NASCAR: Will Joe Nemechek’s new record ever be broken?

By Asher Fair | Nov 23, 2019

HOMESTEAD, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 15: Joe Nemechek, driver of the #8 Fire Alarm Services/Fleetwing Chevrolet, will make his 1,186th career start across all three top-tier NASCAR series when he takes the green flag for the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Ford EcoBoost 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 15, 2019 in Homestead, Florida. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /

Will Joe Nemechek’s new all-time NASCAR starts record that he just set last weekend by passing Richard Petty ever be broken?

Joe Nemechek’s start in last Friday night’s 2019 NASCAR Truck Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway was the 69th start of his Truck Series career and the 1,186th start of his NASCAR career.

As a result, the 56-year-old Naples, Florida native broke the all-time starts record across NASCAR’s three national series, the Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Truck Series, that was previously held by Richard Petty, who competed in 1,185 races, all in the Cup Series.

Nemechek went on to compete in Saturday afternoon’s Xfinity Series season finale and Sunday afternoon’s Cup Series season finale at the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Homestead-Miami Speedway oval in Homestead, Florida, bringing his career NASCAR start total to 1,188 (69 in the Truck Series, 445 in the Xfinity Series and 674 in the Cup Series).

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Who is the closest driver to Nemechek and Petty on the all-time NASCAR starts list?

That would be Kevin Harvick, who has competed in 1,151 races, including 123 Truck Series races, 346 Xfinity Series races and 682 Cup Series races.

Can Harvick break Nemechek’s record?

Harvick only competed in Cup Series races this year, and he hasn’t competed in a Truck Series race since 2015. He also did not compete in any Xfinity Series races this year despite the fact that he had done so for 20 consecutive seasons going back to 1999 entering 2019.

More than likely, Harvick will add 36 starts to this total next year, which would still be shy of Nemechek’s mark, even if Nemechek doesn’t compete at all next year. Harvick hasn’t officially stated when he plans to retire, but it may be hard to compete in over 37 more races than Nemechek before he does provided he retires within the next few years, especially since Nemechek has competed in NASCAR on some level in every season since 1989.

Behind Harvick, the next highest active driver on the all-time NASCAR starts list is Kyle Busch, who has competed in 1,036 races, including 150 Truck Series races, 352 Xfinity Series races and 534 Cup Series races.

Busch probably has a better chance of eventually running down Nemechek for multiple reasons, despite the fact that he still trails Harvick by nearly three seasons worth of races.

One, he is only 34 years old, nearly a decade younger than Harvick, and two, he competes in the maximum allowable total of Xfinity Series and Truck Series races every year to go along with his full-time Cup Series schedule. He is, however, set to step away from Xfinity Series competition once he wins his 100th race in the series. He currently has 96 victories to his name.

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Will Joe Nemechek’s new NASCAR starts record that he just broke last weekend by passing Richard Petty on the all-time starts list ever be broken? If it is, look for either Kevin Harvick or Kyle Busch to be the driver to break it first.