Daytona 500 Countdown: day minus 15

With 15 days remaining until the green flag falls on the 2013 Daytona 500, here’s a look back at the number 15 in NASCAR history. 

 

The number 15 is generally associated with two car owners: Long Beach, California-based Bill Stroppe and NASCAR hall-of-famer Bud Moore.

Drivers who wheeled Stroppe’s immaculately prepared Mercury racers with the number 15 included Tim and Fonty Flock and most famously, Parnelli Jones. When Mercury pulled out of NASCAR, Stroppe and Parnelli continued on with Ford-bodied cars for a few more years.

Bud Moore ran the number 15 in NASCAR longer than anyone, finally retiring as a car owner in 2000. Like Stroppe, Moore was also a stalwart for the factory Mercury and Ford racing programs. Drivers who raced the 15 for Moore make a long and impressive list. They include Donnie and Bobby Allison, Buddy Baker, Ricky Rudd, Benny Parsons, and Dale Earnhardt, Sr. A few of the cars that raced the number 15 can be found in the gallery below.