Major League Baseball player Cal Ripken set a record for playing in thousands of games without missing a game.  He became the Iron Man of baseball.

In NASCAR, a consecutive start streak can be a daunting task where injuries can happen at any moment on the track and often involve drivers getting caught up in a crash not of their own making.

Earlier this week, Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin made the decision to skip the race in Mexico City with the birth of his son.  That decision ended a consecutive race start of over 400 races.

But where does that number fall among current drivers?  One hundred race starts – about three years of racing – is considered a good mark to begin expecting a driver to show major improvement and win races.

Currently there are less than two dozen drivers who have at least 100 consecutive race starts going into the race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City…

Chris Buescher – 108
Todd Gilliland – 123
Austin Cindric – 123
Justin Haley – 140
Chase Briscoe – 159
Ross Chastain – 159
Austin Dillon – 172
Daniel Suarez – 194
Christopher Bell – 195
Tyler Reddick – 195
William Byron – 267
Michael McDowell – 310
Ryan Blaney – 340
Kyle Busch – 364 – Busch broke an extended streak back in 2015 when he crashed at Daytona breaking a leg and a foot.  He was back racing three months later.
Ricky Stenhouse  Jr – 379
Denny Hamlin – 406 – streak stops here after missing the race in Mexico City
Brad Keselowski – 559
Joey Logano – 591

But how does that stack up against all time drivers – current and inactive???

As of February 26, 2023 there were 25 drivers who had made at least 400 consecutive race starts…

Paul Menard – 452
Dale Earnhardt Jr – 461
David Ragan – 469
Brad Keselowski – 473
Greg Biffle – 501
Joey Logano – 505
Richard Petty – 513
Tony Stewart – 521
Kasey Kahne – 529
Clint Bowyer – 540
Matt Kenseth – 571
Ken Schrader – 579
Jamie McMurray – 581
Martin Truex Jr, – 613
Mark Martin – 621
Jeff Burton – 628
Dale Earnhardt Sr – 648 – the streak ended with his death in 2001 at the Daytona 500
Ryan Newman – 649 – his streak also ended at the Daytona 500 with a crash
Terry Labonte – 655
Jimmie Johnson – 663
Rusty Wallace – 697
Bobby Labonte – 704
Kevin Harvick – 750
Ricky Rudd – 788
Jeff Gordon – 797