Tremendous twos: History of the No. 2 in NASCAR
Brad Keselowski is the hottest driver in NASCAR right now, having won two races in a row with his Penske Racing No. 2 Ford - a/k/a the Blanco Deuce - and taking the points lead after the first round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup at Chicagoland Speedway.
Penske has a long and successful history with the No. 2 dating back to 1991, when the team signed Rusty Wallace and resumed racing full time in NASCAR for the first time since 1976. The highlight, of course, was Keselowski's first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship in 2012.
But Keselowski's championship wasn't the first for the No. 2.
That honor belonged to the late Dale Earnhardt, who won his first of seven Cup titles in 1980, driving the No. 2 Oldsmobile for Mike Curb.
And go back a little further and you find the No. 2 competed in the very first NASCAR Strictly Stock Series race at the old Charlotte Speedway dirt track, where Sam Rice started 14th and finished fourth in a 1949 Oldsmobile.
In terms of race winners, the No. 2 has been driven to Victory Lane by some of the most revered names in NASCAR history. Wallace has the most wins in the No. 2 at 37, followed by Keselowski (14), Kurt Busch (8), Bobby Allison (7), Earnhardt (6), Bill Bair (3) and Tim Richmond (2). David Pearson, Jim Paschal and Herb Thomas each had a single victory in the No. 2.
By the numbers for the No. 2:
Races: 1,723
Drivers: 130
Wins: 80
Top 5s: 446
Top 10s: 769
Poles: 61
Laps led: 27,284
Laps run: 423,565
DNFs: 414
* All stats per DriverAverages.com
