@nascarcasm numerology: Will No. 24 win it all in ’24?

You might see a fan or two predicting it’s William Byron’s year this season. That’s because he drives the No. 24 and it’s 2024. But why? In 2011, Denny Hamlin posted the hashtag #11in11 on his social media accounts – a slogan declaring it was his season, for his car number matched the year. What a fascinating numerological gambit. It kind of just caught on. That got us thinking – is there any correlation between the car number matching the current year? Does it help your championship hopes or does it diminish them? We researched the past several seasons so you don’t have to.

THE NO. 4 IN ’04 – 2004 was really unkind to the No. 4 — the Morgan McClure Motorsports Chevrolet. The car, driven by the trio of Kevin LePage, Jimmy Spencer and Mike Wallace, finished no better than 17th that season. Spencer drove the car the bulk of the year – 25 races – and had an average finish of 29.76. 

Standings finish (Spencer): 35th

THE NO. 5 IN ’05 – Pretty good, actually. In 2005, the Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 was driven by a young rookie named Kyle Busch — heard of him? His rookie campaign in the No. 5 yielded some impressive results – two wins, nine top-five finishes and 10 top-10 finishes, earning him Rookie of the Year honors.

Standings finish: 20th

THE NO. 6 IN ’06 – It was arguably an acceptable season for Mark Martin, considering 2005 was supposed to be his final full-time season in the Cup Series. Martin stuck around to drive the Roush No. 6 car and while he didn’t win a race, he did manage an average finish of 14.3 and was runner-up at Atlanta.

Standings finish: 9th

THE NO. 7 IN ’07 – The No. 7 was driven by Robby Gordon in 2007 for Robby Gordon Motorsports … for every race except one. He did lead 58 laps that season, but managed only one top-five and two top-10 finishes. So why did he run only 35 of 36 races? OHHHHH you know, reasons, which, like several black flags, we’re just going to ignore right now.

Standings finish: 26th

THE NO. 8 IN ’08 – 2008 was a sea change for the Dale Earnhardt Inc. No. 8 Chevrolet. Dale Earnhardt Jr. left the team for Hendrick Motorsports, and the car was shared by Mark Martin and Aric Almirola during the season. The results were decent albeit pedestrian — no wins, but 15 top-10 finishes and 178 laps led. Not bad for a rookie and a guy who thought he was dialing back his schedule a couple of years prior. The only thing Mark Martin was ever arguably bad at was retiring. 

Standings finish (Martin): 28th

THE NO. 9 IN ’09 – You know, not bad actually. In 2009, the No. 9, piloted by Kasey Kahne for Richard Petty Motorsports, managed a couple of wins and a playoff berth. One of those wins was at Sonoma Raceway – Kahne’s lone road-course win. The playoffs went kind of rough and he finished last among postseason contenders. Who better to drive the No. 9 in 2009 than a driver who looks no older than nine.

Standings finish: 10th

THE NO. 10 IN ’10 – 2010 was not a big year for the No. 10. It only ran two races that season – Charlotte and Texas – with Bobby Labonte at the wheel for Stavola-Labonte Racing. Labonte finished 22nd and 30th in those races, respectively. Interesting tidbit – the No. 10 was one of four numbers Labonte ran in 2010, the others being the Nos. 09, 7 and 71. Four number in one year – that’s like a Regan Smith-level of prolificacy.

Standings finish: 31st

THE NO. 11 IN ’11 – After a huge season in 2010 where he won eight races and came sooooo close to his first championship, Denny Hamlin started posting the #11in11 hashtag on social media. It started a trend and is sort of the reason we’re doing this gallery. So how did the No. 11 do in ’11? Not as good as 2010, but serviceable — one win, 14 top-10 finishes and 450 laps led.

Standings finish: 9th

THE NO. 12 IN ’12 – Not much here. The Team Penske No. 12 only ran one race – at Kansas Speedway – with Sam Hornish Jr. driving. He led for seven laps but finished 19th. The rest of his Cup starts that year were in the No. 22 — more on that number later — so 2012 was not the year for the No. 12. But don’t worry, No. 12 – just wait 11 years or so. Be patient. Your day will come.

