Car number 62 has started 326 races and has 1 win, 0 poles, 13 top 5s, 58 top 10s, and 145 DNFs in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Curtis “Crawfish” Crider started 135 race in #62 from 1961-1964, the majority of his 232 career races. Crider was a bootlegger, and was one of the early independent drivers in NASCAR, making his first career start in 1959. Crider earned the name “Crawfish” after crashing his car into Daytona’s Lake Lloyd.
Steve Christman started #62 a total of 20 times in the 1987 season., the only Cup series starts that Christman ever made.
Rick Wilson began his NASCAR Career in 1980 driving the #62 in the Firecracker 400 at Daytona. Wilson made a handful of starts ever year until 1983 for a total of 20 starts. After not racing in 1984, Wilson returned in 1985 full time to drive the Morgan McClure #4.
Brad’s Uncle Ron Keselowski made 18 starts in #62 from 1970-1971.
Frankie Schneider made 9 starts in #62. He won a race at Old Dominion Speedway in 1958. It is the only victory for both Schneider and #62. Schneider was the only New Jersey native to win in the Cup series until Martin Truex Jr. won the Autism Speaks 400 in Dover on June 4, 2007.
In 2015 Brendan Gaughan started 8 of the 16 race he attempted with Premium Racing. After the July Daytona race Gaughan left the team citing disagreements with management. Presumably, Gaughan did not want to start-&-park.
Gaughan has become synonymous with the #62 for his racing in other series. In 2000 & 2001 Gaughan ran a total of 5 Truck Series races for Billy McAnally. Starting in 2002, Gaughan began running full time in the truck series piloting the #62 Napa truck for Orleans Racing. He would win 2 races in 2002, and 6 more in 2003.
In 2003 Gaughan lead the Truck series points going into the season finale at Homestead, but would finish a dissapointing 4th in points after a controversial wreck. An extra Jim Smith racing Truck was entered in the race, the #10 of Marty Houston. Smith also owned the #1 truck of Ted Musgrave. When the #10 crashed into the #62, it seemed to hand the championship to Musgrave, but Musgrave would be black flagged late in the race for passing a truck before the restart line. Travis Kvapil would ultimately be crowned the champion.
After a breif stint driving the #77 Jasper car in the Cup series, Gaughan would bounce between the Trucks and XFINITY series for next several years. In 2009 & 2010, Gaughan would drive the #62 Toyotas and Chevy’s for Rusty Wallace Racing.
In 2011 Gaughan would leave RWR to return to the truck series, driving the #62 for Germain Racing.
Gaughan was supposedly unhappy with the performance of the Germain team, and joined Richard Childress Racing in 2012. That year he did not run in any series for points, but drove the RCR #33 in all 3 premier series. 2013 would see Gaughan drive the #62 full time in the Truck series with occasional Nationwide (XFINITY) starts in #21. Gaughan did not win a truck race that year, but finished they year with an impressive 10 top-5 finishes.
For 2014 Gaughan moved up to the Nationwide Series full time with RCR, earning 2 wins at Road America and Kenutcky. He returned to the team in 2015, but was unable to repeat his victories.
Following the 2017 season, RCR downsized it’s XFINITY Series operation, removing Gaughan from their driver roster. Gaughan announced he was retiring from racing full time, but left the door open for occasional starts in the future.
In 2018 Gaughan brought his #62 livery to the Beard Motorsports team for a part-time Cup series schedule, primarily running the Super Speedway races at Daytona and Talladega. In 2019 Gaughan scored an 8th place finish in the Talladega spring race, and he seemed destined for a similar finish in the fall race before a late-race battle for the leaded ended up with Brendan flipping wildly through the air.
Brendan returned to the Beard Motorsports #62 in 2020 for a limited schedule, intending to only start the super speedway races at Daytona and Talladega. Gaughan finished 7th in the chaotic Daytona 500. His next race at Talladega was delayed due to a series hiatus, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. After the hiatus, NASCAR opted to not hold qualifying session prior to races, meaning that part-time efforts like Gaughan were at risk of not being allowed to race if there were too many entrants into an event. To ensure they had the points to run the final 2 superspeedway races, the #62 team entered the inaugural Daytona Road Course event, though transmission trouble led to a 39th place finish. Gaughan finished 8th at the Daytona oval before finishing his career with a wreck at Talladega and a 35th place finish.
Though retired from driving, Brendan Gaughan will surely still be seen around NASCAR in some capacity, especially at his home track of Las Vegas. His outgoing personalitly has long made him a favorite for many fans. Gaughan started a total of 21 Cup races in the #62.
Just before the 2021 season got underway, Beard Motorsports’ founder & owner Mark Beard passed away. The team entered only 1 race- the Daytona 500, but a crash during the Duels caused Noah Gragson to DNQ.
Gragson returned in 2022, making 3 starts with the team and finishing 5th at the August Daytona Race. Gragson was scheduled to start the Fall Talladega race with the team, but when Noah was tasked with driving the #48 in place of the injured Alex Bowman, Justin Allgaier stepped in the the #62 car for one race.
Other notable names in #62
Buddy Arrington, 12 starts
Bobby Wadell, 4 start
Timmy Hill, 7 starts
Bill Amick, 1 start
Dave Marcis, 1 start
Reed Sorrenson, 1 start
Austin Cameron, 1 start