r/NASCAR • u/the_colbeast r/NASCAR Historian • Jan 12 '15
41 Days until the Daytona 500!
In Sprint Cup Series competition the #41 car has started 966 races and has 23 wins, 19 poles, 99 top 5s, 193 top 10s, and 193 DNFs.
Curtis Turner made 72 starts in #41 from NASCAR’s first Strictly Stock (Sprint Cup) event in 1949 through 1966. 12 of Turner’s 17 career wins would come in the number. His first win came in at Langhorne Speedway in Pennsylvania, the 4th Strictly Stock race ever held. Turner was one of the first superstar personalities of the sport. He was tragically killed in a plane crash in 1970 at the age of 46.
Richard’s brother Maurice Petty is best known as a pioneer as an engine builder and crew chief. He also drove 26 races in his career, some in each of the Petty numbers 41-44. He started #41 9 times in his career in 1962 & 1964. Maurice was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2014.
We’ve talked about Petty Enterprises driver Jim Paschal many times in the past few days. He started #41 37 times between 1962-1965 including 3 wins.
A.J. Foyt started 6 races in #41 including a win at the 1965 Firecracker 400 at Daytona.
Ronnie Thomas has 61 starts in #41 from 1983-1987.
Grant Adcox was a successful ARCA driver who began racing #41 part time in Winston Cup (Sprint Cup) in 1974. 51 of his career total 60 Cup starts came driving #41. In 1989 Adcox was killed in a crash at the Cup Series season finale at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He was 39. ARCA’s Annual H.G. Adcox Sportsmanship Award is given in his honor.
From 1989-1992 Larry Person, Greg Sacks, Hut Stricklin, and Dave Marcis would all make starts in #41.
In 1993 Phil Parsons would drive #41 for Hedrick Motorsports in 25 starts. Not Rick Hendrick, it was Larry Hedrick Motorsports. Joe Nemecheck drove the car for 29 starts in 1994.
Ricky Craven has 62 starts in #41 from the 1995-1996 seasons. Ricky’s biggest moment in the car came at the 1996 Winston 500 where he was involved in one of the most violent “big ones” to date.
Following Craven, Steve Grissom drove the #41 for 55 starts between the 1997-1998 seasons. David Green would take over before the end of 1998 and drive the car for most of 1999 totaling 27 starts.
In 2002 Jimmy Spencer started driving for Chip Ganassi Racing in the #41 Target Dodge. Jimmy started 34 races in the #41, and almost won at Bristol before Kurt Busch moved him out of the way late in the race. This race coined the phrase “Jimmy Spencer doesn’t forget,” and Jimmy got his payback during the Brickyard 400. The feud would boil over the next year at Michigan where Spencer (#7) punched Busch, leading to his suspension the following week. In his only year driving the #41 Spencer failed to qualify for the Daytona 500 and the race at Watkins Glen.
Casey Mears would replace Spencer in Ganassi’s #41 starting in 2003. Mears has the most starts of any driver in #41 with 108 from 2003-2005. Mears struggled during his time at Ganassi earning 18 top 10s and 2 poles in 3 years.
In 2005 while Mears was driving #41 in Cup, Reed Sorenson was tearing up the Busch Series (now XFINITY). In 2006 Reed would take over driving the #41 in Cup when Mears left to drive the #25 for Hendrick Motorsports. Sorenson would drive the #41 in 107 starts from 2006-2008 before moving to Ganassi’s #42.
In 2009 Jeremy Mayfield attempted to run the full season as an owner/driver. After qualifying for only 5 out of the first 10 races he became involved in a substance abuse dispute with NASCAR. By June 2009 Mayfield had sold all the assets of his team and has not raced in NASCAR since.
In 2013 Aric Almirola drove the #41 for one race at Martinsville. His famous Petty #43 was renumbered for one race to celebrate the induction of Maurice Petty into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Starting in 2014 Kurt Busch drives the #41 for Stewart Haas Racing. Busch was controversially hired by Gene Hass to be the 4th full time driver for SHR after Stewart had already announced that driver Ryan Newman would not be returning because the team didn’t have the funds to field 4 cars. Busch’s first year with the team was full of highs and lows as a string of bad luck caused them to finish the year with 6 DNFs. Aside from that, Kurt also won at Martinsville in his 6th start in the car, and was competitive at many tracks earning him 11 top 10 finishes in 36 races and a spot in the 2014 Chase for the Sprint Cup. The 2004 Cup Champion will return to the #41 in 2015.
Other notable names in #41
Richard Petty, 22 starts, 6 wins.
Joe Weatherly, 12 starts
Lee Petty, 6 starts
Dick Trickle, 6 starts
Buck Baker, 5 starts
Speedy Thompson, 2 starts
Bob Welborn, 2 starts
Scott Pruett, 2 starts.
Derrike Cope, 2 starts
Sterling Marlin, 1 start
Richard Childress, 1 start
The 41st Daytona 500 was run on February 14, 1999. Jeff Gordon would emerge victorious for the second time in the Great American Race after battling Dale Earnhardt for the last 10 laps.
TRIVIA TIME
/u/colegnd has offered a reward of Dogecoins to the first person to correctly answer a daily trivia question related to each number! No Google, Wikipedia, or internet allowed, just your own knowledge! This sounds like a fun game, so let’s give it a try! Thanks to /u/colegnd for the idea and dogecoins, and if you have suggestions for future trivia questions please contact me /u/the_colbeast. If you are declared the winner of the trivia contest and would like to donate you prize money to charity, please let me know in the comments.
Yesterday’s Answer: 2001 Italian Grand Prix at Monza
Today’s Question: Though never a NASCAR winner, Grant Adcox had 9 ARCA wins under his belt. What year and what track was his first ARCA win?
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u/kestrel_rises Keselowski Jan 12 '15
Love the Outlaw. Kurt's my favorite behind Brad and Jimmie Johnson.
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u/guyzieman Reddick Jan 12 '15
That Almirola ride is from 2013, not 2012
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u/the_colbeast r/NASCAR Historian Jan 12 '15
Why does Richard Petty always wear his hat and sunglasses, even indoors?
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u/kpstormie Kahne Jan 12 '15
It's actually doctor recommended. Richard's eyesight is incredibly poor and he's said before that his sunglasses and hat protect his eyes from bright light. Heard this from him while I was at RPM one day actually.
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u/joey311 Jeff Burton Jan 12 '15
Is it just me, or in this photo showing Ronnie Thomas's ride ... there are actually TWO #41 cars in the image.
Assuming it's the Cup ride, with the Grand National guys lined up for the next race.
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u/kpstormie Kahne Jan 12 '15
Here is Curtis Turner (#41) in 1948 racing at Iredell Speedway in Statesville NC. Turner would win this race. This wasn't a NASCAR sanctioned track or event but it's worth noting for Turner's involvement.
The track was later shut down due to local noise complaints and it was turned into a fish pond. Outline of the track is still there since the pond dried up.
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u/Magnaflux Jan 12 '15 edited Jan 12 '15
Born in 1941: Dick Trickle RIP, Benny Parsons RIP, Buddy Baker, Morgan Shepherd
Louis Chevrolet RIP, the founder of Chevrolet died in 1941
Age 41: DeLana Harvick, Dario Franchitti
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u/Bleacherblues Jan 12 '15
Scott Pruett, almost forgot about him. He wrote a kids book about racing and the alphabet.
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u/51rogue3 Johnson Jan 12 '15
Steve Grissom had one of the craziest crashes in the 41 at Atlanta.