Want to get under Jason Keller's skin? Ask him some time when he's going to leave the Busch Series and finally make the move to NASCAR.

Gets him every time. Then, there was the time that a sign at a racetrack that directed motorhomes owned by Busch Series drivers one way and those of "NASCAR" competitors another.

Jason Keller

• By the Numbers
• Countdown to 418
• 10 Questions
• Career Busch Stats
• Where is ... T. Houston?

Let's get one thing straight right off the bat. Keller has in fact been a NASCAR driver for more than 16 years now, just not on the top-level, most recognized Nextel Cup circuit. In the NASCAR-sanctioned Busch Series, Keller is the last -- the very last -- of a dying breed. For a decade and a half, the Busch Series has been Keller's base of operations. His home.

And now, his kingdom. If he qualifies, Friday night's Dollar General 300 at Lowe's Motor Speedway will be Keller's 418th career Busch Series start, passing Tommy Houston for most in the division's history.

"The first 399 felt like they flew by," Keller said. "[The record] is something, as it's gotten closer, it seems like it's gotten a little bit bigger for me. I'm very proud that I'm getting real close. Hopefully, we'll get the start and put it behind us. There again, I don't want to just put it behind us, because I want to continue to build."

After being released by Phoenix Racing early last season, Keller made just two races the rest of the year. In 2007, Keller's 16 starts have been split between Brewco Motorsports and CJM Racing, the team with which he'll attempt to qualify at Charlotte.

Time on the sidelines has made the record that much more important to him personally.

"It's definitely a harder record to get to than I thought at the beginning of 2006," Keller said. "I felt like I was going to buzz right to the record and keep flying by it. It is more special, in the fact that it has been a little bit harder to get to. It should make it all the more sweeter when I do get there."

In the year and a half since Keller was let go, he's been in the mix for a number of rides. On at least one occasion in particular, he was passed over in favor of a driver with a number of Cup starts to his credit. Quality Cup starts? A pole or two? A win, maybe? Nope. Just Cup starts.

In a very real sense, it goes back to the question of when he's going to move up to NASCAR. It's a matter of the respect the Busch Series receives.

"It bothers me, because I feel like I've done the things that should lead me to those opportunities," Keller said. "Maybe if I'd taken one of those Cup opportunities in the late '90s, 2000, 2001, maybe I would've had 70 or 80 starts by now.

"But this is how I've done it. Does it make me happy? No, I'll be honest with you. I look and say, 'What does this next guy have over me?' He's got Cup starts. Does Cup starts constitute him being better than I am?"

Even now, Keller doesn't have a firm grasp on what he'll be doing in 2008. CJM Racing and Brewco Motorsports are both definite possibilities, but nothing is locked in place. Not having any commitments is frustrating for a driver who is so certainly capable.

Here's what life is like for Jason Keller these days. During an interview, he called one deal a "bleak possibility" because he hadn't heard from the team in a while. Within an hour or two, said outfit called to see if he was still interested. It's an up-and-down roller-coaster, where it seems almost as if he's had to prove himself all over again to teams and sponsors. It's just like the early '90s, when he was a Young Gun before Young Guns were cool.

At just 37, Keller has never seriously considered retirement. He won't use that term, at any rate. There was a point, however, when he felt like he might not get the kind of competitive ride that he wanted, and he wasn't going to just ride around at the back of the pack in order to pile up enough starts to top Houston.

He wasn't going to retire, but he wasn't going to be a field-filler, either.

"I don't want to say I took it for granted, but when you start as many races as I did and consecutive races, you just think [opportunities are] always going to be there," Keller said. "When the opportunities don't happen, the quiet moments are tough.

"Retirement, for me, is for someone later in their career and further down the road, age-wise. But there was a couple of moments I had to look at myself and say, 'You may not get another opportunity that you're willing to take.' ... The idle time is what's the hardest to deal with, as I sat in my office with nothing going on and not a lot happening."

When asked what it takes to be competitive in today's Busch Series, Keller responds by saying, "I'm not so sure this interview can be that long." Then, he continues by saying it's all about the people a team has. CJM Racing has 12 or 13 full-time employees, and while they don't have luxuries such as time in a wind tunnel or on a seven-post rig, they have people who want to be there.

Keller talks for a few minutes, and the more time passes, the more it seems that he's trying very hard not to say that it takes a connection to a Nextel Cup organization in order to be competitive in today's Busch Series. When somebody points that out, Keller laughs.

"Well ... the most successful teams are linked with the Cup teams right now," Keller admitted. "But that doesn't mean the ways can't change. I'm not going to get into whether that's the way it's always going to be. Right now, the Busch Series has a tremendous presence of Cup teams. ... But you never know where the evolution of the Busch Series is going."

With nearly $11.2 million to his credit, Keller is already the Busch Series' all-time leading money winner. Between 1994 and 2005, his most recent full-time season, Keller finished in the top 10 in points nine times and five times in the top five. Twice, he's come up second in the championship.

When it comes down to it, Keller wants another shot at the title that has eluded him.

"You have to be realistic," Keller concluded. "You can't run for a championship until you get with a full-time team, and then you have to build the full-time team. Only God knows what the master plan for me is. But I'd like to give it another shot. ... I still feel like with the right situation, right amount of time and sponsorship dollars, I could be able to compete for the championship."