As Brad Keselowski embarks upon his 600th career NASCAR Cup Series start in Sunday’s Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway, the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion isn’t looking to slow down anytime soon. In a pre-race press release from RFK Racing, Keselowski indicates that he would like to drive quite a bit longer in NASCAR’s premier division.
“I’d like to get to eight hundred [starts],” said Keselowski. “I think that’s a good goal.”
In order for Keselowski, who made his NASCAR Cup Series debut at Texas Motor Speedway in 2008, to reach 800 career starts, the driver would have to keep driving in the series through the 2031 season. Provided the NASCAR Cup Series remains at a 36-race schedule through then, Keselowski would hit the milestone in the 27th event of that season.
For Keselowski, his 600th start in the NASCAR Cup Series is a pinch-me moment as the driver vividly remembers his first Cup Series start, a 19th-place finish at Texas, and the thoughts in his mind at that time in his life.
“I just wanted to have a career and was trying to prove myself,” Keselowski explained. “To think that I’ve had another 599 since then is pretty cool. I just want to sit down with a 24-year-old me and tell him that was going to happen.”
Incredibly, what has happened is that the young, lanky driver from Rochester Hills, Michigan, has filled out his NASCAR Cup Series resume with 36 victories over an illustrious 19 years in the NASCAR Cup Series, and along the way, he’s grown tremendously on and off the track.
Now, Keselowski is looking for more.
Last weekend, the 42-year-old driver led a race-high 142 laps at Darlington Raceway, and narrowly missed out on a win as he was passed in the closing laps by Tyler Reddick on the path to a runner-up finish.
While Keselowski was expected to hit the ground sluggishly in 2026, as he was recovering from a broken femur, an injury sustained in an offseason ski trip with his family, the driver has had an excellent start to the year.
Six races into the campaign, Keselowski has recorded a pair of top-five finishes, three top-10s, and has a worst finish of 20th, which came at Circuit of the Americas, a track that he was unsure originally if he would be able to compete at due to the extent of his leg injury.
Due to the solid start, Keselowski finds himself ninth in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings heading into his 600th career start in Sunday’s Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway, a track that he has two wins in his career.
If Keselowski can nab a third win at the paperclip on Sunday, he’ll join Richard Petty as the only drivers to ever score a win in their 600th career NASCAR Cup Series start.
