Car Number Histories: No. 35

ATLANTA -- The No. 35 hasn't been successful, but it has been controversial.

Glenn Dunnaway thought he had won the Charlotte race in 1949 by three laps over Jim Roper. But NASCAR determined that the springs on Dunnaway's Ford weren't factory installed and disqualified him. However, a disqualification didn't stop Dunnaway, who ran six races that season with three top-10s.

ALSO  •  Purchase tickets for the Daytona 500!  •  Daytona countdown archive

J.C. VanLandingham drove a Buick to a fifth-place finish on the Daytona beach course in 1950.

Then it was 1956 before the numeral returned to action. Bunk Moore finished fifth at Hillsboro in a Ford, one of three starts in the No. 35. Joe Weatherly was ninth at Norfolk in his only race in the car.

In 1957, three different drivers shared the No. 35. PeeWee Jones was 15th at Langhorne; Bill Champion ran seven races, with a 10th-place finish at Jacksonville; and Darel Dieringer drove twice, with a best of sixth at Columbia.

Mel Larson drove a No. 35 Pontiac twice in 1960, finishing second at Phoenix.

Then Ray Hendrick took over the ride for two years, starting in 1962 and running only at Richmond. He wound up fifth twice.

In 1965, Jeff Hawkins drove six times, finishing 13th at Columbia.

It wasn't until 1974 that Dan Daughtry brought the No. 35 back. Over the next two seasons, he ran 10 times, scoring a 10th-place finish at Charlotte.

For the next decade, a number of drivers tried their luck: Jim Hurtubise, Lynn Carroll, Louis Gatto, Pat Mintey, Morgan Shepherd, Joe Millikan, Dick May and Bud Hickey.

Then in 1986, young Alan Kulwicki ran 22 races in the No. 35, finishing fourth at Martinsville and seventh at Dover. It was good enough to earn him a top-20 in the final standings -- and a move to the No. 7.

Benny Parsons stepped into the No. 35 in 1987 and finished second in the Daytona 500, at Atlanta and Riverside. His 16th-finish in the final standings earned him a ride in the No. 90 the next season.

	Bobby Hamilton Jr.'s No. 35 at Atlanta. Credit: Autostock

Bill Venturini ran seven races over three seasons starting in 1989, with a best of 18th at Talladega.

Keith Vanhouten and Larry Gunselman ran a limited schedule until 1998, when Todd Bodine was hired to run a No. 35 Pontiac, setting off the "Tabasco Fiasco."

Bodine struggled to make seven races before he was let go and replaced by Gary Bradberry, angering the sponsor, who wasn't consulted. While that was happening, Darrell Waltrip, who had been running his operation without a primary sponsor, sold the team's assets to Tim Beverly, and filled in for the injured Steve Park in the No. 1 Chevy.

Beverly merged the teams together, putting Waltrip in a No. 35 Chevrolet for the Brickyard 400, where he finished 13th. Unfortunately, that didn't sit well with the sponsor, who demanded that the team return to running Pontiacs. Waltrip started last in all but two races and only cracked the top-20 once during that span.

That was the end of the No. 35 until 2003, when Bobby Hamilton Jr. ran 14th at Kansas and 27th at Atlanta.