Kenny Wallace came online to provide a reflection on his record that is about to be broken. In this spirit of sportsmanship, he was here to comment upon how longtime veteran Jeremy Clements is now preparing to surpass his all-time O’Reilly Auto Parts Series starts record.

As of now, Wallace currently leads with 547 career starts after competing in the national series for over two decades. Now, the challenger, Clements, is expected to make his 548th start during the upcoming San Diego weekend.

Seeming emotional about the moment, Wallace was quick to admit that he didn’t think the record would ever be challenged. “It is amazing that he is gonna break my record. They want to fly me out to San Diego. They wanted me to go out there and I do want to go out there,” Wallace said before joking, “And I said, 'Listen, you tell my wife.'”

Wallace then went on to stress the monumental importance of the event. “I definitely want to congratulate Jeremy. I definitely want to hand him the keys over. I’m at 547. He’s going to be at 548 out there. It’s a big deal,” he added.

The latter part of the interview is where it gets interesting as Wallace revealed a possible comeback when pushed. “I dreamed that I’m at Richmond and I’m trying to run one more O’Reilly race,” before admitting Dale Earnhardt Jr. eventually talked him out of it and said, "No, you're going to run my CARS tour."

However, many fans feel that Clements breaking the record is a more monumental achievement than the quantitative measure itself. Well, let’s find out why.

Jeremy Clements’ record represents NASCAR’s last true family-owned survivors

Jeremy Clements, according to many, deserves to take the record, for it would be a tribute to NASCAR’s last true independent family teams. Jeremy Clements Racing, which is owned by Jeremy and his father, Tony Clements, has for years operated as a family unit out of Spartanburg, South Carolina.

In the times of teams like JR Motorsports and JGR, this No. 51 Chevy has survived through its small engine-building business and local sponsorships.

In fact, a fun side fact is that Tony Clements still operates Clements Automotive, the family’s racing engine company founded by Jeremy’s grandfather, Crawford Clements, in 1965.

Clements’ journey for many is even more monumental after the terrifying 2004 crash that nearly cost him his right hand.

And to later back that up with upset victories at Road America in 2017 and Daytona in 2022 made him a fan-favorite underdog that stood for the small and forgotten American business.

This justifies why everyone is cheering for him now to take the record away.

You can read more on the Daytona Racing Digest!

Written by

Uday Jakhar

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason