Car Number Histories: No. 17

ATLANTA -- Maybe it's not surprising that Matt Kenseth won the 2003 championship in the No. 17, given that two other drivers won a total of four titles in that numeral previously.

Kenseth joined Joe Weatherly and David Pearson, while Darrell Waltrip came close several times to matching their performances.

	Matt Kenseth won the NASCAR championship in 2003 driving the No. 17 car. Credit: Autostock

Sara Christian finished 18th on the Daytona beach course in 1949 in her only appearance in the No. 17, while Jim Carrusso was 20th at Pittsburgh in two starts.

The next season, Jack White finished 24th in the Southern 500.

In 1951, Buddy Shuman drove six races and recorded six top-10s, including a third in the Southern 500. He finished sixth in the final standings as well.

Shuman returned in 1952 and drove the No. 17 for the first six races of the season, finishing fifth at West Palm Beach. Bill Widenhouse drove a Shuman-owned Ford to a 20th-place finish at Darlington later that year. June Cleveland's Plymouth was 45th in the 1952 Southern 500.

Widenhouse ran the No. 17 again in 1954, finishing 17th in the Labor Day classic at Darlington.

Russ Graham took over the numeral for the next two seasons, running a total of six races in Chevrolets. His best finish was a 15th at Martinsville in 1955.

Dick Allwine ran two races in 1956, finishing 11th at Langhorne.

Jim Paschal used the No. 17 for 35 races in 1957, posting 17 top-10s, including a second at Jacksonville. He ended up tenth in the points. Shorty York ran the numeral twice that year, at Charlotte and Darlington.

Also, Fred Harb began his long-time association with the No. 17 in 1957.

He ran three races that season, with a best of 11th at Greensboro.

Harb expanded his schedule the following season, running 25 times and earning seven top-10 finishes, including a third at Columbia. In 1959, Harb once again was third at Columbia in 17 starts, while Jim McGuirk used the No. 17 while finished 23rd in the 1959 Daytona 500.

Before switching to the No. 12 in 1963, Harb ran a total of 68 races over the next three seasons, breaking into the top five at South Boston, Richmond and Winston-Salem.

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Weatherly, who won NASCAR championships in 1962 and 1963 in his No. 8 primary ride, drove a Harb-owned car as well, finishing fourth at Spartanburg and Weaverville in his two 1962 starts, then fourth at Richmond in his lone 1963 appearance in the No. 17.

Weatherly would be killed in an accident at Riverside in January of 1964.

Ralph Earnhardt and Bob Welborn also split driving duties in 1963, with Earnhardt finishing 25th in the Southern 500 and Welborn third at Hickory in three starts.

In 1964, Dave MacDonald's Mercury finished 10th in the Daytona 500. He would die later that spring in a fiery first-lap accident in the Indianapolis 500.

Junior Spencer drove three races in 1964, then 21 more in 1965 with a total of seven top-10s, including a fifth at Birmingham.

Then Pearson moved over from the No. 6 starting in 1967 and immediately ran at the front for the next five seasons.

Pearson was seventh in the points that first season, winning poles at Darlington and Rockingham and finishing second in the 1967 Southern 500 in 12 starts.

He earned his second NASCAR championship in 1968, winning 16 races and 12 poles in 48 starts. He made it back-to-back titles the next season, adding 11 more wins and 14 more poles in 51 races.

In 1970, Pearson cut back to a partial schedule of selected races, a strategy he would employ for the rest of his career. He won at Darlington and captured two poles that season, then won two more poles, a Daytona 500 qualifying race and at Bristol in 1971.

Pearson moved on to the No. 21 in 1972, leaving the No. 17 for Bill Dennis, whose best effort was third at Richmond in four starts. Dennis ran four more races the next season, with a sixth at Richmond.

Darrell Waltrip began his first tour of duty in the No. 17 in 1975, winning at Nashville and capturing two pole positions in 17 starts before taking the No. 88 ride.

Roger Hamby ran 67 races over five seasons starting in 1977, with a pair of top-10 finishes. Bill Elliott drove the numeral five times in 1979, including a second-place effort in the Southern 500.

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Other drivers who had limited seat time in the numeral during that time included Gordon Johncock, Harry Goularte, Skip Manning, Steve Pfeifer, Don Whittington, Glenn Jarrett, Harry Gant, Steve Spencer, Mike Potter, Lowell Cowell, Tommy Houston and John Anderson.

Lake Speed finished the 1981 season in the No. 17, then ran 29 races in the numeral the next season, finishing 20th in the points. His best finish was a sixth in the 1982 Southern 500.

Sterling Marlin then ran his first full-time season in 1983, finishing 18th in the final standings with 30 starts and one top-10 finish.

Clark Dwyer ran 20 races the next season, including a 12th at Rockingham, before Speed returned for two starts near the end of the year.

Four drivers -- Bosco Lowe, Lennie Pond, Ken Ragan and Phil Parsons -- shared the ride in 1985, while Parsons, Doug Heveron, Pancho Carter, Jim Hull and Eddie Bierschwale split driving duties in 1986.

Then Waltrip returned to the No. 17 in 1987 and used the numeral until he sold his team six races into the 1998 season.

Waltrip posted 16 top-10 finishes in 1987, including a victory at Martinsville, on his way to a fourth-place finish in the points.

The next season, he wound up seventh in the final standings despite winning the Coca-Cola 600 and again at Martinsville, two of his 10 top-five finishes.

He rebounded in 1989 with a six-win season, including the Daytona 500 and Coca-Cola 600, leaving him fourth in the points.

Waltrip was injured while practicing for the Pepsi 400 in 1990 and missed six races. However, he still posted 12 top-10s that season despite not visiting Victory Lane. Jimmy Horton, Sarel van der Merwe and Greg Sacks subbed for Waltrip.

Waltrip returned to his winning ways in 1991, with victories at North Wilkesboro and Pocono. He won three times in 1992 -- at Pocono, Bristol and the Southern 500, which would be the last of his 84 career victories.

He slipped to 13th in the points in 1993, but bounced back to ninth the next season, thanks to 13 top-10s in 31 races.

However, Waltrip would only post 14 more top-10s over the next four seasons and failed to crack the top 10 in his final six starts in the No. 17. Ron Hornaday used the numeral once in 1998, finishing 14th at Sonoma.

Matt Kenseth came over from the No. 94 in 1999 and ran in five races, including a fourth at Dover. He ran the entire schedule the following season, winning the Coca-Cola 600 and finishing 14th in the final standings.

Kenseth was winless in 2001 but moved up to 13th in the points, then leaped to eighth in 2002, thanks to wins at Rockingham, Texas, Michigan, Richmond and Phoenix.

In 2003, he won just once -- at Las Vegas -- but had 25 top-10 finishes, 11 of those in the top five -- to build a commanding lead and hold on for his first NASCAR championship.