NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series driver Jeremy Clements matched Kenny Wallace for the most career starts in O’Reilly Series history last weekend, and now the veteran will move past the mark at San Diego.
Coming off a run at Pocono that saw him climb to sixth in Stage 1 before settling for P12 at the end of the stage, finish P8 in Stage 2, and ultimately end the race in P16 place, Clements is now just one race away from moving ahead of Wallace’s long-standing benchmark.
When the field goes to San Diego next week, the 41-year-old will make his 548th start in the series.
Through the first 17 races of the 2026 season, Clements has continued carrying the banner for his family-owned team, Jeremy Clements Racing. His season roster includes a top-five finish at Talladega and a top-10 result at Texas Motor Speedway.
For more than 13 years, he has driven the No. 51 Chevrolet, while in 2011 and 2012, he split duties between the No. 51 and No. 4 Chevrolet entries for the same organization.
Before joining his family team, Clements attempted a few starts with Kenneth Appling Racing, the outfit with which he made his debut in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series in 2003, along with stints at McGill Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, and JD Motorsports. Yet his strongest results came under his own banner.
The road has hardly been a straight line, but Clements has produced moments that still stand out from the crowd. Among them are his two wins, one at Road America in 2017 and another at Daytona in 2022. His highest final standings finish remains 12th, achieved in 2017, 2021, and 2022.
Those same seasons are also the only three in which he reached the postseason. Now, after making 547 starts in the series, Clements stands on the doorstep of a milestone no driver has ever reached before, holding more starts than anyone else in series history.
Besides, this season, his family-run team also entered into a technical alliance with the Haas Factory Team, giving the organization another tool to aim for stronger results.
Following 17 starts this year, Clements stands at P19 in the driver standings with 284 points. He sits seven positions outside the playoff cut line, with 12th place serving as the final transfer spot into the postseason.
The battle for the O’Reilly crown will begin after Race 24 (at Daytona), when the top 12 drivers in points move on to a nine-race championship showdown.
Clements himself acknowledged that he never entered the series with the goal of owning the starts record. However, with his team now standing at the edge of history, he intends to embrace the moment and make the most of it.
“It just shows that even though we’re a small team, we work hard and we’re determined, we don’t give up. To still be racing and loving what I get to do every week, it sure is a blessing,” Clements said.
Not to mention, Wallace was 51 years old when he reached the mark, while Clements is only 41. That gap leaves plenty of races Clements can still look forward to, and if things fall into place, the driver hopes to push the number to an unbreakable level.
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