#SrigleyStats Countdown to Daytona: 34 Days!
Monday, January 15th, 2024 -- 34 Days Until Daytona!
34 DAYS UNTIL DAYTONA!
Let’s look back at the history of the #34 in NASCAR’s National Series.
FIRST USAGE:
NCS: 1949-01 — Charlotte — Jim Roper
NXS: 1982-05 — Darlington — Frank Kelly
NCTS: 1995-08 — Louisville — Bob Brevak
BEST FINISH:
NCS: 6 NASCAR Cup Series Victories (Most: Michael McDowell, 2)
NXS: 15 NASCAR Xfinity Series Victories (Most: Todd Bodine, 7)
NCTS: 2 NASCAR Truck Series Victories (Most: Brett Moffit + Bubba Wallace, 1)
BEST START:
NCS: 2 NASCAR Cup Series Poles (Most: Todd Bodine + Wendell Scott, 1)
NXS: 11 NASCAR Xfinity Series Poles (Most: Todd Bodine + Max McLaughlin, 5)
NCTS: 1 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Poles (Bubba Wallace, Martinsville 2014)
IS THE NUMBER ACTIVE?
Yes. The #34 was utilized on a full-time basis in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2024, while also being used on a more sporadic basis in both the NASCAR Xfinity Series and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
Front Row Motorsports and Michael McDowell utilized the #34 during the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series campaign and once again had a strong year, picking up a victory at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course and making the NASCAR Playoffs.
The organization has been using the number for nearly two decades, running it first with Randy LaJoie in the second event of the 2005 NASCAR Cup Series season at Auto Club Speedway, and has used the number since.
The #34 has been most recently used by Jesse Iwuji Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, with the organization attempting Daytona, Talladega, Chicago, and Indianapolis in 2023 with drivers Jesse Iwuji and Andre Castro.
After running full-time in 2022, the organization had to majorly downsize its operations for the 2023 season due to funding constraints, largely the result of the departure of Equity Prime Mortgage, the team’s anchor partner from its first season.
Things get a bit confusing when we get to the #34 in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, as two different organizations — Front Row Motorsports and Reaume Brothers Racing — each utilized the number throughout the 2023 season.
Front Row Motorsports ended up taking the #34 to victory lane at Talladega Superspeedway, the most recent race that the number has graced the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
WHO HAS MOST FREQUENTLY USED THE #34?
NASCAR Cup Series: Wendell Scott — 469 Starts
NASCAR Xfinity Series: Mike McLaughlin — 177 Starts
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: Eric Jones — 13 Starts
MISCELLANEOUS STATS ABOUT THE #34 IN NASCAR
The #34 (driven by Jim Roper) won the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race.
By winning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s Road Course, Michael McDowell became the first driver to win multiple NASCAR Cup Series events in 2024.
In 1964, Wendell Scott became the first African-American driver to capture a victory in the NASCAR Cup Series at Speedway Park in Jacksonville, Florida. A half-century later, Bubba Wallace scored a NASCAR Truck Series win at Martinsville in a tribute to Scott.
Jimmy Spencer (Xfinity) and Bubba Wallace (Trucks) are the only drivers to score the victory from the pole while using the #34 in NASCAR’s National Series.
The #34 has scored five finishes inside the top-10 in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series but has done so with four different manufacturers — Chevrolet, Ford, Toyota, and Dodge.
Akinori Ogata is the only driver to pilot the #34 in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, lead a lap, and not win that same race. The number has only led laps in three events.
The #34 has not led multiple laps in a NASCAR Xfinity Series race in over a decade when Danica Patrick led five laps in the 2013 season-opener at Daytona International Speedway driving for Turner-Scott Motorsports.