Car Number Histories: No. 42

ATLANTA -- Long before Dale's No. 3 or Richard's No. 43, there was Lee Petty and the No. 42.

In an 11-year period from 1949-1959, Petty's No. 42 never finished worse than fourth in the NASCAR points standings.

However, the No. 42 got off to a pretty rocky start in NASCAR's inaugural race. According to Tim Flock, Petty "borrowed" his wife's new Plymouth for the first Strictly Stock race at Charlotte, then ended up totalling it when he rolled it over during the race.

Things would get much better for Petty from that point forward. He won at Pittsburgh and had two seconds, earning him runner-up to Red Byron in the standings.

Petty finished third in 1950 to champion Bill Rexford and runner-up Fireball Roberts, winning at Hillsboro in a 17-race schedule.

He won once in 1951 on his way to a fourth-place finish, then got the No. 42 in Victory Lane eight times over the next two seasons, driving Plymouths, Chryslers and Dodges.

KNOW YOUR NASCAR  •  50 Greatest: Lee Petty  •  1954 Season Recap  •  1958 Season Recap  •  1959 Season Recap

Petty captured his first NASCAR championship in a Chrysler in 1954, winning seven races, including the Daytona beach course. He won six more races in 1955, but finished third in the standings.

With only two wins in 1956, Petty switched to Oldsmobile in 1957, and the move paid off with 11 wins over a two-year span and a second NASCAR championship in 1958

Then in 1959, Petty edged Johnny Beauchamp in a photo-finish to capture the first Daytona 500. His momentum carried throughout the season, as he won 11 times in 42 races, piling up his third NASCAR championship.

Petty, back in a Plymouth, won five more times in 1960 but dropped to sixth in the standings.

His winning ways appeared to be back in 1961, as he swept to victory at Jacksonville, the final tuneup before Daytona. But in the 500, Petty was seriously injured in a crash that sent his No. 42 over the wall.

He would return to racing, running six times in the Petty No. 41, but would never drive his No. 42 again. From that point on, Petty Enterprises only ran the number on occasion.

Richard and Maurice Petty shared driving duties for the rest of the 1961 season, both posting top-five finishes at two Hillsboro events.

Petty team driver Jim Paschal won three races in the No. 42 in 1962, while Bunkie Blackburn was 13th in the Daytona 500.

Paschal, Richard Petty, Indy-car veteran Jim Hurtubise and Bob Welbron all took turns behind the wheel in 1963, with Paschal winning at Nashville.

The next season, Maurice Petty, Bill McMahan and Buck Baker all drove the No. 42, although McMahan was in a Pontiac.

	Richard Petty made the No. 43 famous, but also took a few spins in the No. 42.

Paschal returned for one race in 1965, while Richard and Marvin Panch split seat time in 1966, and Tiny Lund and G.C. Spencer shared the ride in 1967.

Then the No. 42 went dormant until a country-western singer with a penchant for racing jumped into the cockpit in 1970.

Marty Robbins was a pretty fair racer for a part-timer. Driving a Dodge primarily at superspeedways, Robbins was 7th in the 1971 Southern 500, 8th in the 1972 Ontario 500 and posted a top-10 finish in the 1973 Firecracker 400.

Robbins would drive the No. 42 until 1979, with the exception of Elmo Langley's one start in 1977. Robbins would suffer a heart attack in 1981 and died shortly thereafter.

The No. 42 returned to Petty Enterprises in 1979, with Kyle Petty behind the wheel.

Over a four-year span, Petty posted 21 top-10s, including 12th in the points in 1981.

A variety of drivers -- Ronnie Thomas, Lennie Pond, Dick Trickle, Terry Schoonover and Tom Sneva -- has no success in the No. 42 before Kyle returned to the car in 1989.

From that point through 1996, Petty won six times and wound up fifth in the final point standings in 1992 and 1993.

He shared the car with Kenny Wallace, Tommy Kendall and Bobby Hillin Jr. in 1991, and with Jim Sauter in 1996.

By 1997, Kyle had moved on to the No. 44, leaving Joe Nemechek to run the full season and Phil Parsons to run one race in the No. 42. Nemechek won at Loudon in 1999.

Kenny Irwin ran 17 races in 2000, with a fourth at Talladega his best effort.

Then the No. 42 was resurrected by Ganassi Racing in 2003 for Jamie McMurray, who finished 15th in the points, with five top-five finishes in 35 starts.