102 Stats in 102 Days Until 102nd Indy 500 – Day 58, First Driver to Compete in Each Car Number (April 12, 2018)

The 102nd Indianapolis 500 is 45 days away! This is the 58th day of the 102 Stats in 102 Days Until the 102nd Indy 500 blog.

Each day from now until the Saturday before the Indianapolis 500, we’ll post a list of stats related to the race. Some are well-known statistics, while others are a little more in-depth.

Here is a look at the driver that competed first in each car number in the Indianapolis 500. Forty cars competed in the inaugural Indianapolis 500 in 1911, most of them from 1-40. Numbers were assigned based on date of entry received.

First Driver to Compete in Each Car Number (Year/Finish)

- Car No. 1: Lewis Strang (1911/29th)

- Car No. 2: Ralph DePalma (1911/6th)

- Car No. 3: Harry Endicott (1911/16th)

- Car No. 4: Johnny Aitken (1911/27th)

- Car No. 5: Louis Disbrow (1911/35th)

- Car No. 6: Frank Fox (1911/22nd)

- Car No. 7: Harry Knight (1911/30th)

- Car No. 8: Joe Jagersberger (1911/31st)

- Car No. 9: Will Jones (1911/28th)

- Car No. 10: Gil Anderson (1911/11th)

- Car No. 11 Spencer Wishart (1911/4th)

- Car No. 12: W.H. Turner (1911/8th)

- Car No. 13: George Mason (1914/23rd)

- Car No. 14: Johnny Jenkins (1912/7th)

- Car No. 15: Fred Belcher (1911/9th)

- Car No. 16: Arthur Chevrolet (1911/36th)

- Car No. 17: Charles Basle (1911/34th)

- Car No. 18: Eddie Hearne (1911/21st)

- Car No. 19: Harry Grant (1911/33rd)

- Car No. 20: Charlie Merz (1911/7th)

- Car No. 21: Howdy Wilcox (1911/14th)

- Car No. 22: Joe Horan (1912/8th)

- Car No. 23: Mel Marquette (1911/25th)

- Car No. 24: Fred Ellis (1911/38th)

- Car No. 25: Harry Cobe (1911/10th)

- Car No. 26: Jack Tower (1911/24th)

- Car No. 27: Ernest Delaney (1911/23rd)

- Car No. 28: David Bruce-Brown (1911/3rd)

- Car No. 29: David Bruce-Bruce (1912/22nd)

- Car No. 30: Lee Frayer (1911/13th)

- Car No. 31: Joe Dawson (1911/5th)

- Car No. 32: Ray Harroun (1911/1st)

- Car No. 33: Ralph Mulford (1911/2nd)

- Car No. 34: Teddy Tetzlaff (1911/39th)

- Car No. 35: Herb Lytle (1911/32nd)

- Car No. 36: Hughie Hughes (1911/12th)

- Car No. 37: Charlie Bigelow (1911/15th)

- Car No. 38: Ralph Beardsley (1911/20th)

- Car No. 39: Caleb Bragg (1911/37th)

- Car No. 40: Parnelli Jones (1967/6th)

- Car No. 41: Howard Hall (1911/17th)

- Car No. 42: Bill Endicott (1911/26th)

- Car No. 43: Willie Haupt (1914/12th)

- Car No. 44: Art Greiner (1911/40th)*

- Car No. 45: Bob Burman (1911/19th)

- Car No. 46: Billy Knipper (1911/18th)

- Car No. 47: Ernie Triplett (1929/26th)

- Car No. 48: S.F. Brock (1914/30th)*

- Car No. 49: Ray Gilhooly (1914/27th)

- Car No. 50: Eldon Rasmussen (1979/23rd)

- Car No. 51: Doc MacKenzie (1933/18th)

- Car No. 52: Frank McGurk (1936/26th)

- Car No. 53: Jimmy Gleason (1929/3rd)

- Car No. 54: Leon Duray (1931/37th)

- Car No. 55: Billy Winn (1931/21st)

- Car No. 56: Floyd Davis (1939/27th)

- Car No. 57: Luther Johnson (1931/20th)

- Car No. 58: George Wingerter (1931/33rd)

- Car No. 59: Sam Ross (1931/15th)

- Car No. 60: Joe Leonard (1968/12th)

- Car No. 61: Bob Carey (1932/4th)

- Car No. 62: Harris Insinger (1935/14th)

