Car No. Histories: No. 2

ATLANTA -- He'll forever be associated with the No. 3, but Dale Earnhardt is the only driver to win a championship while using the No. 2 for a full season.

Earnhardt won his first championship in 1980, in his second season of running cars bearing No. 2.

However, three other drivers used the No. 2 on their way to the title. Herb Thomas won at Pittsburg in 1951, his only start in the numeral. Tim Flock was third at Plattsburg in 1955 in his lone appearance. Joe Weatherly won the 1963 championship, but used No. 2 in only 10 races.

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Four drivers shared the No. 2 in 1949. Sam Rice was second at Pittsburgh, Bill Blair was fifth at Martinsville, Frank Mundy was 22nd at North Wilkesboro and Jimmie Lewallen was 25th at Hillsboro.

Blair would return to run the numeral until 1954. He won at Vernon in 1950, won at Atlanta and captured a pole at Hillsboro in 1952, won on the beach course in Daytona in 1953 and posted 10 top-10 finishes in 19 starts in 1954.

In 1951, Blair was joined by Thomas, George Seeger, Danny Weinberg, Jack Smith and Bobby Myers. Thomas won at Pittsburgh, Weinberg won at Hanford, Seeger ran the No. 2jr car three times, Smith was 29th at Daytona in the No. 2-B and Myers was 25th at Detroit.

The next season, Lewallen was fourth in the 1952 Southern 500 and Dick Rathmann was 14th at Atlanta.

Gwyn Staley and John Soares shared the numeral with Flock in 1955. Staley won a pole at Martinsville and collected 14 top-10s in 22 starts. Soares was 20th at Phoenix.

Staley returned for 20 more starts in 1956, finishing in the top 10 on 13 occasions. Allen Adkins was fifth at Lancaster and Jimmie Massey fourth at Atlanta.

Billy Carden and Frankie Schneider split driving duties in the No. 2 in 1957. Carden was sixth in the Southern 500 while Schneider wound up fourth at Watkins Glen.

Seven different drivers used the numeral in 1958. Weatherly was eighth at Weaverville, Lee Petty finished third at Atlanta and Jimmy Thompson was fourth at Nashville.

Possum Jones won the pole at Columbia in the No. 2B, while Bobby Lee finished 12th in the No. 2. In addition, Ron Hornaday was 22nd at Sacramento and Bob Welborn wound up eighth at Martinsville.

Thompson finished 20th in the inaugural Daytona 500 in 1959, while Lewallen was 21st in the season-opener at Fayetteville. Hornaday returned to the No. 2 for one race, running 23rd at Los Angeles. Joe Caspolich was 13th in the 1959 Southern 500.

In 1960, Jones returned for 12 races, including three second-place finishes. Speedy Thompson was fifth at Charlotte while Hornaday ran fourth at Sacramento in three starts. David Hirschfield was 63rd in the Southern 500.

Tommy Irwin took over the No. 2 in 1961, running 23 races. He had eight top-10s, including a pair of seconds. Hornaday was fifth at Los Angeles in four attempts.

	Credit: Autostock

Jim Paschal ran 29 races in cars bearing the numeral in 1962, including a victory at Richmond. He had 17 top-10s and finished sixth in the final standings. Tom Cox also drove the No.2 six times, including a fifth at Nashville.

Weatherly returned in his championship season of 1963, with a best of second at Randleman. Welborn was 35th in the Labor Day classic at Darlington, while Buddy Baker was 10th at Weaverville. Paschal finished 16th at Randleman while Fred Harb ran four races, including a fourth at Greenville.

Harb would drive the No. 2 in seven more races over the next two years, with a best of fifth, at Winston-Salem in 1964 and Greenville in 1965.

G.C. Spencer was 33th in the 1964 Daytona 500 while Ken Rush ran fourth at Spartanburg, one of his eight starts that season.

Jim Bray was 32nd in the 1965 Daytona 500 while Bobby Allison piloted the No. 2 to a 29th at Riverside.

Allison ran 21 races in 1966, winning three races and four poles. He visited Victory Lane at Oxford, Beltsville and Islip. He won three more times in 1967 in 27 starts, finishing fourth in the points.

Don White, Paul Lewis and Donnie Allison also shared the numeral, with Donnie Allison running second at Asheville in seven starts.

