Car Number Histories: No. 20

ATLANTA -- When Tony Stewart was named the driver of the No. 20 beginning in 1999, he resuscitated a long-dormant numeral.

Until Stewart's win at Richmond, the No. 20 hadn't been to Victory Lane since Marvin Panch won the 1961 Daytona 500. Stewart and Bill Rexford remain the only drivers to win a championship using No. 20, although Rexford's is a bit of a stretch, since he only drove the No. 20 once during the 1950 season.

And Stewart and Clyde Lynn are the only drivers who have used the numeral full-time in consecutive seasons.

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Dick Linder, Don Rogalla and H.F. Stickleather all used the No. 20 in 1949, with Rogalla finishing 10th at Pittsburgh.

Rexford, who used six different numerals under one owner on his way to the title in 1950, was 13th at Charlotte.

In 1951, Joe Merola finished 45th in the Southern 500, and Dick Rathmann -- who usually drove the No. 120 -- was 35th in the Labor Day classic at Darlington the following year.

The history books are unclear on the 1954 Southern 500, showing both Van Van Wey's Ford and John McGinley's Hudson sporting the No. 20. Neither cracked the top 20.

Banks Simpson drove six races in a Buick in 1955, including an 11th-place finish in the Southern 500.

Jimmy Thompson was 17th in the 1957 Southern 500.

In 1959, Tiny Lund drove four races in a No. 20 Ford, finishing 11th at Concord. The next year, he used the numeral once, winding up ninth at Charlotte.

Three other drivers used the No. 20 in 1960. G.C. Spencer was 22nd in the 1960 Southern 500, Spook Crawford's best effort in three races was eighth at Pittsburgh and Bunkie Blackburn was 12th at Myrtle Beach.

Panch drove the No. 20 five times in 1961. In addition to his Daytona 500 victory, he was fourth in the Firecracker 250. He used the numeral once more the next season, finishing 17th at Richmond.

	Tony Stewart drove the No. 20 to a NASCAR championship in 2002. Credit: Autostock

Emanuel Zervakis drove 14 races over a two-year span, with a best of sixth at Richmond in 1962. Jack Anderson started a three-year stint in the No. 20 the following year, running three races in 1963 and 20 more in 1964, including a sixth-place finish at Concord. He used the numeral again at Daytona in 1965, finishing 31st.

Jim Cook also drove the No. 20 in 1964, finishing 45th in the Daytona 500.

In 1965, Lynn began his association with the numeral, posting nine top-10s in 24 starts. The next season, Lynn moved up to 20th in the final standings, thanks to a best finish of second at Monroe in 40 efforts. However, Blackburn used the No. 20 at Daytona that season, finishing 27th.

By 1967, Lynn had improved to 13th overall, with five top-fives and 22 top-10s, running 44 races.

Lynn switched from Fords to Mercurys in 1968 and was one of only four drivers to compete in all 49 races, finishing fourth in the points behind champion David Pearson. He had only two top-fives, but 25 top-10s that season.

Lynn cut back his schedule over the next three seasons, running only five races over that span. He was seventh at Martinsville in 1969, eighth at North Wilkesboro in 1970 and 11th at Richmond in 1971.

In 1973, Rick Newsom began a 13-year run in the No. 20, but only on a limited basis. Over that time, he ran 73 races without a top-10 finish. His best was an 11th at Nashville that first season.

Other drivers who had one or two starts during that time frame included G.T. Tallas, Ron Esau, Richard White, Ed Hale, Cecil Gordon and Dave Mader III.

Rob Moroso had made three previous starts before switching to the No. 20 for the season-finale at Atlanta in 1989. He planned to run a full schedule in 1990 and made 25 starts, including a ninth at the Pepsi 400 at Daytona, when he was killed in a traffic accident on his way home from North Wilkesboro that September.

Jimmy Hensley, Chad Little and Steve Grissom finished out the year.

For most of the rest of the '90s, the numeral was used sparingly. Sammy Swindell, Bobby Hillin Jr., Kim Campbell, Buddy Baker, Ricky Craven, Mike Wallace, Joe Ruttman, Dirk Stephens, Bobby Hamilton, Gary Collins, Randy LaJoie, Elton Sawyer, Lance Hooper and Greg Sacks all had time behind the wheel.

Hillin made 10 starts, the most of that group, while Ruttman posted the only top-10 finish, a fifth at Talladega in 1993.

Then Stewart came over from open-wheel and won three races in 1999, his rookie season. He finished first at Richmond, Phoenix and Homestead, which combined with 21 top-10s, left him fourth in the final standings.

He won six times the next season, including sweeping both events at Dover, but dropped to sixth in the points.

Stewart was runner-up to champion Jeff Gordon in 2001, winning at Richmond, Sonoma and Bristol and finishing in the top 10 22 times.

In 2002, Stewart won the championship with victories at Atlanta, Richmond and Watkins Glen, coupled with 15 top-fives and 21 top-10s.

Stewart won at Pocono and Charlotte in 2003, but slipped to seventh in the points.