Car Number Histories: No. 12

ATLANTA -- The history of the Alabama Gang is interwoven with the history of the No. 12. No fewer than six of Alabama's finest have climbed behind the steering wheel of a car with No. 12 on the roof over the years.

Mobile's Woodie Wilson was the first, finishing 17th at the Daytona beach course in 1949. Ralph Zrimsek was 21st at Pittsburgh in a Studebaker.

Slick Smith, Erick Erickson and Danny Weinberg shared the numeral in 1951. Smith was 12th in the Southern 500, Erickson 24th at Martinsville and Weinberg sixth at Phoenix.

Jim Paschal took over the ride in 1952, running six races including a fourth at Wilson.

	With Ryan Newman behind the wheel, the No. 12 took the checkered flag eight times in 2003. Credit: Autostock

Paschal split driving duties with Buddy Shuman and Speedy Thompson in 1953. Paschal drove the first four races of the year and Shuman was 23rd at Charlotte. Thompson, who also piloted the No. 46, won at Macon and North Wilkesboro.

Thompson returned in 1954 to finish fourth at Columbia and 10th in the Southern 500. Joe Weatherly was seventh at Wilson in his only start, while Dick Rathmann and Ben Gregory both posted top-five finishes in West Coast events.

Jimmy Thompson was 29th in the 1955 Southern 500.

Ralph Moody acquired the numeral for 1956 and promptly won four times -- LeHi, Spartanburg, Charlotte and Old Bridge -- 35 starts. In addition, he had five poles and finished eighth in the points.

Moody drove in eight more races the next season, posting five top-fives, including a win at Wilson. Paul Goldsmith won a Richmond while Marvin Porter took the checkered flag first at San Jose. In all, six drivers used the numeral in 1957, including Weatherly, Bill Amick and George Seeger.

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Weatherly stayed with the No. 12 for three more seasons, winning a pole at Atlanta in 1958 and finishing second in the 1959 Firecracker 250. Porter had four top-10s, including a third at Los Angeles.

Weatherly won at Hickory, Wilson and Darlington in 1960 in 17 starts before moving to the No. 8 for the next season.

Tiny Lund ran the No. 12 at Atlanta in 1962, finishing 19th, while Bob Welborn was 12th at Atlanta in two starts.

Fred Harb then drove the numeral for two seasons, starting in 1963. In 10 races, his best finish was a second at Winston-Salem in 1963.

Dan Gurney was 14th in the 1964 Daytona 500.

Then Bobby Allison drove the No. 12 for the first time in 1965, finishing seventh at Atlanta and 11th in the Daytona 500.

In 1966, LeeRoy Yarbrough won at Charlotte and collected two poles in nine races, then returned in 1967 for a Daytona 500 qualifying race victory in five more starts.

That same season, Donnie Allison made eight starts in the No. 12, running fourth at Atlanta and seventh in the Southern 500.

Earl Balmer, Jim Hurtubise and Tom Pistone combined for nine starts in the numeral in 1968, with Pistone running third at Augusta.

Switching back to the No. 12 from the No. 22, Bobby Allison was almost unstoppable for the second half of the 1971 season, winning five straight races at one point (World 600, Dover, Michigan, Riverside and Houston) and 10 total. He finished with 25 top-fives and nine poles, good enough for fourth in the final standings.

	Bobby Allison had a number of wins in the No. 12

Allison was even better in 1972, winning 10 more races, including the Southern 500, and 11 more poles. He had 25 top-five finishes in 31 starts and finished second behind champ Richard Petty in the points.

Allison won at Riverside and North Wilkesboro in 1973, plus added six poles, on his way to seventh in the final standings. Wins at Richmond and Ontario in 1974 pushed him back up to fourth in the points -- and he moved to the No. 16 for 1975.

Ted Fritz, Ed Negre and another Alabaman, Neil Bonnett, drove the No. 12 in 1975. Bonnett then returned for 13 more starts in 1976, including a fifth-place finish in the Daytona 500.

Bonnett moved to the No. 71 for 1977, while Bobby Allison replaced him in the No. 12. In 30 starts, Allison had 15 top-10s, including a second at Nashville, and wound up eighth in the standings.

The No. 12 was used in limited action for a stretch by James Hylton, Harry Gant, Richard White, Lennie Pond, Butch Lindley, Jack Ingram and Buck Simmons.

Then Donnie Allison switched from the No. 1 early in the 1980 season and ran 13 races, including a third at Michigan. The next year, Donnie was 12th in the Daytona 500 and took a ride with the No. 77 team three races into the season.

David Pearson, Tim Richmond, Buddy Baker, Tommy Ellis and Rodney Combs split driving duties over the course of the next three seasons, when Bonnett returned from the No. 75.

Bonnett went right out and ran fourth in the Daytona 500, posted 14 top-10s and won a pole at Pocono on his way to eighth in the final standings. He improved to fourth the next season with wins at Rockingham and North Wilkesboro.

Bonnett ran 28 races in 1986 with 12 top-10s, including a victory at Rockingham. In addition, Davey Allison finished seventh at Talladega before taking the No. 28 ride.

David Sosebee, Mark Martin, Jim Bown, Jeff Swindell, Brad Teague, Larry Caudill, Slick Johnson, Larry Polland and Trevor Boys added their names to the roll before Bobby Allison returned for a fourth term in 1988.

Allison won the 1988 Daytona 500, edging son Davey for his 85th career victory. But 13 races into the season, a vicious crash at Pocono left him with critical injuries and put an end to his career.

Mike Alexander finished out the rest of that season and ran the first seven races of 1990 before being replaced by Jeff Purvis and Hut Stricklin, yet another Alabama driver, who came over from the No. 57.

Stricklin's best finish was a sixth at Pocono in 1990, as he wound up 28th in the points. He improved to 16th the next season with seven top-10s in 29 races, including a second at Michigan.

Stricklin had four more top-10s in 21 races in 1992 before switching to the No. 90. Purvis and Jimmy Spencer finished out the season.

Spencer then drove the No. 12 to 12th in the points in 1993, with 10 top-10s, and moved to the No. 27 for 1994.

Chuck Bown, Tim Steele and Derrike Cope shared driving duties in 1994, with Cope going full-time in the No. 12 for the following two seasons. He was second at Phoenix in 1995, one of 13 top-10s over his three-year stint.

Purvis drove three more races in 1997, and then Jeremy Mayfield began a four-year hitch in the No. 12 starting in 1998.

Mayfield won at Pocono and posted 12 top-fives in 1998, finishing seventh in the final standings. He recorded 12 top-10s in 1999, dropping to 12th in the points.

In 2000, Mayfield won at Fontana and Pocono, earned four poles and finished 12 times in the top 10. But he missed two races, one of which was driven by Tom Hubert, which left him 24th overall.

Mayfield had seven top-10s in 28 starts in 2001 when he was replaced by Mike Wallace for the final eight races of the season. Wallace finished second at Phoenix.

Then in 2002, Ryan Newman moved from the No. 02 to the No. 12, and tallied six poles and a win at Loudon, placing him sixth in the final standings.

Newman won eight races and 11 poles in 2003, the most in the No. 12 since Bobby Allison's heyday. But seven finishes of 37th or worse left him in the same spot in the points -- sixth.