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Kevin Harvick set for 700th Cup Series start

Just a few weeks after Kurt Busch became the only active Cup Series driver to reach 700 Cup Series starts -- having done so with the July 5 race at Indianapolis -- he’s about to get some company in the 700 Club.

On Sunday, Kevin Harvick will reach that mark when he competes in the Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN).

The achievement comes nineteen years after his first start at Rockingham Speedway in 2001.

Harvick’s Cup career was ushered in quickly when he was tapped by Richard Childress Racing to succeed Dale Earnhardt after Earnhardt’s death at the end of the Daytona 500 the week before.

The 700-start mark comes in a season where Harvick has notched other notable achievements.

With his four wins through 17 races, Harvick has passed Tony Stewart, Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson on the all-time wins list and he sits at No. 12 with 53 victories. One more victory would tie him with Hall of Famer Lee Petty.

Harvick’s win on June 27 at Pocono left him with just two active Cup tracks he’s competed at and not won (Kentucky and the Charlotte Roval). The number could go back up to three if he fails to win on the Daytona road course on Aug. 16.

This weekend’s race at Texas could see Harvick reach another career mark.

Harvick only needs to complete 222 of Sunday’s 334 laps in order to record his 200,000th lap of Cup competition, according to Racing Insights.

The Stewart-Haas Racing driver is currently 16th on the all-time list for laps completed. In 15th is Dale Earnhardt with 202,888 laps.

At the top of the list is Richard Petty with 307,844 laps.

Harvick is also closing in on a laps led mark. He needs 315 more laps led to eclipse 15,000 laps led in Cup.

Harvick enters Sunday’s race having won three of the last five Cup races at the Fort Worth facility. Prior to his 2017 playoff victory, he was winless at the 1.5-mile track. He has 11 consecutive top-10 finishes at TMS. That streak also includes eight top-fives.

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