1988 season, McLaren took on the #11 and #12. As Senna was new to the team, Alain Prost took the #11 while Senna retained the #12. He won on his second start with the team at Imola, leading all 60 laps from pole position. Senna picked up eight victories that season, the most he ever had in a single season. Besides Imola, he led every lap in four other races.
Senna clinched his first world championship with his victory at Suzuka despite stalling on the grid and dropping out of the top ten. Senna charging up to take the lead from Prost with 24 laps to go.
The #12 was the number Senna used most in his Formula One career. He only had more victories with the #1, but no driver has more victories in the #12 than Senna. In fact, the #12 has only won once since Senna's victory in the 1988 Japanese Grand Prix. Somewhat fittingly, it was Honda at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix, Jenson Button's first victory.
Honorable Mentions:
Will Power (This was difficult because this could easily be Power. Power has won 35 IndyCar races in the #12. He has 49 pole positions in the #12 car. Power won the 2014 IndyCar championship and the 2018 Indianapolis 500. This really could be his. If he wins a second championship or a second Indianapolis 500, we will likely have to make a change).
Bobby Allison (Allison won 25 NASCAR Cup races in the #12 car, which included two Southern 500s, a World 600 and a Daytona 500, the Daytona 500 being his final NASCAR Cup series victory).
#11: Steve Kinser
When you are called "The King," you likely deserve some recognition, and king might just be underselling Kinser's accomplishments.
He has 20 World of Outlaws championships. Twenty! Kinser won championships in four different decades and on three separate occasions did he have stretches of at least four consecutive championships.
Kinser won 690 A-Mains. The second most championships are the ten from the aforementioned Donny Schatz. Sammy Swindell is second all-time in victories with 394. He remains the all-time leader with 12 Knoxville Nationals victories. He has the most Kings Royal victories at Eldora Raceway with seven. Even better is Kinser's one International Race of Champions victory at Talladega in 1994 was in the #11 Dodge Avenger.
Honorable Mentions:
Ned Jarrett (Jarrett won two NASCAR Cup Series championships and 49 NASCAR Cup races in the #11 car, including the 1965 Southern 500).
Cale Yarborough (Yarborough won three consecutive NASCAR Cup championships from 1976-78 and he won 55 Cup races in the #11 car).
Tony Kanaan (Kanaan has 15 IndyCar victories in the #11, which include his 2004 championship and his 2013 Indianapolis 500 victory).
Denny Hamlin (Hamlin has 44 NASCAR Cup victories, including three Daytona 500 victories).
#10: Dario Franchitti
Franchitti's second act in IndyCar was astonishing.
Joining Chip Ganassi Racing for the 2009 season, Franchitti won on his second race back in the series. In a title battle that swung after every race between him, his teammate Scott Dixon and Ryan Briscoe, Franchitti entered the finale second in the championship, six points off Dixon on top. In a caution-free race, Franchitti stretch his fuel mileage to win the race, his fifth of the season, and the championship, the second of his career.
Franchitti's second Indianapolis 500 victory came the following season, in a dominant race, leading 155 of 200 laps. He was second in the championship for most of the season behind Will Power but got on a run with eight consecutive top five finishes, including two victories at Mid-Ohio and Chicagoland. Twelve points separated him and Power entering the Homestead finale. Franchitti started on pole position and he led 128 of the first 151 laps. Power had an accident, which sealed the championship for Franchitti with an eighth-place finish.
The 2011 season started with a victory at St. Petersburg. He added victories in Texas, Milwaukee and Toronto. Franchitti was never lower than second in the championship that season and he would trail Power by 11 points after Motegi. However, when Power had a pit lane incident at Kentucky, Franchitti vaulted back to the top spot with an 18-point lead, and he would take the championship after the cancellation of the Las Vegas finale.
Franchitti is the all-time leader in victories for two numbers in IndyCar, the #27 and the #10. While he won more races in the #27, he won three consecutive championships and an Indianapolis 500 in the #10.
Honorable Mentions:
Wayne Taylor Racing (I can't pick out one of the Taylor family members and it would not be fair to exclude Max Angelelli. Wayne Taylor won 11 Grand-Am races in the #10 car, including the 2005 24 Hours of Daytona, which was the start to he and Angelelli's championship season. Angelelli continued full-time through 2013 and he won 26 races in the #10. Angelelli and Jordan Taylor would go on to win the 2013 Grand-Am championship.
Ricky and Jordan Taylor partnered for the 2014 and they won Petit Le Mans with Angelelli that season. The Taylors would win two races in 2015 and three races in 2016. In 2017, the Taylor brothers opened the season with five consecutive victories, including the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring. The Taylors would win the IMSA prototype championship.
The team picked up its second Petit Le Mans victory in 2018 with Jordan Taylor, Renger van der Zande and Ryan Hunter-Reay. The team has won the 24 Hours of Daytona for three consecutive years, starting in 2019 with Taylor, van der Zande, Fernando Alonso and Kamui Kobayashi. Van der Zande and Kobayashi returned to take the victory with Ryan Briscoe and Scott Dixon in 2020 and the team opened the 2021 season with a victory at Daytona with Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque, Hélio Castroneves and Alexander Rossi).
Ninety numbers down, ten to go.
