NASCAR teams pick car numbers, not drivers. Do they care?
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Alanis King, Racing columnist
In November, Kyle Busch reached a milestone he didn’t expect to hit until his NASCAR Cup Series retirement: his last race in the No. 18. It was the season finale at Phoenix Raceway, and the car he had become synonymous with — a yellow Toyota Camry sprinkled with M&M’s — would soon be gone for good. The weekend was full of tearful goodbyes, both to Busch’s teammates and to the athlete he’d been for 15 years.
The night before the race, Busch thought about the gravity of it all.
“I’m like, ‘Tomorrow’s the last time I’m in the M&M’s car. Tomorrow’s the last time I’m in the 18,'” Busch told ESPN. “I wanted to run the whole rest of my time in the 18, but the cards weren’t on the table.”
Unlike in so many other sports, NASCAR grants numbers to teams, not athletes. Busch drove for Joe Gibbs Racing from 2008 through 2022, becoming a two-time Cup champion and Toyota’s winningest NASCAR driver. He was the No. 18. But when M&M’s parent company, Mars Inc., decided to leave the sport after 2022, Busch had to look for new teams.
One of his first thoughts was: “What number am I going to be?”
“There are drivers who come up through the ranks who have numbers that are close to them,” Busch said. “But a lot of times, up at the top level, the NASCAR Cup Series, you just get in there with whatever the number is. When I joined Hendrick Motorsports, it was the 5 car. When I joined Joe Gibbs Racing, it was 18. Now, at [Richard Childress Racing, I’m] the 8.”
NASCAR’s system might seem counterintuitive, considering athletes build empires around names and numbers, but it allows teams to build empires instead, and the best teams outlast their drivers. Dale Jarrett and Bobby Labonte drove the Gibbs No. 18 before Busch, and Mark Martin, Kasey Kahne and Kyle Larson drove the Hendrick No. 5 after him.
That’s why Justin Marks, who founded Cup team Trackhouse Racing in 2020, chose numbers and built his empire around them.
“I wanted the numbers to be endemic to the team, because numbers don’t travel with the drivers,” Marks told ESPN. “Two of the most iconic numbers between 1 and 100, independent of what they’ve done in NASCAR, are the 1 and the 99.”
Both numbers had history in NASCAR. To rebrand them for Trackhouse and its drivers, Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez, Marks stylized them with a slash to match the team’s logo.
“It was important for us to do a brand element in the number itself,” Marks said. “In a lot of other forms of motorsport, the liveries on cars tend to be endemic to the teams. When the McLaren goes by in IndyCar and Formula One, you immediately know it’s a McLaren.
“In our sport, we’ve gotten to a place where there’s nothing sacred about these schemes as far as how they relate to the teams, because the entire race car is a sellable asset. So then, you look for opportunities to have some sort of continuity across all of the race cars and across the season. We can have a different sponsor every week, but it’s instantly identifiable as a Trackhouse car.”
Marks plans to keep the Nos. 1 and 99 forever, but he knows that can be tricky. When Busch left for Richard Childress Racing, the Gibbs team shelved the No. 18 — for now. His replacement, Ty Gibbs, took the No. 54 instead.
“When the 18 is on the track, it’s burned in everybody’s mind that it’s Kyle Busch,” Marks said. “If the number is so closely associated with the history of a single driver, sometimes it’s hard to start a new chapter. It would be more difficult to put Ty Gibbs in the 18 and start to tell the story of Ty Gibbs.
“If we win five championships with Ross Chastain, and he races for us until the age of 44 and retires, that’s a long time from now, but I imagine we’d have a discussion around whether we want to continue running the 1.”
Busch’s No. 8 has its own lore. It is famously associated with Dale Earnhardt Jr., who drove the No. 88 when he moved to Hendrick Motorsports.
“When Dale Jr. switched, all the fans who had the 8 tattooed on them were wondering what the hell they were going to do,” Busch said. “I actually had a couple fans ask me: ‘Hey, you’re not 18 anymore. You’re 8. What should we do with our tattoos?’ I told them: ‘You can put the [dates] underneath it, from 2008 to 2022, or take the 1 and make it the new Cup Series trophy. You could have the 8 next to it.'”
