The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season will feature 36 points-paying races, which will help three veteran drivers reach significant career milestones.
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Kyle Busch will enter the season with 714 Cup starts. Denny Hamlin will enter with 686 starts while Joey Logano will enter with 579 starts. All three drivers will make moves up the all-time starts leaderboard while passing some Hall of Fame drivers.
If Busch makes all 36 points-paying starts, he will end the season with 750 career starts at NASCAR's top level. He will become only the 14th driver in history to reach this mark. He will pass Bobby Allison (718), Bobby Labonte (729), Ryan Newman (733), and Sterling Marlin (748).
Busch will end the season only 13 starts behind Ken Schrader and only 26 starts behind brother Kurt Busch.
Hamlin, for comparison, ranks 25th all-time with his 686 starts. He will pass Martin Truex Jr. (693 starts) early in the season and then he will track down Jeff Burton (695), Matt Kenseth (697), Jimmie Johnson (698), Buddy Baker (700), Rusty Wallace (706), and Allison.
If Hamlin makes all 36 Cup starts next season, he will leave Phoenix in November with 722 career starts. He will move from 25th all-time to 18th.
If Johnson makes more starts next season as he plans, he will also join Hamlin and Busch on the list of drivers to make 700 career starts at NASCAR's top level.
Logano still has multiple years before he hits the 700 starts milestone, but he will still pass multiple other drivers on the all-time starts list next season.
The three-time Cup champion will enter the season with 579 starts. He will leave Phoenix with 615 if he suits up for all 36 races. This will move him to 33rd on NASCAR's leaderboard. He will pass Jamie McMurray (584) and James Hylton (602). He will end the season three starts behind Tony Stewart (618).
These veterans are not the only drivers hitting milestones during the 2025 season. 2021 Cup champion Kyle Larson will join them, albeit at a much lower number.
Larson will enter the season with 366 career starts split between Chip Ganassi Racing and Hendrick Motorsports. If he suits up for all 36 races, he will end the season with 402 starts. He will become the 71st driver to reach 400 career starts as he passes seven other drivers.