Standings finish: N/A

THE NO. 13 IN ’13 – In 2013, the No. 13 was fielded by Germain Racing and driven by Casey Mears. The No. 13 is also an unlucky number, and with one top-10 finish the entire season and an average finish of 24.2, you could make a case for the mysterious and harrowing powers of numerology.

Standings finish: 24th

THE NO. 14 IN ’14 – 2014 was Tony Stewart’s worst year statistically – no wins, three top-five finishes and his third-worst standings finish. As an owner, however, there was reason to be happy (see what I did there?). His driver, Kevin Harvick, won the 2014 championship in the first year of the current format.

Standings finish: 25th

THE NO. 15 IN ’15 – All things considered, an OK season for Clint Bowyer in the No. 15 – the final season for Michael Waltrip Racing. No wins, but he was able to point his way into the playoff field. The playoffs were rough – a big penalty in the first round led to an early exit. It was a playoffs to forget, but thankfully Clint has the attention span of a goldfish so he probably has.

Standings finish: 16th

THE NO. 16 IN ’16 – The No. 16 and 2016 didn’t really get along all that well. Greg Biffle, in his final season in the car and with Roush Fenway Racing, had no wins and notched just three top 10s. The highlight was a pole at the Coke Zero 400. 

Standings finish: 23rd

THE NO. 17 IN ’17 – 2017 was a big year for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the Roush Fenway Racing No. 17. He won his first career Cup Series race with a victory at Talladega – a win which also broke Roush Fenway Racing’s 101-race winless streak. His second career win in the series would come a few months later at the July Daytona race. Ultimately he’d make it to the Round of 12 in the playoffs before being eliminated. No. 17 in ’17 was a thing for Stenhouse – no need to ‘mullet’ over! LOL. I’m sorry – I’m writing this very late. 

Standings finish: 13th

THE NO. 18 IN ’18 – My heavens, in 2018 it looked like the year and the car number might finally, at long last, after years of frustration, match. Kyle Busch’s 2018 campaign was impressive by any measure – he won eight races, had 28 top-10 finishes and an average finish of 8.31. This holy-wow stat line made him one of the “Big Three.” You remember that, right? Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr.? The trio that won 20 of the 36 points-paying races in 2018, one of whom was a MORTAL LOCK to win the championship? This was my internal monologue when placing my wagers that year and I’ve never been more livid at my own brain.

Standings finish: 4th

THE NO. 19 IN ’19 – SO CLOSE TWO YEARS IN A ROW. In 2019, Martin Truex Jr. led the series with seven wins and earned his fourth career appearance in the Championship 4 and by all accounts looked like he was sailing to numerological championship glory in the final race. He found himself on the wrong side of fate after his tires were placed, well, on the wrong side of the car. It is my understanding after that happened that it would have been no problem had he driven backwards until the next pit stop.

Standings finish: 2nd

THE NO. 20 IN ’20 – Sadly, didn’t happen. Erik Jones was piloting the No. 20 for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2020. In his final year with JGR, Jones would go winless and barely miss the playoffs. As if a guy needed another reason to really dislike 2020.

Standings finish: 17th

THE NO. 21 IN ’21 – Didn’t happen either. In his final year in the famous Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 car, Matt DiBenedetto went winless, although he did manage nine top-10 finishes and only had two DNFs during the season.

Standings finish: 18th

THE NO. 22 IN ’22 – IT HAPPENS. IT FINALLY HAPPENS. YEARS OF TRYING. YEARS OF FRUSTRATION. THANKS, JOEY LOGANO.

Standings finish: 1st

THE NO. 23 IN ’23 – Bubba Wallace saw marked improvement in the No. 23 in 2023, earning a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs for the first time, and advancing all the way to the Round of 12. While he did go winless, the leap in performance was apparent. And imagine if he actually delivered DoorDash in that thing. McDonald’s delivered to your house 45 seconds after ordering. A man can dream. 

Standings finish: 10th