In the NASCAR Cup Series competition the #45 car has started 866 races with 87 drivers and has 8 wins, 8 poles, 58 top 5s, and 147 top 10s.
We can’t even begin to talk about car #45 without discussing Adam Petty, 4th generation driver of the legendary racing family and son of Kyle Petty . In 1998, Adam drove his #45 Sprint/Spree Pontiac in the now defunct American Speed Association, or ASA series. That same year, he made 2 ARCA starts in #45, including a win in his first ever race in the series, just like his father Kyle
In 1999 Adam drove his #45 full time in the NASCAR Busch Series (now XFINITY Series). The season was a bit of a struggle as he failed to qualify for 3 events, but also showed promise. Petty Enterprises planned to have Petty run a second Busch season in 2000, while giving him seven starts in the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup series, in preparation for a full Winston Cup campaign in 2001. He struggled early in the Busch season, but managed to qualify in his first attempt at Winston Cup during the DirecTV 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 2. He qualified 33rd and ran in the middle of the pack most of the day before his engine expired, forcing him to finish 40th.
On May 12, 2000, Petty was practicing for the Busch series Busch 200 race at the New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. While entering turn three, Petty’s throttle stuck wide open, causing the car to hit the outside wall virtually head on. Petty was killed instantly due to a basilar skull fracture. He was 19 years old .
8 weeks later former Cup Series Rookie of the Year Kenny Irwin Jr. would also have a stuck throttle in the same corner of the same track. Irwin was also killed instantly of a basilar skull fracture. Not until October 2001, after the deaths of Dale Earnhardt and Blaise Alexander, did NASCAR mandate the HANS device to prevent basilar skull fractures.
Adam never got to race alongside his father. Kyle failed to qualify on April 2, 2000 at Texas. He eventually relieved an ill Elliott Sadler, but Adam was already out of the race. Lee Petty, Adam’s great-grandfather, and 3-time NASCAR Champion, lived to see his Winston Cup debut, but died just three days later.
In October 2000 five months after Adam’s death, Kyle Petty and his family partnered with Paul Newman and the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp to begin the Victory Junction Gang Camp in Randleman, North Carolina, as a memorial to Adam. The camp has received support from many NASCAR drivers, teams, and sponsors, including former Cup Series sponsor Sprint, which has placed a replica of Petty’s 1998 car in the camp. The Victory Junction Gang camp began operation in 2004, and is an official charity of NASCAR.
Following the death of Adam, Kyle Petty drove his son’s #45 in the Busch series for the remainder of the year 2000. Starting in 2001 Kyle drove #45 in Cup for the rest of his drivingcareer . Kyle has the most starts in the number of any driver with 245. His only top 5 in the number came at the Coca Cola 600 in 2007 behind Casey Mears and JJ Yeley. We will discuss Kyle more in the coming days with #44 and #42.
In 2022, Denny Hamlin & Michael Jordan’s team 23XI Racing expanded to a second entry to accompany Bubba Wallace’s #23 car. Kurt Busch was chosen to drive car #45; the number was chosen as MJ wore #45 during his second stint playing for the Chicago Bulls, after his #23 had already been retired by the team.
In his 13th start with the team, Kurt would find victory lane at Kansas while driving a special “Jump Man” paint scheme to promote Jordan Brands.
8 races later, Kurt would have a crash during qualifying at Pocono. The seemingly routine rear-end impact would sideline Kurt with concussion symptoms, and Ty Gibbs would fill in for the next 6 races as Kurt began his recovery. A similar accident would later cause Alex Bowman to step out of his #48 car for several races. Both of these incidents would spark a heated discussion amongst drivers and teams about the saftely of the next-gen car, especially in rear-impact crashes.
Kurt’s win at Kansas would qualify him for the Playoffs. Unfortunately, due to his injury Kurt would withdraw his name from The Playoffs, allowing Ryan Blaney to claim the 16th spot. However, Kurt’s Kansas win had also qualified the #45 team for The Owner’s Championship Playoffs. Because of this, Bubba Wallace piloted the #45 car for the playoffs, and Ty Gibbs took over the #23. Bubba would score his second career victory when the series returned to Kansas in September.
Bubba looked to be in contention for victory again 6 weeks later in Las Vegas, but when a pass by Kyle Larson forced Wallace into the outside wall, he retaliated by hooking Larson’s car into the wall on the frontstrech. Wallace’s action drew criticism from fans and fellow competitors, especially amongst the continued converstation of saftey concerns of the next-gen car. Wallace would be suspended for the following event at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
John Hunter Nemechek piloted the #45 for the race at Homestead. After setting the fastest time in practice and qualifying 4th, Nemechek showed speed early before a spin on lap 31. He would finish 27th, one lap down. Wallace would return the next week to finish out the season.
Kurt Busch announced that he would not return to the 45 ride in 2023. Busch started 20 race in #45, Wallace has started 9 races, Gibbs started 6, and Nemechek started 1.
In 2023, Bubba Wallace returned to his normal #23 car and Kurt Busch officially retired from full-time NASCAR racing. Tyler Reddick took over the duties of piloting the #45 car, and he drove to two victories in 2023 at Circuit of the Americas and Kansas. Reddick’s CotA win would earn him a spot in the playoffs. Though he would be eliminated in the round of 8, he accumulated enough points to finish 6th in the final standings. Reddick has 36 starts so far in car #45, and he will return in 2024.
Bill Seifert has 200 Cup starts from 1966-1972. Appropriately, Seifert drove the #45 to a top 10 finish 45 times.
From 1975-1982 Baxter Price made 85 starts. Price never led a lap or finished in the top 10.
Eddie Pagan drove #45 in 50 starts from 1956-1961. Pagan is most famous for his huge crash in the 1958 Southern 500 at Darlington, though he does have 4 career wins in the number.
LeeRoy Yarbrough drove #45 a total of 33 times in 1964 and 1971-1972. LeeRoy won 2 races in 1964 driving the number.
Beginning in 1992 Rich Bickle made a few starts per year in #45, the last year being 1999 with the most starts of 16. He has 28 total starts in the number.
Vic Parsons has started #45 a total of 17 times: once in 1972 and 16 times in 1973.
Other notable names in #45
Bud Moore, 13 starts
Terry Labonte , 9 starts
David Green, 9 starts
Elmo Langley, 4 starts
John Andretti, 4 starts
Tiny Lund, 4 starts
Joe Weatherly, 1 start
Joe Ruttman, 1 start
Cale Yarborough, 1 start
Ron Hornaday, 1 start
Wally Dallenbach, 1 start
Kenny Wallace, 1 start
Ken Ragan, 1 start
Christian Fittipaldi, 1 start
