Numerology is the practice of assigning meaning to numbers.
The stock-car world saw this come in to play when Darrell Waltrip won the 1989 Daytona 500 in his 17th try on Feb. 17 in car number 17, and his daughter Jessica was just 17 days old.
For some, just a coincidence. For others, destiny.
Perhaps, then, it’s just a coincidence that Jake Finch won the General Tire 200 at Talladega Superspeedway, a track at which his father James has won as a car owner.
Or was it destiny?
The younger Finch earned his first ARCA Menards Series victory at the track where his father’s Phoenix Racing team won with Jeff Purvis in 1994. It wasn’t 30 years to the day, rather 29 years, 11 months and 20 days, but 30 years ago nonetheless.
Furthermore, the lone NASCAR Cup Series win for Phoenix Racing happened at Talladega 15 years ago. OK, 14 years, 11 months and 24 days, but still, 15 years ago.
Some would say, based on the “every 15 years” criteria alone, the younger Finch was destined for Victory Lane on Saturday.
Hold on, though. As they say on television game shows: Wait, there’s more.
The younger Finch was driving for the team with which Jesse Love competed last year when he won the ARCA Menards Series race at Talladega. That Venturini Motorsports team was led by crew chief Shannon Rursch. Who was the crew chief when Brad Keselowski earned Phoenix Racing’s lone Cup win in 2009? None other than Shannon Rursch.
Coincidence? Perhaps.
But then we need to take into account that Jesse Love also went to Victory Lane on Saturday, taking the checkered flag for his first NASCAR Xfinity Series win.
Yes, Love has been knocking on the door since the start of the season, and we could jump to the conclusion that his win was just a matter of time. But let’s take into account that Love and Finch are pretty good pals; Love actually stayed in the Finch motorhome in the infield at Talladega for the weekend’s events.
The numbers line up well for the Finch family at Talladega. It even lines up well for those closely affiliated with the Finch family.
Now, we wait for what Jake Finch does at Talladega in 2039.
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