Greatest by Number: #19-10

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. 

Greatest by Number: #49-40

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.