NASCAR: The all-time record Kevin Harvick just broke
By Asher Fair
Kevin Harvick has officially competed in more NASCAR races across the three national series than any other driver throughout the sport’s history.
When Joe Nemechek competed in the 2019 NASCAR Truck Series season finale, he broke Richard Petty’s all-time record of 1,185 starts across the three national series.
Petty competed in 1,185 Cup Series races while Nemechek’s 1,186th start was the 69th of his Truck Series career.
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He had competed in 673 Cup Series races and 444 Xfinity Series races at the time. He went on to compete in both the Xfinity Series season finale and the Cup Series season finale at the same track.
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During the 2019 playoffs, Kevin Harvick quietly moved into third place on the all-time starts list, as he passed Mark Martin (1,143 starts) and finished the year with 1,151.
Harvick ran the full 2020 Cup Series season and also quietly passed Petty’s mark of 1,185 starts, as he finished the year with 1,187, but Nemechek maintained the record and extended it to 1,197. He competed in eight Xfinity Series races and one Truck Series race throughout the year.
But now NASCAR has a new all-time most experienced driver, and that driver is Kevin Harvick.
By competing in this past Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway, Harvick has now competed in a record 1,198 races throughout his NASCAR career, including 728 Cup Series races, 346 Xfinity Series races and 124 Truck Series races.
So far this season, Nemechek has not competed in any races. He failed to qualify for the Truck Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway.
Harvick is under contract with Stewart-Haas Racing through the 2023 season, so he will likely own this record for the next several years, given the fact that Nemechek is well past his full-time days.
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Kyle Busch, whose 1,095 starts rank fifth on the all-time list, is also an active full-time driver, and not only is he more than nine years younger than Harvick, but he also still competes in both the Xfinity Series and the Truck Series on a regular basis and is the overwhelming favorite to be the next driver to break this record eventually.