In NACAR Cup Series competition, the #51 has 678 total starts with 103 drivers, 2 wins, 4 poles, 22 top 5s, 59 top 10s, and 255 DNFs.
- Chevrolet: 451 races
- Ford: 102 races
- Oldsmobile: 76 races
- Dodge: 38 races
- Buick: 15 races
- Pontiac: 13 races
- Plymouth: 7 races
- Chrysler: 6 races
- Toyota: 5 races
- Cadillac: 3 races
- Justin Allgaier has the most starts in the number with 75 from 2013-2015. In 2016 Allgier moved to the XFINITY Series to drive the JRM #7 car. Clint Bowyer took over the HScott Motorsports ride, renumbered to #15.
- Gober Sosebee has 56 career starts in #51 from 1950-1955, including his only 2 career wins and the only 2 wins the number has at Hayloft Speedway and Central City Speedway
- In 1984 & 1985 Greg Sacks drove the #51 car, owned by his father. In 32 starts Sacks led 2 laps.
- Dub Simpson drove #51 in select races from 1969-1974 for a total of 31 starts.
- In 2012 Kurt Busch made a total of 29 starts for Pheonix racing.
- Stan Meserve drove #51 for 28 starts in 1968.
- Jeff Purvis has 25 starts in #51 from 1990-2001.
- In 2011 Landon Cassill drove #51 for 21 races in James Finch’s car.
- From 1962-1963 Bob Cooper made 17 starts in #51.
- AJ Foyt made 16 starts in #51 from 1977-1982
- Regan Smith, Austin Dillon, Kyle Larson, Ryan Truex, Jacques Villeneuve, Brendan Gaughan, Mike Bliss, Michael McDowell, Bobby Labonte, Owen Kelly, AJ Allmendinger, David Reutimann, and Boris Said have all made at least 1 start in #51 from James Finch since 2011.
- In 1994 Neil Bonnett was scheduled to compete in at least 6 races for James Finch in #51, but after a practice crash in turn 4 before the Daytona 500 Bonnett was killed. 7 years later the same turn would claim the life of his his best friend, Dale Earnhardt.
- Since 2017, Rick Ware Racing fielded car #51 car, and the team gained a charter in 2018. Their drivers have included B.J. McLeod (32 starts), Cody Ware (50 starts), Timmy Hill (12 starts), J.J. Yeley (6 starts), Josh Bilicki (5 starts), James Davison (5 races), Kyle Weatherman (2 races) , Ray Black Jr. (3 races), Garrett Smithley (2 races) and many more.
In 2020, Rick Ware Racing ventured into IndyCar racing in a partnership with Dale Coyne Racing. James Davison piloted the #51 Dallara Honda to a 33rd (last) place finish after his wheel caught fire on lap 6. For 2021, the team went full time with former Formula 1 driver Romain Grosjean piloting the #51 car for most of the races, with Pietro Fitipaldi behind the wheel for the large oval races. The team fielded te #52 car in select races as well with Cody Ware and Ryan Norman behind the wheel.
For 2022, 2-time Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato will pilot the #51 car. No plans have been announced for the #52 car.
Cole Custer also made 3 starts in the 51 car in 2018. Though the car was officially entered by RWR, Custer’s car was prepared and pitted by Stewart-Haas Racing.
- Other notable names in #51:
- Stuart Kirby, 7 races.
- Kevin Lepage, 5 races.
- David Simko, 6 races.
- Tony Raines, 4 races.
- Fireball Roberts, 1 race.
- Michael Waltrip , 1 race.
- Speedy Thompson, 1 race.
- Hut Sticklin, 1 race.
In the XFINITY Series, #51 is driven by Jeremy Clements. In 2017 Clements and his underfunded team scored a win in an exciting finish at Road America.
In the truck series, #51 is run by Kyle Busch Motorsport with several drivers, most notably Kyle Busch, Eric Jones, Aric Almirola, Daniel Suarez, Denny Hamlin, and Kurt Busch. The paint scheme and theme behind the KBM #51 is based off of the Rowdy Burns car from the movie “Days of Thunder.”
The NASCAR Historian 
You say that Justin Allgaier has the second most starts in the #51, but you don’t say who’s first …
LikeLike
Allgaier has the most starts in #51. It was a typo. Thanks!
LikeLike