#SrigleyStats Countdown to Daytona: 50 Days!
Saturday, December 30th, 2023 -- 50 Days Until Daytona!
It’s been quite a while since I’ve put anything on the #SrigleyStats Substack…
But, with 2024 Speedweeks at Daytona just around the corner, now seems like the perfect time to start putting out some more content — hence the debut of the #SrigleyStats Countdown to Daytona.
50 DAYS UNTIL DAYTONA!
Let’s take a look back at the history of the #50 in NASCAR’s National Series.
FIRST USAGE:
NCS: 1949-02 - Daytona Beach - Gober Sosebee
NXS: 1982-01 - Daytona - John Anderson
NCTS: 1996-16 - Nashville - Mark Day
BEST FINISH:
NCS: P2 - 1949-03 (Hillsboro) - Gober Sosebee
NCS: P2 - 1957-04 (Daytona Beach) - Johnny Beauchamp
NXS: P5 - 1983-02 (Richmond) - Geoffrey Bodine
NXS: P5 - 2006-31 (Charlotte) - Danny O’Quinn, Jr.
NCTS: P1 - 16 NCTS Victories (14 - Greg Biffle, 2 - Jon Wood)
BEST START:
NCS: P1 - 5 NCS Poles (2 - Gober Sosebee, 2 - Geoffrey Bodine, 1 - Ricky Craven)
NXS: P2 - 2006-15 (Nashville) - Danny O’Quinn, Jr.
NCTS: P1 - 15 NCTS Poles (12 - Greg Biffle, 2 - Jon Wood, 1 - Carl Edwards)
IS THE NUMBER ACTIVE?
The #50 was utilized on a part-time basis in both the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series throughout the 2023 season.
TMT Racing utilized the No. 50 on a pair of occasions during the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series campaign, with Conor Daly behind the wheel of the BitNile Chevrolet Camaro in the season-opening Daytona 500 and at Circuit of The Americas (COTA) — earning a season-high 29th-place finish at Daytona.
Pardus Racing, Inc. and Preston Pardus attempted to qualify for a total of four NASCAR Xfinity Series events in 2023 while utilizing the No. 50, making the field at COTA, Chicago, and Indianapolis with a best finish of 12th-place. Pardus failed to qualify for the event at Charlotte’s ROVAL.
The No. 50 hasn’t been used in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series since the 2018 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where Camden Murphy retired the Beaver Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado after just 11 laps, finishing 32nd.
Finally, in the ARCA Menards Series West, Trevor Huddleston and family-owned High Point Racing debuted from the ashes of Bob Bruncati’s Sunrise Ford Racing in 2023, finishing the season third-place in points behind Sean Hingorani and Tyler Reif.
WHO HAS MOST FREQUENTLY USED THE #50?
NASCAR Cup Series: Ricky Craven - 36 Starts
NASCAR Xfinity Series: Danny O’Quinn, Jr. - 33 Starts
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: Jon Wood - 87 Starts
MISCELLANEOUS STATS ABOUT THE #50 IN NASCAR
The #50 hasn’t won a NASCAR National Series event since Jon Wood was victorious in the 2003 Advance Auto Parts 200 at Martinsville Speedway.
With 326 starts, the #50 has the second-worst average finish of any number in the history of the NASCAR Cup Series — second to only the #66.
The #50 is one of just 24 numbers that haven’t won a NASCAR Cup Series event.
Gober Sosebee won the pole at Daytona Beach in 1949 in the #50 - the first time the number had been used in what is now the NASCAR Cup Series.
The #50 hasn’t qualified for every race during a season in any of NASCAR’s top-three series since 2014.
Travis Kvapil was the last person to score a top-10 finish in the #50, when he finished fifth in the 2016 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at Daytona International Speedway.