Posted September 18, 2022 by Dominic Aragon Cup

Joey Logano completes 500th start

By starting the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race Saturday night (Sept. 17), Joey Logano became the 45th driver in NASCAR Cup Series history to race in at least 500 points-awarding races in NASCAR’s elite series.

Logano, who started 15th, didn’t make it to the end of the race with a suspension issue. He completed 437 of the 500 laps, credited with a 27th-place finish.

“Got the car going to where it was decent,” Logano said of his 500th race. “…A top-10 looked pretty solid in our future, and blew a right-front [tire].”

500 Races

Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images for NASCAR

Logano made his first Cup Series start in the September 2008 New Hampshire race.

Racing for Joe Gibbs Racing full-time from 2009 to 2012, Logano signed with his current organization, Team Penske, in 2013.

In 500 Cup Series starts — 497 consecutive after the Bristol race — Logano has earned 31 poles, 29 wins, 146 Top-5 finishes, 253 Top-10 finishes,7,911 laps led, and the 2018 series title.

History
The first driver to hit 500 starts in the Cup Series was Buck Baker in 1964.

The only two drivers who won in their 500th start were Richard Petty and Matt Kenseth, according to FOX Sports.

Of active NASCAR Cup Series drivers, Brad Keselowski is the closest driver who could make reach their 500th start next, currently at 478.

Drivers with 500 or more starts**
1. Richard Petty 1,184

2. Ricky Rudd 906

3. Terry Labonte 890

4. Dave Marcis 883

5. Mark Martin 882

6. Kyle Petty 829

7. Bill Elliott 828

8. Darrell Waltrip 809

9. Jeff Gordon 805

10. Michael Waltrip 784

11. Kevin Harvick* 783

12. Kurt Busch* 776

13. Ken Schrader 763