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Kurt Busch to make 700th career Cup start

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IndyCar driver Scott Dixon and NASCAR driver Kurt Busch preview the historic crossover weekend in Indianapolis and explain how they will be rooting for each other as Chip Ganassi Racing teammates.

Former champion Kurt Busch will make his 700th career Cup start today at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (4 p.m. ET on NBC and the NBC Sports App).

Busch becomes only the 16th driver to amass at least 700 career Cup starts. Richard Petty owns the series record with 1,185 starts.

Busch, who starts second today at Indy, has the most career starts among active drivers. He has two more starts than Kevin Harvick, who is scheduled to make his 700th career Cup start July 19 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Busch made his first career Cup start Sept. 24, 2000 at Dover, finishing 18th.

He has 31 career victories, including the 2017 Daytona 500. Busch won the 2004 Cup title. He has 307 career top-10 finishes.

The 41-year-old marvels at making his 700th career Cup start today.

“It’s amazing,” Busch said. “To have this opportunity and to have been blessed to have raced with so many great race teams over the years, just making it past the local track was something that I thought was an achievement because my dad was a local racer. He won a lot. But it was like money, sponsors, and the whole challenge of even getting to like the Southwest Tour and Late Model division, that was even tough for us way back in the past.

“So, it’s amazing. Twenty years of racing at the top series level and now having 700 starts, I never would have guessed.”

Busch is 10th in points entering today’s race. He has yet to win his year but has three top-five finishes and nine top-10 results in 15 starts for Chip Ganassi Racing.

MOST CAREER CUP STARTS

1,185 - Richard Petty

906 - Ricky Rudd

890 - Terry Labonte

883 - Dave Marcis

882 - Mark Martin

829 - Kyle Petty

828 - Bill Elliott

809 - Darrell Waltrip

805 - Jeff Gordon

784 - Michael Waltrip

763 - Ken Schrader

748 - Sterling Marlin

729 - Bobby Labonte

706 - Rusty Wallace

700 - Kurt Busch