Car No. Histories: No. 14

ATLANTA -- The No. 14 has been like a member of the family to several drivers, especially to the Flocks, the Marlins, the Labontes and the Foyts.

Bob Flock used the No. 14 in 1949, driving a Ford to 22nd on the Daytona beach course. Brother Fonty used the numeral from 1951-1955, with a bit more success.

	Credit: Autostock

Fonty Flock won eight times and captured 13 poles in 34 races in 1951, finishing second to champion Herb Thomas. The next season, he drove a No. 14 Oldsmobile to a win in the Southern 500, celebrated a victory at Hillsboro and won seven more poles in 29 races, dropping to fourth overall.

In 1953, Flock won four times and nearly picked up back-to-back Southern 500 victories, finishing second. With three more poles, he was fifth in the final standings.

Flock drove in only five races in 1954, three of those in the No. 14. His best finish was second at Jacksonville. He returned full-time in 1955, winning three times in 31 starts and adding six more poles to his resume to finish 11th in the points.

Flock wasn't the only driver to have early success in the No. 14. Hershel McGriff won four races in 1954 -- Bay Meadows, Macon, Charlotte and North Wilkesboro -- to finish sixth in the final standings.

Billy Myers won 14 races in 1956 and posted 22 top-10s in 27 starts, good enough for sixth overall. George Dunn won a pole at Winston-Salem in 1958 and was second at Columbia later that season. Ken Rush won a pole at Wilson and was second at Winston-Salem in 1959.

Other drivers who strapped themselves in the No. 14 in the early years included Dick Zimmerman, Ted Chamberlain, Roy Hall, Lloyd Moore, Tex Keene, Curtis Turner, Buddy Shuman, Banjo Matthews, Slick Smith, Buck Baker, Bob Keefe, Scotty Cain, Carl Burris and Paul Parks.

In 1961, Jim Paschal began a long association with the numeral, winning at Spartanburg and finishing in the top 10 eight times in nine starts. Johnny Allen finished seventh in the 1961 Daytona 500.

Charley Griffith used the No. 14 at Daytona in 1962, finishing 38th. Darel Dieringer was fourth at Randleman and Troy Ruttman third at Riverside in 1963.

Dieringer ran twice in 1964, while Jim McElreath was 25th in the 1964 Daytona 500. Allen and Turner shared the numeral in 1965, with Allen running 23rd at Daytona and Turner 35th at Darlington.

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In 1966, Paschal returned to the No. 14 and won at North Wilkesboro and Martinsville, finishing 14th in the final standings. He climbed to sixth in the points the next season, capped by a win in the 1967 Southern 500, one of four wins that year.

Paschal ran the numeral in 1968, finishing 20th at Macon. Turner had four top-10s in five races, including a sixth at the Southern 500 that season. Bobby Allison also had success, winning two poles and finishing in the top 10 four times in five starts.

In 1969, four drivers shared the No. 14 -- Richard Brickhouse, Bobby Allison, Ramo Stott and LeeRoy Yarbrough. Allison won at Montgomery, while Stott was third at Talladega.

Brickhouse used the numeral again in 1970 at Daytona, finishing sixth in the 500. Paschal made six more starts in the No. 14 in 1971, running third at Winston-Salem and Columbia.

Starting in 1972, Coo Coo Marlin began fielding cars with the No. 14 on the side. In 20 races that season, his best was a third at College Station.

He matched that with a third at Nashville in 21 starts in 1973, then was fourth in the 1974 Daytona 500.

Marlin had 11 top-10s in 1975, including a third at Nashville, winding up 20th in the points. He went on to drive the No. 14 through the 1980 season, highlighted by another fourth in the 1977 Daytona 500.

Son Sterling Marlin made his debut in 1976, finishing 29th at Nashville. He would drive the No. 14 six times over the next five seasons, finishing eighth in the 1980 Daytona 500.

Charlie Glotzbach, Dick Kranzler and Jimmy Means also saw limited seat time in the numeral during that span.

In 1983, A.J. Foyt acquired the numeral to match his Indy car efforts. Unlike his 67 career wins on that circuit and seven national titles, Foyt never won a NASCAR race in 42 attempts while driving the No. 14. His best effort was a fifth at Talladega in 1985.

Harry Goularte, Tracy Leslie and Mike Chase also used the numeral in that era.

In 1991, Bobby Labonte made his debut in the No. 14, finishing 34th at Dover. Older brother Terry ran the entire 1993 season in the No. 14, posting 10 top-10 finishes, including a sixth at North Wilkesboro, to finish 18th in the points.

John Andretti drove in 18 races the next season while Randy McDonald used the No. 14 once. Ricky Craven, Jeff Krogh, Jeff Green, Robby Gordon, Steve Park, Randy Lajoie, Boris Said, Dick Trickle, Mike Bliss and Rick Mast all climbed behind the wheel of the No. 14, with Mast finishing eighth at Pocono in 2000.

In 2001, Ron Hornaday ran 32 races in the numeral, with a best of ninth at Las Vegas. The next season, Stacy Compton, P.J. Jones and Mike Wallace shared the No. 14, with Jones posting a fourth at Watkins Glen.

Larry Foyt continued the family tradition in 2003, running the No. 14 a total of 17 times, with a best of 16th at the season finale at Homestead.