DAYTONA BEACH, FL — February 1963: Johnny Rutherford, who would go on to much fame in the Indy Car ranks, won the very first stock car race he drove in at the wheel of this Smokey Yunick-owned 1963 Chevrolet in one of the 100-mile qualifying races for the Daytona 500 NASCAR Cup race at Daytona International Speedway. It would be the only major stock car race Rutherford would win during his career. He went on to finish ninth in the Daytona 500. (Photo by ISC Images & Archives via Getty Images)

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

Today marks 13 days before NASCAR Cup Series drivers compete in the 67th running of the Great American Race. In 663 total starts in the NASCAR Cup Series, car No. 13 is credited with winning one race—the second qualifying race for the 1963 DAYTONA 500, with Johnny Rutherford behind the wheel of Smokey Yunick’s Chevrolet. In those days, the qualifiers counted as official races. Rutherford went on to finish ninth, four laps down, in the subsequent DAYTONA 500. Four years later, Curtis Turner won the DAYTONA 500 pole in Yunick’s No. 13 but fell out of the race after 142 laps because of engine failure.

Tune-in to the 2025 DAYTONA 500 on Sunday, February 16 at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.