Busch doesn’t run his Cup number everywhere. In lower divisions, he runs the No. 51 — an ode to Rowdy Burns, a character in his favorite movie growing up, “Days of Thunder.” Busch’s son, Brexton, runs the No. 18B, and Busch has noticed other drivers’ children doing the same.
“Kyle [Larson] was always No. 1 when he grew up,” Busch said. “I don’t know why he was No. 1, but now that his kid’s racing, Owen, he’s 01. I think it’s like the ‘little one.’ But I think they also did it because his initials are ‘O,’ which is a zero, and ‘L,’ which is a one.”
“I was number 1K,” Larson told ESPN. “I didn’t pick that number. My dad did, and it just became my number. The original go-kart we bought was the 1. Rather than changing the number, we just threw a ‘K’ on it.”
Just like his dad, Larson picked Owen’s number.
“There are a few reasons,” Larson said. “My dad’s hero growing up was LeRoy Van Conett. He drove the 01 sprint car. My dad owned a dirt midget that he would run people at the Chili Bowl [Nationals] with, and it would be the 01. When I started owning my own midget for the Chili Bowl, somebody already had the 1K.
“I was like, ‘Well, I’ll just use the 01.’ I really liked it. I won both Chili Bowls that I ran as the 01, and not many people I know of have run an 01. So when Owen started racing, I was like: ‘We’ll make it 01.’ It kind of sounds like ‘Owen’ — ‘O-wen,’ ‘Oh-one.'”
Larson drives the No. 5 Cup car, just like Busch did almost two decades ago. When Larson joined Hendrick Motorsports, the team asked what number he wanted. He responded: “Whatever you want to give me.”
“I wouldn’t say, ever, do I feel like I own that number over anybody else who’s been the 5,” Larson said. “In dirt racing, you can share a number with somebody. You just have to have a letter separating it. In NASCAR, nobody can have the same number as you.
“So I think in NASCAR, for the time you’re in the car, that’s your number. Hopefully, you have a lot of success and people remember you. Like Kyle Busch, I think of him as 18. If he wins tons of races and more championships in the 8, it could sway what I remember him as.”
Larson has had a lot of numbers, including 1K, 01, 83V, 99 and 71. The Nos. 5 and 57 are special because he runs them now, and because 5/7 ended up being his daughter’s birthday. But he’ll run anything, often without a preference.
There’s just one exception.
“If I could hand select a number and be 1K in the Cup Series, I would love that,” Larson smiled. “That would be my number.”
Busch didn’t hand select the No. 8, but the more he wins in the car, the more it feels like his own, he said. It was also a bit of fate.
“My son’s birthday is 5/18,” Busch said. “The 5 and 18 were my first two Cup Series numbers, and it’s 51 and 8 now. It’s kind of ironic how things — and numbers — work out sometimes.”
It’s 2025 MLB All-Star Home Run Derby day in Atlanta!
Some of the most dynamic home run hitters in baseball will be taking aim at the Truist Park stands on Monday (8 p.m. ET on ESPN) in one of the most anticipated events of the summer.
While the prospect of a back-to-back champion is out of the picture — 2024 winner Teoscar Hernandez is not a part of this year’s field — a number of exciting stars will be taking the field, including Atlanta’s own Matt Olson, who replaced Ronald Acuna Jr. just three days before the event. Will Olson make a run in front of his home crowd? Will Cal Raleigh show off the power that led to 38 home runs in the first half? Or will one of the younger participants take the title?
We have your one-stop shop for everything Derby related, from predictions to live updates once we get underway to analysis and takeaways at the night’s end.
MLB Home Run Derby field
Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners (38 home runs in 2025)
James Wood, Washington Nationals (24)
Junior Caminero, Tampa Bay Rays (23)
Byron Buxton, Minnesota Twins (21)
Brent Rooker, Athletics (20)
Matt Olson, Atlanta Braves (17)
Jazz Chisholm Jr., New York Yankees (17)
Oneil Cruz, Pittsburgh Pirates (16)
Live updates
Who is going to win the Derby and who will be the runner-up?
