#SrigleyStats Countdown to Daytona: 27 Days!
Monday, January 22nd, 2024 -- 27 Days Until Daytona!
27 DAYS UNTIL DAYTONA!
Let’s look back at the history of the #27 in NASCAR’s National Series.
FIRST USAGE:
NCS: 1949-04 — Langhorne — Buckshot Morris
NXS: 1982-01 — Daytona — Tommy Houston
NCTS: 1996-01 — Homestead — Terry McCarthy
BEST FINISH:
NCS: 52 NASCAR Cup Series Victories (Most: Rusty Wallace, 18)
NXS: 8 NASCAR Cup Series Victories (Most: Jamie McMurray & Casey Atwood, 2)
NCTS: 2 NASCAR Truck Series Victories (Most: Ben Rhodes & Chase Briscoe, 1)
BEST START:
NCS: 45 NASCAR Cup Series Poles (Most: Junior Johnson, 16)
NXS: 8 NASCAR Xfinity Series Poles (Most: Casey Atwood, 4)
NCTS: 2 NASCAR Truck Series Poles (Most: Ben Rhodes & Chase Briscoe, 1)
IS THE NUMBER ACTIVE?
Yes. In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the #27 competes full-time. However, the number was not fielded last season in either the NASCAR Cup Series or NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
Loris Hezemans was the last driver to compete in the NASCAR Cup Series while using the #27, doing so in several road course events with Team Hezeberg Powered by Reaume Brothers Racing.
The organization fielded the Ford Mustang in a single season, with heavy support from NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team Reaume Brothers Racing, running the Daytona 500 with Jacques Villeneuve, and road course with Loris Hezemans.
In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Jeb Burton has been associated with the #27 for several seasons, running most recently for Jordan Anderson Racing (2023) and Our Motorsports the season before. In 2023, the #27 scored a victory at Talladega Superspeedway, Burton’s second in the second-tier series.
Burton is set to return to Jordan Anderson Racing in 2024, with crew chief Shane Whitbeck again set to call the shots. The upcoming season will mark the Virginia native’s third in a row while using the #27.
In the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, William Byron was the most recent driver to pilot the #27, doing so in the series’ return to Nashville Superspeedway, driving a second entry for Rackley WAR.
Before Byron’s use of the #27, ThorSport Racing had control of the number — first as a full-time entry for Ben Rhodes, and more recently as the fifth part-time entry the organization used until taking over the use of the #66.
WHO HAS MOST FREQUENTLY USED THE #27?
NASCAR Cup Series: Paul Menard — 252 Starts
NASCAR Xfinity Series: Bosco Lowe — 82 Starts
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: Ben Rhodes — 23 Starts
MISCELLANEOUS STATS ABOUT THE #27 IN NASCAR
Even though Bosco Lowe holds the distinction of being the driver with the most starts in the #27 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, he ranks third-place overall in the laps complete metric, the result of 28 DNFs in 82 starts.
If Jeb Burton can successfully drive the #27 in 18 NASCAR Xfinity Series events in 2024, he will become the driver with the most starts using the number in the second-tier series.
Chevrolet is the most-used manufacturer for the #27 each of NASCAR’s National Series, totaling 805 of 2,036 starts for the number — or approximately 38.96%.
Both Jeb Burton, and his father Ward Burton, have scored victories in the NASCAR Xfinity Series while driving the #27. Both Jeb and Ward have also piloted the #27 in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, sharing the entry in 2012.
The last three drivers to compete in the #27 in the NASCAR Cup Series — Loris Hezemans, Jacques Villeneuve, and JJ Yeley — represented three different countries in their runs at NASCAR’s top-level (The Netherlands, Canada, and the United States).