Joey Logano Set to Break Richard Petty’s 52-Year-Old Record

What’s Happening?

With his start this weekend at Dover Motor Speedway, Joey Logano will break a record set by Richard Petty in February 1973.

• This weekend at Dover Motors Speedway, Joey Logano will make his 600th career NASCAR start. While this is a milestone in its own right, this start will make Logano the youngest driver in NASCAR history to make 600 starts.
• Richard Petty set this record in 1973 at 35 years, seven months, and 23 days old, having made his first career Cup Series start in Toronto in July 1958. This weekend, Logano will beat this record by almost six months, making his 600th start at 35 years, one month, and 16 days old.
• This new record is made all the more impressive by the fact that Petty averaged 39.733 starts a season in the seasons prior to his 600th start at Richmond in 1973. After 1971, NASCAR scaled down its schedule, meaning that Logano has consistently had fewer races per season than Petty to achieve this record.
• Logano, who made his first Cup Series start in September 2008, has averaged just 34.059 starts a season prior to this year. Furthermore, before NASCR’s modern era, which began in 1972, Petty also had four seasons in which he made more than 50 starts a year.
• Regardless, through his first 600 starts, Petty had 150 wins, including a win in his 600th start; in comparison, Logano has a measly yet still impressive 37 career wins. Logano, much like Petty, will be the reigning multi-time NASCAR Cup Series champion at their 600th start, with Petty coming off his fourth in 1972 and Logano coming off his third in 2024.

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