Jeff Passan: Raleigh. His swing is perfect for the Derby: He leads MLB this season in both pull percentage and fly ball percentage, so it’s not as if he needs to recalibrate it to succeed. He has also become a prolific hitter from the right side this season — 16 home runs in 102 at-bats — and his ability to switch between right- and left-handed pitching offers a potential advantage. No switch-hitter (or catcher for that matter) has won a Home Run Derby. The Big Dumper is primed to be the first, beating Buxton in the finals.
Alden Gonzalez: Cruz. He might be wildly inconsistent at this point in his career, but he is perfect for the Derby — young enough to possess the stamina required for a taxing event that could become exhausting in the Atlanta heat; left-handed, in a ballpark where the ball carries out better to right field; and, most importantly, capable of hitting balls at incomprehensible velocities. Raleigh will put on a good show from both sides of the plate but will come in second.
Buster Olney: Olson. He is effectively pinch-hitting for Acuna, and because he received word in the past 72 hours of his participation, he hasn’t had the practice rounds that the other competitors have been going through. But he’s the only person in this group who has done the Derby before, which means he has experienced the accelerated pace, adrenaline and push of the crowd.
His pitcher, Eddie Perez, knows something about performing in a full stadium in Atlanta. And, as Olson acknowledged in a conversation Sunday, the park generally favors left-handed hitters because of the larger distances that right-handed hitters must cover in left field.
Jesse Rogers: Olson. Home-field advantage will mean something this year as hitting in 90-plus degree heat and humidity will be an extra challenge in Atlanta. Olson understands that and can pace himself accordingly. Plus, he was a late addition. He has got nothing to lose. He’ll outlast the young bucks in the field. And I’m not putting Raleigh any lower than second — his first half screams that he’ll be in the finals against Olson.
Jorge Castillo: Wood. His mammoth power isn’t disputed — he can jack baseballs to all fields. But the slight defect in his power package is that he doesn’t hit the ball in the air nearly as often as a typical slugger. Wood ranks 126th out of 155 qualified hitters across the majors in fly ball percentage. And he still has swatted 24 home runs this season. So, in an event where he’s going to do everything he can to lift baseballs, hitting fly balls won’t be an issue, and Wood is going to show off that gigantic power en route to a victory over Cruz in the finals.
Who will hit the longest home run of the night — and how far?
Passan: Cruz hits the ball harder than anyone in baseball history. He’s the choice here, at 493 feet.
Gonzalez: If you exclude the Coors Field version, there have been just six Statcast-era Derby home runs that have traveled 497-plus feet. They were compiled by two men: Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. James Wood — all 6-foot-7, 234 pounds of him — will become the third.
Olney: James Wood has the easy Stanton- and Judge-type power, and he will clear the Chophouse with the longest homer. Let’s say 497 feet.
Rogers: Hopefully he doesn’t injure himself doing it, but Buxton will break out his massive strength and crush a ball at least 505 feet. I don’t see him advancing far in the event, but for one swing, he’ll own the night.
Castillo: Cruz hits baseballs hard and far. He’ll crush a few bombs, and one will reach an even 500 feet.
Who is the one slugger fans will know much better after the Derby?
Passan: Buxton capped his first half with a cycle on Saturday, and he’ll carry that into the Derby, where he will remind the world why he was baseball’s No. 1 prospect in 2015. Buxton’s talent has never been in question, just his health. And with his body feeling right, he has the opportunity to put on a show fans won’t soon forget.
Olney: Caminero isn’t a big name and wasn’t a high-end prospect like Wood was earlier in his career. Just 3½ years ago, Caminero was dealt to the Rays by the Cleveland Guardians in a relatively minor November trade for pitcher Tobias Myers. But since then, he has refined his ability to cover inside pitches and is blossoming this year into a player with ridiculous power. He won’t win the Derby, but he’ll open some eyes.
What’s the one moment we’ll all be talking about long after this Derby ends?
Gonzalez: The incredible distances and velocities that will be reached, particularly by Wood, Cruz, Caminero, Raleigh and Buxton. The hot, humid weather at Truist Park will only aid the mind-blowing power that will be on display Monday night.
Rogers: The exhaustion on the hitter’s faces, swinging for home run after home run in the heat and humidity of Hot-lanta!
Castillo: Cruz’s 500-foot blast and a bunch of other lasers he hits in the first two rounds before running out of gas in the finals.
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