Fresh faces, iconic numbers add up to winning combination

The 2017 season is shaping up to be a banner year for iconic car numbers in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Some of the sport’s most recognizable numerals have begun to reappear in the winner’s circle, rekindling fond memories of drivers and races and battles and finishes from years gone by. For the first time since 1991, three car numbers linked to tremendously successful pasts have won races during the same season – the No. 17, the No. 3 and the No. 21. The latest to enjoy a return engagement in Victory Lane came Sunday at Pocono Raceway with 23-year-old Ryan Blaney behind the wheel of the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford. It was Blaney’s first win in the series and the 99th win for the legendary WBR organization. It was the first win for the team since 2011 when another youngster, Trevor Bayne, won his first Monster Energy Series race. That one just happened to be the Daytona 500. The shout-outs on social media were non-stop; the praise deserved for Blaney and the team. The Wood Brothers Racing organization is one of the oldest in the series. A lot of folks in the garage, regardless of their position, likely remember watching the familiar red and white No. 21 compete on the track when they were growing up. Their parents can probably recall seeing the car on the track when they were growing up as well. It’s a car and a team that’s been around, at one time set the standard, survived the lean years and now has come back strong. NASCAR Hall of Fame member David Pearson is the driver most closely linked with the No. 21. Of his 105 career victories, 43 came in the No. 21 entry. Others have won for the Wood Brothers as well, but no one was as dominant as Pearson during his stay with the organization. Now Blaney is the face of the team for an entirely new generation of race fans. Austin Dillon’s win in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway was just as impressive and that victory put the No. 3 back in Victory Lane for the first time since 2000. Fans of the No. 3 and seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt and Richard Childress Racing were pleased to see the car number return – Childress didn’t run the number for more than a decade after Earnhardt’s passing – but might have begun to wonder if they would ever see it back in the winner’s circle. For the better part of two decades, seeing the No. 3 in Victory Lane was expected. And Earnhardt didn’t disappoint. Dillon’s win at Charlotte, his first in the series, gave those fans their answer and the victory has been one of the more popular ones of the season. Which brings us to the No. 17. An iconic number? If you know your NASCAR, it certainly has its own history. Two current NASCAR Hall of Fame members enjoyed their share of success in cars carrying the number – Pearson and Darrell Waltrip. Pearson drove the No. 17 while competing for Holman-Moody, winning two championships (1968-69) and 30 races. Waltrip won 15 times while using the number – when he formed his own team and went out on his own and again once his career began to wind down. Waltrip won 84 times overall – his first win and his last win came in the No. 17. Roush Fenway Racing driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. kicked off this year’s run of first-time winners with a victory in the No. 17 at Talladega Superspeedway. Before his breakthrough victory, the 17 hadn’t been a winner since 2012 with Matt Kenseth. Kenseth certainly fared well with the number – winning 24 times. But for most long-time fans, the No. 17 has always stirred memories of Pearson and Waltrip and the success each enjoyed. And now it’s been passed along to Stenhouse. With three first-time winners, all 20-somethings, it has already been a tremendous year for NASCAR’s younger competitors. But it’s been quite the year for legendary car numbers too, and the regular season is barely past the halfway mark. There’s still plenty of time for new faces, and old numbers, to join the growing list.