Back on Jan. 12, Kevin Harvick announced that 2023 would be his final year in the NASCAR Cup Series. The driver of the No. 4 GEARWRENCH Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing will retire after the checkered flag waves at the season finale Nov. 5 at Phoenix Raceway. When that day comes, Harvick will have had a 23-year run in the Cup Series — one of the longest tenures in recent memory. That kind of history makes for some interesting anecdotes, especially when you consider that Harvick has been racing in at least one of NASCAR‘s top-three national series for 28 years.
Harvick will make some history of his own Sunday at Auto Club Speedway. When he takes the green flag for the Pala Casino 400, Harvick will make his 750th consecutive NASCAR Cup Series start, becoming just the third driver in series history to reach the milestone, joining Jeff Gordon (797 consecutive starts) and Ricky Rudd (788 consecutive starts). The last time Harvick was not in a Cup Series race was April 2, 2002 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, a span of 7,623 days between race dates.
— True Speed Communication —