#SrigleyStats Countdown to Daytona: 48 Days!
Monday, January 1st, 2024 -- 48 Days Until Daytona!
48 DAYS UNTIL DAYTONA!
Let’s take a look back at the history of the #48 in NASCAR’s National Series.
FIRST USAGE:
NCS: 1949-04 - Langhorne - Lee Schmidt
NXS: 1982-03 - Bristol - Paul Shull
NCTS: 1996-16 - Nashville - Casey Atwood
BEST FINISH:
NCS: P1 - 91 NASCAR Cup Series Wins (Most: Jimmie Johnson - 83)
NXS: P1 - 4 NASCAR Xfinity Series Wins (Most Recent: Tyler Reddick, 2022 Texas)
NCTS: P1 - 1 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Win (Ron Fellows, 1997 Watkins Glen)
BEST START:
NCS: P1 - 43 NASCAR Cup Series Poles (Most: Jimmie Johnson - 36)
NXS: P1 - 7 NASCAR Xfinity Series Poles (Most: Kenny Wallace - 2)
NCTS: P1 - 3 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Poles (Most: Ron Fellows - 2)
IS THE NUMBER ACTIVE?
The #48 was used on a full-time basis in the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, and ARCA Menards Series in 2023. The number was not used in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
Hendrick Motorsports has continued to utilize the No. 48 since Jimmie Johnson retired from full-time NASCAR Cup Series competition following 2020, with Alex Bowman behind the wheel of the historic number.
In 2023, Josh Berry served as a three-race interim driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro, after Alex Bowman was injured in a sprint car accident in the Spring, just weeks after teammate Chase Elliott returned from his injury.
In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Big Machine Racing has adopted the No. 48 for its program, which this past season had Parker Kligerman at the helm, earning the team its first berth in the post-season. In 2022, the team scored a victory with Tyler Reddick at Texas Motor Speedway, utilizing this exact number.
It’s been a decade since the #48 was used in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, with Mason Mitchell making his series debut in the 2014 season-finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, driving for Mason Mitchell Motorsports.
The undisputed king of the ARCA Menards Series, Brad Smith, is the driver that utilized the No. 48 this season, competing on a full-time basis in all 20 events, which netted him a sixth-place points finish — one spot short of the best of his career.
WHO HAS MOST FREQUENTLY USED THE #48?
NASCAR Cup Series: Jimmie Johnson - 686 Starts
NASCAR Xfinity Series: Kenny Wallace - 67 Starts
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: Wayne Edwards / Hermie Sadler - 10 Starts
MISCELLANEOUS STATS ABOUT THE #48 IN NASCAR
Jimmie Johnson scored seven NASCAR Cup Series championships while driving the #48 for Hendrick Motorsports — the first driver to accomplish this while using the same car number in all championship seasons.
The #48 is one of 49 numbers that have visited Victory Lane in each of NASCAR’s top-three series.
Ron Fellows is the only driver to score a top-10 finish in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series while carrying the #48.
794 of the last 795 NASCAR Cup Series starts for the #48 have had a driver behind the wheel that will compete in the series in 2024 — Jimmie Johnson, Josh Berry, Alex Bowman, and Noah Gragson.
Bobby Hamilton scored the pole position while driving the #48 Chevrolet in the 1996 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at Martinsville Speedway — the second race that the #48 had been used in the series.
Despite being synonymous with both Jimmie Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports, both Coy and JD Gibbs — the two sons of NASCAR Cup Series team owner Joe Gibbs — ran NASCAR Truck Series events in the #48.
Should Parker Kligerman compete in each of the 33 NASCAR Xfinity Series events in 2024, he will tie Kenny Wallace for the most starts in the second-tier series while piloting the #48.
Across NASCAR’s National Series, the #48 has recorded 1,594 starts with Chevrolet as its manufacturer. Toyota has never utilized the #48 in any of NASCAR’s top three divisions.
It took nearly five years from the date of its NASCAR Cup Series debut, for a car with #48 to qualify inside the top-five for any event.