Car Number Histories: No. 19

ATLANTA -- The No. 19 has always been fast, it just hasn't been first very often.

Colorado native John Rostek remains the only one of 61 drivers to have won a race in the No. 19, although Jeremy Mayfield has come close three times in the last two years.

	Credit: Autostock

Al Bonnell put a No. 19 Oldsmobile on the pole at Pittsburgh in 1949. Otis Martin was eighth at Hillsboro in his two attempts, while Clyde Minter finished fourth twice.

Minter would drive Mercurys with that numeral until 1955, with a best of third in 1950.

Jack Smith was 29th in the 1950 Southern 500, while Lee Connell was 80th in an 82-car field in the 1951 Labor Day classic at Darlington.

Gordon Smith drove in 15 races in 1955, including a sixth at Winston-Salem. Billy Carden's Ford was 28th in the 1956 Southern 500.

Herman Beam then acquired the numeral in 1957 and either drove or owned the No. 19 for the better part of a decade.

In 1958, Beam ran 20 races, with a best of tenth at Weaverville. The following year, Beam was fourth in the final standings, with 12 top-10s in 30 events.

Beam dropped to 12th in the points in 1960, with a fourth at Hillsboro in 26 races. That same season, Rostek ran three West Coast events, winning on the old mile dirt oval at the Arizona Fairgrounds and running third at Hanford.

Beam was fourth at Spartanburg in 1961, then won the pole at Richmond in 1962.

The next season, Beam ran 25 races, including the Daytona 500, then put a young Cale Yarborough in the car for 14 more. Yarborough was 17th in the Southern 500 and posted three top-five finishes.

Yarborough returned in 1964 to run 17 races, including a fifth at Savannah. When he left to run the No. 00, Tiny Lund and Larry Thomas completed the season.

Thomas was seventh in the Southern 500 and second at Hickory in 10 starts. But he was killed in an automobile accident in January of 1965.

J.T. Putney drove for Beam in 1965, finishing second at Valdosta and seventh in the final standings.

The next year, Putney was runner-up at Asheville, his best finish in 36 starts, and wound up eighth in the points. He would run seven more races in 1967.

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E.J. Trivette drove six races in 1967, including an eighth at Richmond. Henley Gray used the No. 19 for the final two races of that season, finishing 12th at Charlotte.

Bill Seifert, who normally piloted the No. 45, finished 14th in the 1968 Daytona 500. Then Gray moved back into the driver's seat and ran the numeral full-time for the next six years.

Gray had six top-10s in 1968, finished 17th in the points in 1969, picked up a seventh at Bristol in 1970 and was a career-best 14th in the final standings in 1971.

In 1972, Gray was seventh at Nashville. The next season, his best effort was a ninth at Richmond. He matched that at Dover in 1974.

By 1975, Gray had cut back to a seven-race schedule, but still posted a ninth at Dover. He ran 26 more races over the next two seasons without a top-10.

Jabe Thomas and Bob Burcham shared the ride with Gray in 1975, while Ed Negre, Cecil Gordon, Tommy Gale, Bill Dennis, Frank Warren and Dick May were added to the roster in 1976.

In 1977, a young Dale Earnhardt wound up 38th at Charlotte in the No. 19. Others who grabbed the wheel that season included Dave Marcis and Bobby Wawak.

Woody Fisher, Joe Booher and Joey Arrington were three of the eight drivers in 1978, with May making 18 starts. From that point until Derrike Cope's 10 starts in 1987, no driver made more than a handful of appearances in the numeral.

Here's a rundown of those drivers during that span: Joe Fields, Billy Hagan, Steve Spencer, Lennie Pond, Glenn Jarrett, Vince Giamformaggio, J.D. McDuffie, John Utsman, John Anderson, James Hylton, Ronnie Sanders, Dennis Devea, Benny Parsons, Charlie Baker, Bobby Gerhart and Mike Skinner.

In 1988, Chad Little took over the No. 19 for four races, then after Sanders and Bill Ingram shared the ride in 1989, ran the numeral full-time in 1990 and 1991. Little's best finish was a tenth at Charlotte in 1991.

Loy Allen Jr. made a huge splash when he took the wheel in 1994, winning three poles, including the Daytona 500. But he failed to break into the top 10 in 19 starts.

Allen made 18 more starts over the next three seasons, with a best of tenth at Talladega in 1995. Ernie Cope and Phil Parsons also drove the No. 19 that year.

After Allen was injured in a crash at Rockingham in 1996, Dick Trickle subbed for him and finished eighth at Bristol in eight races. Mike Wallace also drove the car once that season.

Gary Bradberry succeeded Allen in 1997, running eight races before switching to the No. 78.

Then Tom Hubert made three starts over a two-year period starting in 1998.

Casey Atwood finished up the 2000 season with three starts, including a tenth at Homestead. He then returned full-time in 2001, winning the pole at Phoenix and running third at Homestead.

With Atwood moving to the No. 7, Jeremy Mayfield came over from the No. 12. Mayfield had four top-10s in 2002, including a second at Las Vegas.

Mayfield began 2003 by winning a pole at Talladega, then finished with a flourish, with eight top-10 finishes in his final 12 races. He was runner-up at both Richmond and Dover and finished 19th in the final standings.