Car Number Histories: No. 22

ATLANTA -- Every driver who climbs behind the wheel of the No. 22 does so in the shadow of the legendary Fireball Roberts.

Roberts never won a NASCAR championship, mainly because he only came close to running a full schedule once in his career, but with 33 wins and 32 pole positions in 206 starts, he was the man to beat nearly every time he strapped on the helmet.

Bobby Allison and Ward Burton had success in the numeral after Roberts' death -- and Red Byron won the 1949 NASCAR championship -- but it's Roberts who remains associated with the No. 22 some four decades after his last ride.

	Edward Glenn "Fireball" Roberts

Byron drove six races in an Oldsmobile in 1949, winning on the beach at Daytona and at Martinsville on his way to the title. He was almost as good in 1950, winning a pole at Charlotte and posting top-five finishes at Daytona, Charlotte and Darlington. But he only ran four of 19 races.

Byron ran just once in the No. 22 in 1951, a sixth at Columbus, before switching to the 83. He retired as a driver at the end of the year. Lloyd Dane drove a Ford in six races that season, with a third at Gardena and fourth at Hanford.

Perk Brown's No. 22 Hudson competed in 19 races in 1952, finishing 13th in the final standings, thanks to thirds at West Palm Beach and Martinsville. Roy Hall was 48th in the 1952 Southern 500.

Brown returned for two races in 1953, sharing the numeral with Jimmie Lewallen and George Osborne. Lewallen had the most success, posting seven top-10 finishes in nine starts. Osborne was 16th in the Southern 500.

Brown and Osborne failed to break into the top 10 the next season in a combined three starts.

In 1955, Glen Wood drove a No. 22A to a 26th-place finish at Martinsville, one of a handful of time he ran something other than the No. 21. In addition, Bill Blair ran five times, including a 26th at Darlington, and Jim Paschal was 19th at Hillsboro in his only start.

Roberts, who made his NASCAR debut in 1950, had mainly driven the No. 11, No. 25 and most recently, the No. M-1 in 1955, took over the No. 22 in 1956.

He won five times that season and captured three poles, finishing seventh in the standings. Another driver whose last name is prominent in the NASCAR history books -- Ralph Earnhardt -- made his debut at Hickory, winning the pole and finishing second. Earnhardt returned in 1957 and ran 12th at Concord in his only start.

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Roberts finished sixth in the points in 1957, winning eight races and posting 27 top-10s in 38 races. He won six more times in 1958, despite only making eight starts.

In 1959, Roberts was eighth at Atlanta the only time he ran No. 22. He alternated between the No. 3 and No. 88 that season, winning the inaugural Firecracker 400 at Daytona. Speedy Thompson was 14th in the Southern 500 that year, while Curtis Turner drove a Chevrolet to fourth at Atlanta in his only start.

Roberts returned to the No. 22 for good in 1960, winning six poles, a Daytona qualifying race and at Atlanta in nine races. He won five more poles the next season and another qualifying race at Daytona, finishing fifth in the final standings.

Finally in 1962, Roberts won the prize that had eluded him -- the Daytona 500. In fact, he swept all three races at Daytona that season and added eight more poles to his resume.

Roberts added a Southern 500 victory in 1963, one of four wins in 20 starts, good for fifth in the points.

Roberts was off to another good start in 1964, winning the season-opener at Augusta and posting six top-10s in nine starts when he was severely burned at Charlotte and died from his injuries.

The numeral was unused until 1966, when Bunkie Blackburn finished 36th in the Daytona 500 and Bobby Allison was 43rd at Charlotte.

In 1968, Darel Dieringer won a pole and was second at Darlington in 18 races in a Plymouth. He returned the next season to run one race in the No. 22, finishing 25th at Macon.

Allison began the first of two full-time stints in the No. 22 that season, winning at Bristol, North Wilkesboro, Richmond and Macon in 23 starts, earning him a top-20 finish in the points.

Allison was even better in 1970, finishing second to Bobby Isaac in the final standings and winning three races in his Dodge. He moved to the No. 12 for 1971 and Dick Brooks took over the No. 22 for 16 races, including a seventh in the 1971 Daytona 500 and second at Darlington.

	Ward Burton had success driving the No. 22. Credit: Autostock

Brooks returned in 1973 to win at Talladega in his Plymouth, the only start he made in the No. 22 that season. Also that year, Jimmy Crawford made the first of eight starts over a two-year period in the numeral.

John Harkins drove the No. 22 in 1975 and John Hamson in 1976, for one race each. Later that year, a young Ricky Rudd finished 10th in the Firecracker 400, his best effort in four starts.

In 1977, Rudd returned for 25 more races, including a fourth at Talladega and left him 17th in the final standings. Rudd would make 13 more starts in 1978 before moving to the No. 90

Darrell Waltrip drove the No. 88 for the entire 1979 season, with one exception: a seventh-place finish at Pocono in the No. 22. Kevin Housby, Al Rudd Jr. and Richard White also drove that year.

Ricky Rudd ran three races in the No. 22 in 1980, with a fourth at Charlotte, earning him a shot at the No. 88 for 1981.

Stan Barrett (1981) and Marty Robbins (1982) had limited appearances before Allison returned for his second go-round, starting 1983.

Allison immediately found success in the No. 22, winning six races on his way to the NASCAR championship. He was unstoppable at Darlington, Richmond and Dover, winning those races consecutively.

He won twice in 1984 -- Rockingham and Charlotte -- and had 19 top-10s but slipped to sixth in the standings. After a winless 1985, Allison won at Talladega in 1986 and Daytona in 1987, returning to the top-10 in the standings.

Starting in 1988, a series of drivers got behind the wheel for limited efforts: Lennie Pond, Steve Moore, Rob Moroso, Rodney Combs, Grant Adcox, Rick Ware and Rick Mast.

Then in 1991, Sterling Marlin started a two-year run in the No. 22. He didn't win a race, but had 13 top-fives and 29 top-10s in 58 starts, earning him a shot at the No. 8 for 1993.

Bobby Labonte then took over the No. 22 for the next two seasons, posting eight top-10 finishes.

Randy Lajoie started the 1995 season in the No. 22 but failed to crack the top-10. Wally Dallenbach Jr. and Jimmy Hensley followed before Ward Burton came over from the No. 31 for the final nine races of the season.

Burton won at Rockingham and had four top-10s, earning him a full-time ride for the next eight years.

Burton steadily moved up the standings over the next few years, finishing 16th in 1998 and ninth the season after that, thanks to 16 top-10s. He returned to Victory Lane in 2000 at Darlington, then won the Southern 500 the next season.

The pinnacle of his success in the No. 22 came with a victory in the 2002 Daytona 500. He added a win at Loudon as well.

But with only four top-10s in 32 starts in 2003, Burton moved to the No. 0 for the final four races of the year, with Scott Wimmer taking over. Wimmer's best finish was ninth at Richmond.