History of the No. 24: It's pretty much all about Jeff Gordon
Of necessity, today's history lesson will be short.
If you want to look at the history of the No. 24 in NASCAR, pretty much all you need to know is that every milestone or record worth having in that car was set by four-time NASCAR Premier Series champion Jeff Gordon.
How's this for domination?
The No. 24 has visited Victory Lane 93 times, which is fourth-best in NASCAR history. All 93 times, Gordon was the driver.
Gordon has 325 of the 364 top-five finishes in the No. 24's history, as well as 475 of 622 top 10s, 80 of 81 poles and 24,917 of 25,239 laps led.
And Gordon is NASCAR's all-time iron man, with 797 consecutive starts, all behind the wheel of the No. 24.
In fact, the only driver other than Gordon with more than 20 career starts in the No. 24 is another Gordon, albeit an unrelated one. In a career that spanned from 1968 to 1985, journeyman Cecil Gordon made 373 starts in the No. 24, posting 27 top fives and 102 top 10s.
Cecil Gordon's best seasons came in 1971-73. He finished third in points in '71 and '73, and fourth in '72.
And now for today's bar bet question: Who was the only driver other than Jeff Gordon in NASCAR Premier Series history to win a pole in the No. 24?
The answer: On April 10, 1960, future NASCAR Hall of Fame member Glen Wood won the pole for the Virginia 500 at Martinsville Speedway driving the No. 24 Wood Brothers 1958 Ford. He went on to finish third in the race, behind winner Richard Petty and Jimmy Massey.
The No. 24 by the numbers:
Races: 1,375
Wins: 93
Wins by driver: Jeff Gordon, 93
Top fives: 364
Top 10s: 475
Poles: 170
Average finish: 14.91
Average start: 14.8
Laps led: 25,239
DNFs: 287
Drivers: 63
All stats provided by driveraverages.com
