Winning in NASCAR doesn’t have an expiration date. Even after reaching an age where retirement is expected or hitting 600 Cup Series starts — like Joey Logano will this weekend — many drivers have still wheeled their way into victory lane after crossing the 40-year or 600-start mark, or both.
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This year, we’ve seen 44-year-old Denny Hamlin already win three races in a season that is becoming somewhat of a renaissance for the Virginia native, when it comes to being competitive. In fact, Hamlin has done so well in the season’s first 20 races, he enters this weekend’s race at Dover Motor Speedway fifth in the Cup standings, just 62 points behind series leader William Byron.
Hamlin’s 2025 totals might have been even higher had he not missed the Mexico City race due to the birth of his third child (and first son).
Even though he’s the winningest active driver in the Cup Series, Hamlin ranks third on the list of 15 drivers who’ve won at least one race on or after their 600th career Cup start. And Logano could add his name to that list if he wins Sunday’s race.
This Sunday, Joey Logano is set to become just the 34th driver in Cup Series history to start 600 races. Only 15 drivers have earned a win on or after their 600th start.
How many more wins do you think the 3x champion gets? pic.twitter.com/v7LpbupIXW
— Daniel Céspedes (@_DanielCespedes) July 18, 2025
Hamlin has earned 13 of his 57 career Cup wins since he turned 40, nine of which have come since hitting the 600 start mark.
No. 1 on the list may be a surprise to some fans
Kevin Harvick has the highest win percentage among drivers in races after their 600th career start. Of his 826 career Cup starts, nearly half (29) of his 60 career Cup wins came after he was 40 years old, and 24 of those wins came after he passed 600 starts.
The list would not be complete without ‘The King’ Richard Petty, who is second. Of Petty’s 1,184 career Cup starts, 15 of his 200 career wins came after he was 40 years old and 51 came after he passed the 600-start mark.
After Hamlin is the late Dale Earnhardt, who won 26 races after his 40th birthday but only five wins came after his 600th start, mainly because he was tragically killed in the 676th start of his Cup career.
Fifth is Jeff Gordon, who retired, then came back to help out Hendrick Motorsports when Dale Earnhardt Jr. was injured in a crash. Gordon won just five races after he turned 40 years old, but he earned 11 wins after his 600th start (805 Cup starts in total).
The rest of the list, in order, includes Bobby Allison, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Mark Martin, Bill Elliott, Ricky Rudd, Matt Kenseth, Rusty Wallace and Terry Labonte.
