NASCAR Car Number Countdown - #11
February 5th, 2008 by James J.
We’re at number eleven on the Car Number Countdown to the Daytona 500. The #11 is currently being ran by one of the sport’s fastest rising stars, Denny Hamlin, in the FedEx Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. But this car number has been ran by so many racing legends. Some famous drivers to run the #11 include: A.J. Foyt, Bill Elliot, Buddy Baker, Cale Yarborough, Fireball Roberts, Joe Weatherly, Junior Johnson, Mario Andretti, Ned Jarrett, Parnelli Jones and Terry Labonte. As such, it has so much history in NASCAR Cup racing that it ranks near the top of the list in many categories at Racing-Reference.info:
- With 1,585 Cup races ran, the #11 ranks 2nd only to the #43 at 1,664 races.
- The same goes for the win category with the #11 claiming 183 wins and the #43 taking 198 wins.
- When it comes to top fives and top tens though, the #11 comes out with top honors having 613 and 804 vs. the #43’s 561 and 769, respectively.
- The #11 also ranks above the #43 in the Pole category with 134 pole starts.
- When it came to the best average finish, the #11 comes in with a close second place with a 14 vs. #3’s average finish of 13.1.
Denny Hamlin certainly has the youth, talent and equipment to help move the #11 to the top of these categories. He will more than likely move the #11 to the top of the “Running at Finish” and “Lead Lap Finishes” categories this year. He needs only to be running at the finish in three races to take over that column where the #11 currently sits with 1,214. During the 2008 season we can expect he will finish on the lead lap at least nine times. When he does for the 9th time then he will put the #11 on top of that column too with 541 finishes. Denny also has a good chance of scoring the first victory for Toyota in the #11 FedEx car. While Denny Hamlin certainly has a bright future of his own, and will likely be running the #11 for much of his career, we’re going to look at another legendary driver who helped boost the #11 up the statistical charts.
Stats for ALL Cup cars running the #11:
- Number of Races: 1,585
- Number of Wins: 183
- Number of Top 5s: 613
- Number of Top 10s: 804
- Number of Poles: 134
- Number of Drivers: 66
Spotlight Subject: Driver Darrell Waltrip
Darrell Waltrip is no stranger to victory lane. Throughout his Cup career he scored a total of 84 wins. This has him tied with Bobby Allison at 3rd on the All-Tim Win list. Jeff Gordon enters the 2008 season with 81 wins and threatens to break the record jointly held by Waltrip and Allison just as Gordon broke Earnhardt’s win record last year. This will certainly be a story to watch during the 2008 season! Of Waltrips 84 wins, forty-three of them came behind the wheel of the #11 car owned by Junior Johnson. Most of those wins with Junior Johnson would come in the famous #11 Mountain Dew Buick or #11 Budweiser Chevy. However, one of Darrell’s most cherished and memorable victories would come after 17 attempts at the Great American Race. While driving for Rick Hendrick in the #17 Tide car he would win the 1989 Daytona 500 
by gamling on gas mileage. This is the race we often see his post-race celebration in where he joyously exclaims “I won the Daytona 500! I won the Daytona 500!” and then asks, “.. this is the Daytona 500, right?” The celebration then continued with his version of the dance called the Ickey Shuffle.
A track Waltrip’s name would become synonymous with would be Bristol Motor Speedway. Not only does Darrell Waltrip hold the title of most wins at the track (he has 12 Bristol wins), he also has the distinction of winning 7 consecutive races at the track from the Spring of 1981 and ending at the Spring of 1984 event. This record of “consecutive wins at a track” is a tie between Darrell 
Waltrip’s streak at Bristol and Richard Petty’s 7 race streak at Richmond. Darrell has had other streaks as well. For example, in 1981 while driving the #11 Mountain Dew car Darrell would have a streak of four raced in which he not only started on the pole, but also won the races (Martinsville, North Wilkesboro, Charlotte, Rockingham). In his 29 years of racing Waltrip collected 84 wins. He also collected 276 top fives and 390 top tens. In the 809 Cup races he ran, he would start on the pole 59 times and have a 15.1 average finish. He claimed three Winston Cup Championships (1981, 1982, 1985) during his racing career.
Now retired from racing, Darrell is a fan favorite both for his on track antics as well as his work in the broadcast booth calling the races. However, fans weren’t always as fond of ol’ “D-Dubya” as they are today. He was known for his intense and aggressive style of racing. He also had a tendency to openly taunt and tease competitors and teams with verbal comments. Cale Yarborough is credited with giving him the nickname of “Jaws”, in part for his driving style and in part for his mouthy ways. One time he even insulted rival Dale Earnhardt and his team by commenting that he could say whatever he wanted about Dale and his team in the news because they “wouldn’t be able to read it anyway.” Over his career though he would gradually be embraced by the fans. 
About the only “mouthy” thing you hear from him now that some fans don’t like is his “Boogity-Boogity-Boogity, Let’s Go Racing Boys!” cry at the start of a race. Some fans love it, some hate. I think most fans fall into one group or the other, but even most of those that hate the trademark saying do like Darrell Waltrip quite a bit. Me? I fall into that group.
February 13th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
[...] first championship with team owner Richard Childress, and Earnhardts 2nd of his career. Darrell Waltrip finished 2nd in the points and Tim Richmond [...]