AUSTIN, Texas – For the last 15 years, Jeremy Clements has been a staple of the Xfinity Series. And this weekend at Circuit of The Americas, he will celebrate his 500th career start, ranking fourth on the all-time starts list.
“That’s a long time,” Clements told NASCAR.com on Friday, ahead of on-track activity at COTA. “I did the math to get another 500 and it’s a lot; I don’t know if I’ve got that. Didn’t set out to race – there’s no number, you’re just racing every week and you’re doing it because you love it. I haven’t gotten to do it the way I’ve wanted to do it my whole career, but I’m still here and we are competitive. There are certain weekends that we can run up front and do well, and that’s what keeps me motivated to keep doing it.
“I love the driving part. That’s why I keep doing it and love about it the most.”
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Clements grew up racing dirt late models with aspirations of making it big in NASCAR. He made a handful of starts in the ARCA Menards Series before debuting in the Xfinity Series at Pikes Peak International in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. Scott Wimmer was the victor on that July afternoon while Clements made just 28 laps before wrecking out.
“It was very ill-prepared,” Clements said, reflecting back on his first series start. “We were running ARCA and we wanted to dabble into the Busch Series because it paid a lot more and you could sustain it that way. We went and we weren’t ready for that. We went because they didn’t have a full field and we knew we could make the race. We were terrible.”
Four years passed before Clements made his second Xfinity start. During that period, he lost a year of his career due to a freak incident at 311 Speedway, when the drive shaft exploded and went through his dirt modified. Ten surgeries on his hand later, tendons plucked from his foot and placed in his hand, he was able to get back on the track.
Between 2007 and 2010, Clements toyed with running partial Xfinity schedules. He competed for his family team before joining JD Motorsports for 16 races in 2010. Once 2011 rolled around, Clements became a mainstay in his family-operated No. 51 Chevrolet.
For 14 full-time seasons, Clements has battled some of the series’ Goliaths. In his 256th career start at Road America in 2017, he scored his first of two wins, charging hard in the waning laps on fresh tires. Five years later, he scored a needed win at Daytona International Speedway, punching a ticket to the Playoffs.
“I love this series,” Clements added. “This series is awesome, has been a home for us and been a comfortable way to be. There’s been a lot of ups and downs and trials and tribulations – keeping it going is really tough. It keeps getting harder. Every year gets tougher.”
Throughout his Xfinity tenure, Clements has competed against some of the sport’s current superstars. He prides himself on racing clean and maximizing his days. The longevity of his career, though, is what he’s most proud of.
“I’ve seen a ton of comers and goers,” Clements stated. “A lot of teams and drivers have come throughout these years and are gone and you’re like, ‘I wonder what happened to them; I wonder what they’re doing?’
“I’m not winning every week like I want to in my perfect world, but when you’re doing this on your own, it’s damn tough.”
Entering Saturday’s Focused Health 250, Clements is 48 races shy of breaking Kenny Wallace’s record of most starts in the Xfinity Series. The pride of Spartanburg, South Carolina has no intention of slowing down, hoping to set the new record midway through the 2026 season.
“I remember when Kenny Wallace did that,” Clements recalled. “We were racing at Iowa that weekend and it was cool to see for Kenny. Kenny was a mainstay here and I look up to him. I remember racing with him numerous times, sitting in the garage BS’ing with him. I enjoyed my time with Kenny. I take things away from different drivers. I look at how I interacted with them and how much fun I had with them, how they raced on the race track. Kenny was a great driver and he was fun to race with, clean.
“When I look back, I want to be remembered that way. I want to be remembered like, ‘He was a hell of a driver, raced respectfully.’ I want to break the record and keep going. Why not? We’re right there, so I don’t know why I would stop now. I don’t have any plans on stopping.”
If Clements qualifies into every race in 2025, he will pass Jason Keller for third on the all-time list at Daytona in August. Then, he will only be trailing Wallace (547) and 2000 series champion Jeff Green (535).