- Car No. 63: Harry McQuinn (1934/31st)

- Car No. 64: Mark Billman (1933/30th)

- Car No. 65: Freddie Winnai (1932/8th)

- Car No. 66: Harry McQuinn (1935/33rd)*

- Car No. 67: Francis Quinn (1931/40th)*

- Car No. 68: Bennett Hill (1933/22nd)

- Car No. 69: Joe Huff (1931/16th)

- Car No. 70: Graham Hill (1968/16th)

- Car No. 71: Norm Houser (1949/10th)

- Car No. 72: Al Aspen (1931/14th)

- Car No. 73: Doc MacKenzie (1934/29th)

- Car No. 74: Doc Williams (1948/29th)

- Car No. 75: Gene Hartley (1950/16th)

- Car No. 76: Sam Hanks (1948/26th)

- Car No. 77: Joie Chitwood (1949/5th)

- Car No. 78: Jerry Grant (1968/23rd)

- Car No. 79: Jimmy Daywalt (1962/22nd)

- Car No. 80: George Snider (1971/33rd)*

- Car No. 81: Jerry Hoyt (1950/21st)

- Car No. 82: Gene Hartley (1956/11th)

- Car No. 83: Mike Nazaruk (1951/2nd)

- Car No. 84: Al Miller (1963/9th)

- Car No. 85: Denis Hulme (1971/17th)

- Car No. 86: Mike Salay (1948/30th)

- Car No. 87: Red Amick (1959/31st)

- Car No. 88: Manuel Ayulo (1953/13th)

- Car No. 89: Pat Flaherty (1955/10th)

- Car No. 90: Mike Mosley (1968/8th)

- Car No. 91: Lee Wallard (1948/7th)

- Car No. 92: Rodger Ward (1953/16th)

- Car No. 93: Bob Scott (1952/29th)

- Car No. 94: George Snider (1965/21st)

- Car No. 95: Bob Christie (1957/15th)

- Car No. 96: Bob Veith (1962/33rd)*

- Car No. 97: Chuck Stevenson (1953/29th)

- Car No. 98: Johnny Mantz (1948/13th)

- Car No. 99: Lee Wallard (1951/1st)

- Car No. 00: Nelson Philippe (2009/25th)

- Car No. 02: Davey Hamilton (2007/9th)

- Car No. 06: Graham Rahal (2008/33rd)*

- Car No. 07: Tomas Scheckter (2011/8th)

* Finished last in first race.

Notes of Interest

- Five drivers debuted more than one car number. David Bruce-Brown made the first starts for car Nos. 28 (1911) and 29 (1912). Harry McQuinn was the first driver in car Nos. 63 (1934) and 66 (1935). Doc McKenzie debuted the No. 53 in 1933 and the following year debuted the No. 71. Lee Wallard was the first driver to compete in a car in the 90s, when he piloted the No. 91 in 1948 (Johnny Mantz also debuted No. 98 that year), then Wallard won in No. 99 in 1951. And George Snider made the first laps in the Indianapolis 500 in the No. 94 (1965) and No. 80 (1971).

- Ray Harroun (1911, No. 32) and Lee Wallard (1951, No. 99) are the only drivers to win the debuts for their car numbers. Ironically, both drivers never competed in the Indianapolis 500 again after winning those races.

- Car Nos. 99 and 83, which both debuted in 1951, finished first and second, with Lee Wallard in the No. 99 Kurtis/Offy and rookie Mike Nazaruk in the No. 83 Kurtis/Offy. Like the 1911 race, the 1951 was also the only other time a car number finished second in its debut.

- Car No. 50 was the last car number between 1 and 99 to appear in the Indianapolis 500, with Eldon Rasmussen taking the car to a 23rd-place finish in the 1979 race. The car started 33rd out of 35 cars.

- Denis Hulme (1971) was the only driver in the history of the Indianapolis 500 to compete in the No. 85.

- Seven car numbers have finished last on debut: No. 44 (1911, Art Greiner); No. 48 (1914, S.F. Brock); No. 66 (1935, Harry McQuinn); No. 67 (1931, Francis Quinn); No. 80 (1971, George Snider); No. 96 (1962); and No. 06 (2008, Graham Rahal).

- The most frequent finishing position for a car number on debut is 33rd, with six (though two of those, in 1911 and 1931, were not for last place). Following are eighth, 16th and 29th, with five times each.