Bobby Allison won at Islip in 1968, one of his 12 top-10 starts. Lewis was fifth at Montgomery and Earl Brooks finished 10th at Bristol.

Allison ran two more races in the No. in 1969, finishing sixth at Macon, before moving to the No. 22.

In 1970, Charlie Glotzbach was 15th at Kingsport in his only race in the No. 2.

Dave Marcis acquired the No. 2 beginning in 1971 and used the numeral through 1978. He won a pair of poles in 1971 -- at Richmond and Hickory -- and posted a best finish of second at Malta in 29 starts.

In 1972, Marcis was third at Bristol and Martinsville in 27 races. He had six top-10s in 23 starts in 1973, including a fourth at Bristol.

He matched that finish that Darlington and Martinsville in 1974, two of his 18 top-10s, as he finished sixth in the points.

For 1975, Marcis moved to the No. 71 -- and Richard White, Ed Negre, Dick May and John Martin combined for six starts.

Bobby Allison returned for a second stint in the No. 2 in 1976, finishing fourth in the final standings. He won two poles and had a pair of second-place finishes at Riverside and Richmond, two of his 15 top-fives that season.

Marcis returned for two more seasons, running fourth four times in 1977 and a second at Atlanta in 1978. He finished fifth overall that season, posting 24 top-10s in 30 starts.

In 1979, Earnhardt began a three-year association with the numeral. He made 27 starts that season and won Rookie of the Year honors despite missing four races in the middle of the season after a crash at Pocono. Earnhardt won at Bristol and added four poles.

David Pearson filled in for four races, winning the Southern 500 and two poles.

Earnhardt earned his first championship in 1980, winning at Atlanta, Bristol, Nashville, Martinsville and Charlotte. He had 19 top-five finishes and 24 in the top 10.

He started off the 1981 season in the No. 2, switching to the No. 3 for the final nine races of the year. In the No. 2, Earnhardt had 11 top-10s in 20 starts, including seconds at College Station and Riverside.

Joe Ruttman used No. 2 at the end of 1981, with a second at Riverside in 11 starts. He then was third in the 1982 Daytona 500 before turning the car over to Tim Richmond for the final 25 races.

Richmond won both events at Riverside and had 12 top-10s.

Mark Martin and Morgan Shepherd shared driving duties in 1983, with Martin running third at Darlington in seven starts, while Shepherd was third at Bristol in 23 events.

Shepherd, Rodney Combs and Elliott Forbes-Robinson all drove the No. 2 in 1984 before Rusty Wallace began his first go-round with the numeral in 1985.

Wallace was fifth twice in 28 starts, finishing 19th in the final standings. When he went off to drive the No. 27 in 1986, Combs, Brett Bodine and Kirk Bryant saw limited action in the No. 2 for the next two seasons.

In 1988, Ernie Irvan began a two-year hitch in the No. 2. He had 25 starts without a top-10 in 1988, then collected four in 1989, including a sixth at Martinsville.

The following season, nine different drivers shared the wheel: Eddie Bierschwale, Rick Mast, Jim Bown, Troy Beebe, Jerry O'Neil, Glotzbach, D.K. Ulrich, Jim Sauter, Rick Jeffrey and Ted Musgrave.

Then in 1991, Wallace returned for good. He won at Bristol and Pocono in 1991 and at Richmond in 1992, then began a string of 10 consecutive seasons in the top-10 in points.

He was runner-up to Earnhardt in 1993 despite a career-high 10 victories, three poles and 21 top-10s. Wallace won eight more races in 1994, had 17 top-fives and 20 top-10s, good enough for third overall.

Wallace collected wins at Martinsville and Richmond in 1995, five victories in 1996, visited Victory Lane again in Richmond in 1997 and had four poles and a win at Phoenix in 1998. Wallace finished eighth in the standings in 1999, with a win at Bristol and 16 top-10s.

He then began a streak of finishing seventh in the points in three consecutive seasons, beginning in 2000. He won four races that season, including a sweep at Bristol, and added nine poles to his resume.

In 2001, Rusty won his 54th career race, at Fontana. He added eight top-fives and 14 top-10s. Wallace failed to win in 2002, ending his streak at 16 consecutive seasons with at least one victory. But he had seven top-fives and 17 top-10s.

Wallace's streak of top-10 finishes in the final standings came to an end in 2003, when he wound up 14th. His best finish was third at Fontana, one of his 12 top-10s.