#SrigleyStats Countdown to Daytona: Happy Daytona Day!
Sunday, February 18th, 2024 -- 0 Days (Weather Permitting) Until Daytona!
Author’s Note:
Thanks, everybody for supporting the #SrigleyStats Countdown to Daytona. We’ve finally made it to the start of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series campaign, and the Daytona 500 will kick off today — weather permitting.
The current plan for this Substack in 2024 is to continue posting a weekly #SrigleyStats, although it will be free to everybody on the subscriber list for the newsletter.
That weekly post will likely include the contents of both the Weekend Recap and #SrigleyStats Sheet from last year, plus a link to a brand-new #SrigleyStats feature that will be posted weekly to Racing America.
Until then, enjoy the remainder of Speedweeks, and buckle up for a wild season of NASCAR racing!!
0 DAYS (BARRING WEATHER) UNTIL DAYTONA!
Let’s look back at the history of the #0 in NASCAR’s National Series.
FIRST USAGE:
NCS: 1949-01 — Charlotte — Jimmie Lewallen
NXS: 1982-04 — Martinsville — Jay Hedgecock
NCTS: 1995-08 — Louisville — Frank Davis
BEST FINISH:
NCS: 2 NASCAR Cup Series Victories (Most: Darel Dieringer & Jim Cook, 1)
NXS: 2 NASCAR Xfinity Series Poles (Dick McCabe, 1988 Oxford)
NCTS: P8 — Matt Tifft — 2014-19 — Martinsville Speedway
BEST START:
NCS: 1 NASCAR Cup Series Pole (Jim Cook, 1960 Sacramento)
NXS: 2 NASCAR Xfinity Series Poles (Most: Tim Richmond & Rick Mast, 1)
NCTS: P16 — Scott Lagasee, Jr. — 2015-23 — Homestead-Miami Speedway
IS THE NUMBER ACTIVE?
No. The #0 was not utilized in the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, or NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2023. The number hasn’t been used in any series in quite some time.
It’s been nearly two decades since the #0 has been on track in the NASCAR Cup Series, last running the 2005 season-finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway with Mike Bliss behind the wheel of the entry for HAAS CNC — in what was likely a sponsor-driven number choice, being with NetZero.
In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the #0 has been on track more recently than in the NASCAR Cup Series, with JD Motorsports fielding a full-time entry in the series for Jeffrey Earnhardt in 2021 — before the team scaled back its operations.
However, the No. 0, despite the possibility of it running a partial schedule in 2023, has yet to return to the racetrack with JD Motorsports, or anybody else.
In the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Cody McMahan was the last driver to pilot the No. 0, doing so for Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing in the 2019 event at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, start-and-parking the Chevrolet before the race even started.
WHO HAS MOST FREQUENTLY USED THE #0?
NASCAR Cup Series: Mike Bliss & Ward Burton — 38 Races
NASCAR Xfinity Series: Garrett Smithley — 126 Races
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: Caleb Rorak — 18 Races
MISCELLANEOUS STATS ABOUT THE #0 IN NASCAR
Matt Tifft, driving what is now confirmed as a BJ McLeod Motorsports entry, scored the only top-10 finish for the #0 in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series — finishing eighth at Martinsville in 2014.
With 502 NASCAR Xfinity Series starts, the #0 actually had a solid tenure in the second-tier series, with only race-winner Dick McCabe leading more than 11 laps throughout their entire tenure using the number.
In 127 starts in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, the #0 has only been running when the checkered flag was displayed in 14 races — with no driver finishing more than two races.
An incredible 67 drivers have competed in a NASCAR Xfinity Series event while piloting the #0 with 10 drivers managing to score a top-10 finish.
Dick Getty — who ran 15 races in the #0 from 1956 to 1961 — managed to record a respectable seven top-10 results, managing more solid runs than those who competed in the number for an entire season.
Darel Dieringer, one of two winners in the NASCAR Cup Series using the #0, made four starts with the number, scoring two top-fives and leading 178 laps, exceeding the statline of any other driver — substantially.