It seems unfathomable, but Joey Logano is already set to eclipse the 600 career starts mark in NASCAR Cup Series competition this weekend in the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway.
When Logano cranks the engine on his No. 22 Team Penske Ford Mustang Dark Horse in Sunday’s race, the 35-year-old driver will become just the 34th driver in NASCAR Cup Series history to reach the milestone.
Logano made his NASCAR Cup Series debut at the age of 18, driving the No. 96 Hall of Fame Racing Toyota in the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September 2008, a race that he would start 40th and finish 32nd in.
At 35 years, 1 month, and 28 days old, Logano will become the youngest driver to ever achieve 600 career starts in the NASCAR Cup Series.
After three starts during the 2008 season, Logano has gone on a run of 596 consecutive starts heading into Sunday’s event at Dover, which will put the driver over the 600-start mark for his career. Logano joined the NASCAR Cup Series with lofty expectations as he took over for Tony Stewart as the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing entry for the 2009 season.
While Logano suffered ups and downs in his tenure with Joe Gibbs Racing, he moved to Team Penske in 2013 and has flourished ever since. As it stands, Logano has built what is likely a NASCAR Hall of Fame resume, and he still has plenty of years left in the tank.
Logano is a 37-time NASCAR Cup Series race winner and is a three-time champion of NASCAR’s top division.
Now, he’ll look to join Richard Petty, who to date is the only driver to ever score a victory in their 600th career NASCAR Cup Series start. Petty pulled off the feat with a win at Richmond in February 1973. If Logano can pull it off on Sunday, Dover Motor Speedway will become the 22nd different track that Logano has found victory lane at in NASCAR Cup Series competition.
Logano has five top-five finishes and 15 top-10s through 28 career starts at the 1-mile high-banked concrete oval in Delaware, and his career-best finish is third, which he’s achieved three times.
Dover Motor Speedway was the site of one of the wildest moments of Logano’s career as he flipped wildly in the Fall event at the facility during his 2009 rookie season.
Drivers to reach 600 career NASCAR Cup Series starts
- Richard Petty, 1,184 starts
- Ricky Rudd, 906 starts
- Terry Labonte, 890 starts
- Dave Marcis, 883 starts
- Mark Martin, 882 starts
- Kyle Petty, 829 starts
- Bill Elliott, 828 starts
- Kevin Harvick, 826 starts
- Darrell Waltrip, 809 starts
- Jeff Gordon, 805 starts
- Michael Waltrip, 784 starts
- Kurt Busch, 776 starts
- Ken Schrader, 763 starts
- Sterling Marlin, 748 starts
- Kyle Busch, 734 starts*
- Ryan Newman, 733 starts
- Bobby Labonte, 729 starts
- Bobby Allison, 718 starts
- Rusty Wallace, 706 starts
- Denny Hamlin, 705 starts*
- Jimmie Johnson, 700 starts*
- Buddy Baker, 700 starts
- Matt Kenseth, 697 starts
- Jeff Burton, 695 starts
- Martin Truex Jr., 694 starts*
- Dale Earnhardt, 676 starts
- Joe Nemechek, 674 starts
- Dale Jarrett, 668 starts
- J.D. McDuffie, 653 starts
- Buck Baker, 635 starts
- Dale Earnhardt Jr., 631 starts
- Tony Stewart, 618 starts
- James Hylton, 602 starts
* indicates active drivers
