Car Number Histories: No. 38

ATLANTA -- Did you know that the teammate of Elliott Sadler, the current driver of the No. 38, is the son of the last man to win with that number?

Ned Jarrett piloted the No. 11 for most of his career, but jumped in the No. 38 Ford for the first two races of 1960, winning at Columbia.

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And that is the last time the No. 38 has visited Victory Lane, but perhaps that winless streak will end in 2004.

Actually, the No. 38 had a successful first decade in NASCAR. Ted Swaim drove a No. 38 Plymouth to a second-place finish in Vernon in 1950.

Julian Petty put Gwyn Staley in a No. 38 Chevrolet starting in 1957. Staley responded with wins at Syracuse, Langhorne and Myrtle Beach. Mel Larson drove a Dodge to a ninth-place finish on the Titusville airport course that season as well.

In the first three races of 1958, Staley's best result was a second at Fayetteville. But he was killed in a crash at Richmond in March.

The car then went to Bob Welborn for one race later that season -- and he won at Fayetteville.

Raul Cilloniz drove a No. 38 Ford to a 12th-place finish in the 1959 Daytona 500.

Jarrett drove 12 races in the No. 38 the rest of that season, with a pair of eighth-place finishes, then opened the 1960 season with his Columbia win before switching to the No. 11.

Owner Matt DeMathews had a series of drivers over the next three seasons. Sammy Packard was ninth at Norwood in 1961, while Ed Markstellar drove four races, with a 22nd at Charlotte.

In 1962, G.C. Spencer ran three races, including the Daytona 500; Woodie Wilson ran twice; John Dodd Jr. drove in the Firecracker 400; Packard was 13th at Valdosta and DeMathews put himself behind the wheel for his only career start in the 1962 Southern 500. He lasted two laps and finished 44th.

Bob Hurt was the final driver to run DeMathews' No. 38, finishing 16th at Richmond in 1963.

Wayne Smith was next to inherit the No. 38 in 1965. Over the next four seasons, he would compete in 98 races, with a best finish of eighth at Spartanburg. After using that numeral in the 1969 season-opener at Macon, he switched to the No. 33.

With the exception of Smith returning to the No. 38 for two races in 1971, the numeral went to West Coast driver Jimmy Insolo for the next few seasons.

Insolo mainly ran Riverside and Ontario, scoring a third-place finish at Riverside in 1976. That was the last top-five finish for the numeral until Sadler's third-place run at Talladega in 2003.

From that point until Yates Racing revived the No. 38, it fell into limited use, with no driver ever making more than four starts in one season.

Drivers after Insolo included Tom Williams, Walter Ballard, Grant Adcox, Sandy Satullo, Don Waterman, Canadian Laurent Rioux, Morgan Shepherd, Phil Barkdoll, Joe Ruttman, Alan Kulwicki, Joe Fields, Mike Laws, John Krebs, Dick Johnson, Jim Sauter, Jimmy Horton, Bobby Hamilton, Butch Gilliland, Rich Woodland and Kevin LePage.

Sadler didn't win a race, but he put the No. 38 on the pole at Darlington and Talladega, had nine top-10s and finished 23rd in the final standings.