Your Home For Racing News
Posts tagged Daytona 500
Gordon To Make 600th Start In The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Jul 8th
July 7, 2010
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (July 7, 2010) – Jeff Gordon will make his 600th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start on Saturday night in the LifeLock.com 400, at Chicagoland Speedway.
A four-time series champion, Gordon has enjoyed one of the most prolific careers in the sport’s history. Consider the following:
- Four series titles. Only Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson and Hall of Famers Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt have four or more series championships.
- 82 career victories. That ranks sixth all-time. One more win, and Gordon will tie Cale Yarborough for fifth. Two more, and he’ll tie Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip for third.
- 68 poles. That ranks fourth all-time. One more, and he’ll tie Yarborough for third.
- 272 top fives and 371 top 10s rank sixth and eighth, respectively.
Gordon began his NASCAR Sprint Cup career in the final race of 1992 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and has not missed a single event since. All 599 starts have been consecutive.
Below is a timeline of Gordon’s career highlights on his way to 600 starts:
1 – Nov. 15, 1992, he made his first series start. Finishing 31st, an accident ended his day early.
2 – In his first Daytona 500, on Feb. 14, 1993, Gordon finished fifth.
42 – On May 29, 1994 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Gordon won his first race. It was in one of NASCAR’s biggest events – the Coca-Cola 600.
50 – On Aug. 6, 1994,Gordon won the inaugural NASCAR race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
85 – Won another “crown jewel” race, the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, on Sept. 3, 1995.
93 – Despite finishing 32nd in the season finale at Atlanta on Nov. 12, 1995, Gordon won his first series championship.
125 – Became the youngest winner in Daytona 500 history at 25 years, six months, 12 days on Feb. 16, 1997.
132 – Led 431 of 500 laps to win at Martinsville on April 20, 1997, the highest single-race laps led total of his career.
453 – On June 25, 2006, won at Infineon Raceway, his ninth victory at a road course. Gordon is the all-time wins leader at road courses.
503 – On Oct. 7, 2007 at Talladega Superspeedway, Gordon captured his 12th restrictor-plate victory, becoming the all-time leader in that category.
552 – On April 5, 2009, he grabbed his most recent victory, at Texas Motor Speedway, leaving Homestead-Miami Speedway as the only track at which Gordon has yet to win.
Labonte To Make 600th Start In NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Jul 1st
June 30, 2010
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 30, 2010) – Bobby Labonte will make his 600th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start on Saturday night in the Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola, at Daytona International Speedway.
Along with 21 career series victories, Labonte won the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship in 2000 running the No. 18 Chevrolet with Joe Gibbs Racing. Throughout a career that has spanned 19 seasons, Labonte has tallied 114 top fives and 199 top 10s.
Labonte began his full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup career in 1993 with Bill Davis Racing before joining Joe Gibbs Racing in 1995. In 2006, he moved to Petty Enterprises to drive the historic No. 43 car made famous by Richard Petty. Saturday, he will drive the No. 09 Phoenix Racing Chevrolet.
Below is a timeline of Labonte’s career highlights on his way to 600 starts:
1 – June 3, 1991, Labonte made his first series start, at Dover International Speedway, finishing 34th. Labonte ran two races in 1991, before joining the series full time in 1993. He has currently run 597 consecutive races.
3 – Feb. 14, 1993, he finished 20th in his first Daytona 500.
74 – Leading 85 laps in one of NASCAR’s “crown jewels,” Labonte won his first race – the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway – on May 28, 1995.
224 – Nov. 21, 1999, Labonte won the season finale at Atlanta Motor Speedway for his single-season career-high fifth victory of the year. He finished the season second in points to champion Dale Jarrett.
244 – Labonte won another of NASCAR’s major events – the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Aug. 5, 2000.
248 – Labonte won another spotlight race – the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway – on Sept. 3, 2000.
258 – Finishing fifth in the 2000 season finale at Atlanta, Labonte won the championship by 265 points over Dale Earnhardt on Nov. 20, 2000.
366 – Labonte picked up his most recent win – on Nov. 16, 2003 in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
439 – After 11 seasons with Joe Gibbs Racing, Labonte started his first race in the No. 43 Petty Enterprises Dodge. In that Daytona 500, held on Feb. 19, 2006, he finished 35th.
579 – Driving the No 71 TRG Chevrolet, Labonte posted his 199th career top-10 finish, on Nov. 1, 2009. One more, and he will become the 26th driver with 200 top 10s.