#SrigleyStats Countdown to Daytona: 43 Days!
Saturday, January 6th, 2024 -- 43 Days Until Daytona!
43 DAYS UNTIL DAYTONA!
Let’s look back at the history of the #43 in NASCAR’s National Series.
FIRST USAGE:
NCS: 1949-04 - Langhorne - Jack Russell
NXS: 1983-05 - Martinsville - Donny Ling, Jr.
NCTS: 1995-10 - Milwaukee - Rodney Combs
BEST FINISH:
NCS: P1 - 200 NASCAR Cup Series Victories (Most: Richard Petty - 192)
NXS: P1 - 1 NASCAR Xfinity Series Victory (Johnny Sauter - Richmond, 2003)
NCTS: P1 - 2 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Victories (Most: Jimmy Hensley - 2)
BEST START:
NCS: P1 - 122 NASCAR Cup Series Poles (Most: Richard Petty - 114)
NXS: P1 - 2 NASCAR Xfinity Series Poles (Most: Dakoda Armstrong/Jay Sauter - 1)
NCTS: P1 - 5 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Poles (Most: Jimmy Hensley - 3)
IS THE NUMBER ACTIVE?
In 2023, the #43 competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for three different organizations — LEGACY MOTOR CLUB, Alpha Prime Racing, and GMS Racing.
LEGACY MOTOR CLUB - co-owned by Maury Gallagher and Jimmie Johnson - fielded the #43 Chevrolet Camaro in the NASCAR Cup Series last season, with Erik Jones behind the wheel.
The entry, which started out as Richard Petty Motorsports, before transitioning to Petty GMS Motorsports, and eventually LEGACY MOTOR CLUB, last went to victory lane at Darlington Raceway in 2022, with Jones behind the wheel.
In 2024, the #43 will transition to being a Toyota Camry XSE, as LEGACY MOTOR CLUB makes a swift change — moving from Chevrolet to Toyota in just their second season (with this current branding).
Don’t adjust your computer screen… Yes, the #43 is being used without the Petty Enterprises font, and it’s being used by Ryan Ellis and Alpha Prime Racing full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
In the largest schedule of his NASCAR career, Ellis piloted the #43 Chevrolet Camaro, a third entry for the rapidly expanding Alpha Prime Racing, for the majority of the season. This coming season, though, he’ll tackle his first full-time campaign.
This season, the Alpha Prime #43 scored a best finish of sixth place, in one of the only events that Ellis didn’t compete in — Talladega, with team co-owner Caesar Bacarella.
In the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Daniel Dye is the pilot of the #43 Chevrolet Silverado.
Although he technically has no affiliation to Richard Petty — despite the mild connection between GMS Racing and LEGACY MOTOR CLUB — he’s using the Petty Enterprises font, as he has most of his racing career.
As a rookie in the NASCAR Truck Series, Dye scored a career-best sixth-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway - his only top-10 finish.
In 2024, Dye will continue to use the number, but with another organization, moving to McAnally-Hilgemann Racing.
WHO HAS MOST FREQUENTLY USED THE #43?
NASCAR Cup Series: Richard Petty - 1,123 Starts
NASCAR Xfinity Series: Rodney Combs - 78 Starts
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: Jimmy Hensley - 78 Starts
MISCELLANEOUS STATS ABOUT THE #43 IN NASCAR
The #43 is the most-used number in the history of the NASCAR Cup Series.
The #43 is the second-winningest number in NASCAR Cup Series history at 200.
Richard Petty, Kyle Petty, and Lee Petty have combined to make 1,132 of 2,231 starts (50.73%) for the #43 in the NASCAR Cup Series.
When Erik Jones takes the green flag in the 2024 Daytona 500, the #43 will have utilized a total of 12 different manufacturers throughout its tenure in the NASCAR Cup Series.
After Johnny Sauter drove the #43 in the 2005 Cheerios Betty Crocker 200 at Richmond Raceway, the number was not used for another 18 years in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
Thad Moffitt, the grandson of Richard Petty, became the first member of the family to drive the #43 in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series when making his series debut at Daytona for Reaume Brothers Racing in 2022.
There were more than nine years between the date of the #43s debut in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (1983) to the date in which the number finished on the lead lap for the first time (1994).