Car Number Histories: No. 23

ATLANTA -- Name the only driver to win a race in the No. 23.

If you said "Frank Mundy in a Studebaker," you either are a relative, a bookworm or watched NASCAR before the cars had tailfins.

	The No. 23 has visited Victory Lane only once in its NASCAR history. Credit: Autostock

Mundy finished fifth in the points in 1951, thanks to victories at Columbia and Mobile in 25 starts. Since then, 49 different drivers have tried but failed to match Mundy's feat.

Erwin Blatt, Skip Lewis and Ken Marriott all drove the No. 23 in the two years before Mundy, with Lewis finishing eighth at Pittsburgh in 1949.

Jack Smith captured a pole at Macon in 1952, one of his two starts that season. Then Weldon Adams, Mike Magill, Jimmie Lewallen, Don Duckworth, Wade Fields and Ned Jarrett all drove the No. 23 once at some point during the rest of the decade.

In 1959, Bob Perry began a two-year association with the numeral, running mainly West Coast events. He was ninth at Sacramento in 1959, tenth there in 1960.

Doug Yates ran parts of three seasons starting in 1960, winning a pole at Columbia that year and finishing third at Charlotte in a Plymouth. The next season, Yates ran 32 races, including fifths at Jacksonville and Spartanburg.

In addition, Sal Tovella's Ford finished 14th in the 1961 Daytona 500.

Yates returned for five more races in 1962, with a sixth at Concord. Red Farmer's Ford was 40th in the Daytona 500 that season.

In 1963, H.G. Rosier ran the Daytona 500 in the No. 23, Stan Parker made his only NASCAR appearance at Tampa, and Bill Widenhouse completed a five-race schedule with a 10th at Hillsboro.

Widenhouse shared the ride the next season with Adams and Leland Colvin Jr., son of the car's owner.

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Buren Skeen ran eight races in a No. 23 Ford in 1965, with a best of fifth at Winston-Salem. The next season, Calvin Kelly was 46th in the 1966 Daytona 500.

The numeral went unused until 1970, when James Hylton, who normally drove a No. 48 Plymouth, used No. 23 to finish 22th at Daytona.

Then Vic Elford's Plymouth finished 10th in the 1972 Daytona 500, his only top-10 in four career starts. It would also be the last top-10 finish for a car bearing No. 23 until 1989.

Other drivers who had limited seat time during that stretch included Jabe Thomas, Charley Griffith, Earl Brooks, Larry Lemay, Jim Raptis, Louis Gatto, Geoffrey Bodine, Charlie Glotzbach, Elliott Forbes-Robinson, Sterling Marlin, Don Hume, Morgan Shepherd, Gene Coyle, Connie Saylor, Dick May, Jim Hull and Eldon Dotson.

In 1985, Michael Waltrip made his debut at Charlotte in a No. 23 Chevrolet and ran four more races that season. The next year, Waltrip made 28 starts and finished 19th in the final standings, which earned him a seat in the No. 30 for 1987.

The No. 23 didn't return again until 1988, when Eddie Bierschwale ran a total of 43 races over a five-year span. His best finish was 10th at the 1989 Daytona 500.

Mike Chase and Butch Gilliland also drove the No. 23 at West Coast venues during that time.

In 1994, Hut Stricklin moved over from the No. 27 to ran an entire season, finishing 26th in the final standings.

Jimmy Spencer then began a five-year association with the numeral. In 1995, Spencer had four top-10s and finished 26th in the points.

The next season, he was fourth at Michigan and fifth at Talladega, moving up to 15th in the final standings. A fifth-place finish at Fontana in 1997 kept Spencer in the top 20.

Despite missing two races in 1998, Spencer was able to finish in the top 10 eight times, including a second at Talladega en route to a 14th-place finish in the standings. Frank Kimmel ran once as a replacement.

In 1999, Spencer was second at Bristol and 20th in the points, allowing him to move to the No. 26 for the 2000 season.

Boris Said and Scott Wimmer (2000) and Stricklin (2001) drove one race each. Then Stricklin started the 2002, running 22 races with no top-10s. Tom Hubert, Wimmer and Geoffrey Bodine each drove once before Kenny Wallace finished the season.

Wallace returned for a full run in 2003, finishing 10th at Bristol and 30th in the final standings.