Column By: HOLLY CAIN / NASCAR – DAYTONA BEACH, FL – With 13 days remaining before the 2024 DAYTONA 500, a look at the “lucky 13” reveals it is not one of the 30 car numbers to have ever won The Great American Race.
It does have a win in Daytona Speedweeks – IndyCar star Johnny Rutherford raced to a dominant victory in the 1963 Daytona 500 qualifying race in a No. 13 Chevrolet owned by Smokey Yunick.
In total 12 different drivers have piloted the No. 13 in the DAYTONA 500; including NASCAR Hall of Famers Curtis Turner in 1967 and Mario Andretti in 1966.
The famed No. 43 is the all-time winningest in the DAYTONA 500 with the legendary NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty claiming a record seven trophies in NASCAR’s most celebrated race.
The last three car numbers to celebrate a DAYTONA 500 win are all new to the list – including the No. 34 (Michael McDowell) in 2021, the No. 2 (Austin Cindric) in 2022 and the No. 47 (Ricky Stenhouse Jr.) last year.