Car Number Histories: No. 11

ATLANTA -- Perhaps recent results haven't been that impressive, but the No. 11's history is equal to any other number in NASCAR.

Drivers have piloted cars bearing that numeral to eight NASCAR championships -- and eight different champions have sat behind the steering wheel of the No. 11 at some point in their careers.

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Skimp Hersey, Bob Apperson, Jim Delaney and Bob Appleton shared the ride in 1949, with Apperson's 11th at North Wilkesboro the highest finish of the five combined races.

Apperson returned in 1950 at Langhorne, running 11th. That same season, Fireball Roberts drove four races in the No. 11, with a best of second at Hamburg. He would finish second in the final standings.

Roberts drove the No. 11 eight times in 1951, with a second at Columbia. Out west, Erick Erickson and Fred Bince shared the numeral, with Erickson running second at Phoenix and Bince fourth at Gardena.

In 1952, Roberts won the pole at Darlington in six races, then returned for two more starts in 1953, including a 45th in the Southern 500. He would run the No. 11 twice in 1957, with a best of third at LeHi.

George Parrish began a two-year stint in the numeral starting in 1954. Over 14 races, his best finish was a third in Charlotte. John Kieper made two West Coast starts in 1955, finishing second at San Mateo.

In 1956, two NASCAR champions took the wheel: Joe Weatherly and Tim Flock. Weatherly won the pole at Phoenix and finished seventh in his only race of the season, while Flock, normally in the No. 300, had four top-10s in five starts. Other drivers that season included Emanuel Zervakis, Parnelli Jones and Curley Barker.

Jones won at Bremerton and a pole at Eureka in 10 starts when NASCAR made its Western swing in 1957. Zervakis returned to finish 16th at Wilson while Jimmy Massey was second in a Wood Brothers-owned No. 11 at Martinsville.

In 1958, Junior Johnson made his first appearance in the numeral, beginning a long and prosperous association with the No. 11. He won six races that season and posted 16 top-10 finishes to wind up eighth in the points.

The next season, Johnson won five more races and had 15 top-10s, but dropped to 11th in the final standings. Ned Jarrett, who usually drove the No. 38, tried out the No. 11 five times, with wins at Myrtle Beach and Charlotte. And Bob Keefe finished five at Los Angeles in his lone start of 1959.

Johnson won the pole at Columbia, then moved to the No. 27 for the rest of 1960. Jarrett took over the No. 11 for the next seven years, winning five races and five poles in 1960. He was sixth at Daytona and fifth at Darlington.

In 1961, Jarrett won just once -- at Birmingham -- but his 34 top-10 finishes in 46 starts earned him the NASCAR championship. The next season, Jarrett won six races and four poles -- and had 35 top-10s -- but dropped to third overall.

Eight wins and four poles in 1963 left Jarrett fourth in the points, but he jumped up to second in 1964, thanks to 15 wins, nine poles and 45 top-10s in 59 races.

Jarrett won his second championship in 1965, collecting 13 victories including a win in the Southern 500. He added nine poles and 45 top- 10s in 54 races.

Jarrett ran only 21 races in 1966, including eight top-10s, and retired as an active driver at the end of the season.

Mario Andretti won the 1967 Daytona 500 in the No. 11, while Bobby Allison won the last two races of the year -- at Rockingham and Weaverville. J.T. Putney and Norm Nelson also saw time in the numeral that season.

Andretti and Allison split time in the No. 11 in 1968, with Allison winning at Macon and Andretti running three races at Daytona, including a 12th in the Firecracker 400.

A.J. Foyt switched to the No. 11 in 1969 and ran five races over two seasons, including a victory at Riverside in 1970.

Buddy Baker then drove a Petty Enterprises Dodge No. 11 for 19 races in 1971, including winning at Darlington and finishing second in the Daytona 500. Dave Marcis made one start in the numeral that season, winding up fifth at Winston-Salem.

Baker returned in 1972 for 10 more races, with a win at Charlotte.

Then Cale Yarborough drove the No. 11 for the rest of decade, piling up three NASCAR championships and three second-place finishes over eight seasons.

In 1973, Yarborough won four races, including the Southern 500, and five poles to finish second in the points. He matched that effort again in 1974, winning 10 races and defending his Southern 500 title, along with three poles.

Yarborough swept both Rockingham races in 1975, but slipped to ninth in the standings. However, starting in 1976, he began a string of three consecutive championships.

He won nine races in both 1976 and 1977, then made it 10 victories in 1978. In 90 starts over that span, Yarborough had 70 top-five finishes, won the 1977 Daytona 500 and 1978 Southern 500.

With four wins in 1979, Yarborough slipped to fourth overall, but bounced back to second in 1980, thanks to six wins and 14 poles in 31 starts. He then moved to the No. 27 for 1981 and was replaced by Darrell Waltrip, who would pilot the No. 11 for six consecutive seasons.

Waltrip picked up right where Yarborough left off. Waltrip won four straight races in 1981 and 12 overall for his first championship.

He made it back-to-back titles in 1982 with 12 more wins, including victories in both Talladega events, and 20 top-10s.

Waltrip finished second in 1983 and fifth in 1984, despite 13 wins over those two seasons, but earned his third championship the next season when he won the Coca-Cola 600 and two other races.

Wins at Riverside, Bristol and North Wilkesboro in 1986 left Waltrip second in the final standings -- and he moved to the No. 17.

Terry Labonte took over in 1987 and kept the No. 11 in the top 10 in each of his three seasons at the wheel. Labonte was third in 1987, with a victory at North Wilkesboro.

He won there again in 1988 and parlayed 18 top-10s into a fourth-place finish in the final standings. Labonte won twice in 1989 -- at Pocono and Talladega -- winding up 10th overall.

With Labonte moving to the No. 1, Geoffrey Bodine came over from the No. 5 for his first of two stints. Bodine won twice at Martinsville and once at Pocono in 1990, which combined with 19 top-10s, left him third overall.

Bodine won at Charlotte in 1991, then switched to the No. 15 as Bill Elliott took over for 1992.

Elliott won five races in his first season in the No. 11, including consecutive victories at Rockingham, Richmond, Atlanta and Darlington. A total of 17 top-10s, 14 of those in the top five, earned him runner-up honors to Alan Kulwicki.

Elliott failed to win a race in 1993, with a best of second at Richmond. But he had 15 top-10s and wound up 10th in the points. He bounced back to win the 1994 Southern 500, then moved to the No. 94.

Brett Bodine switched from the No. 26 to start the 1995 season and began a nine-year stint in the No. 11, running a total of 259 races during that span.

His best finish that year was a ninth at North Wilkesboro. Bodine than followed that up with a ninth-place finish in the 1996 Pepsi 400 at Daytona, then posted a sixth at Sonoma in 1997.

Bodine failed to crack the top-10 over the next three seasons, but had two top-10s in 2001, including an eighth at Loudon in the season finale.

Bodine made 32 starts without a top-10 in 2002, then ran five races early in the 2003 season with a best of 24th at Bristol. Brother Geoffrey returned to the No. 11 for one start at Michigan, where he finished 39th.