Jeremy Clements will take NASCAR’s latest San Diego first into the record book, not with a Cup spotlight or a manufacturer launch, but with the kind of long-haul milestone that says plenty about what the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series still rewards.
When the field rolls into the United Rentals Driven to Serve 250 at Naval Base Coronado, Clements is set to make his 548th series start and move beyond Kenny Wallace for the all-time record. NASCAR.com outlined the milestone before the weekend, while its San Diego race preview places the No. 51 Chevrolet among the key stories for a first-time street-course event.
A different kind of San Diego headline
The Coronado weekend has already been framed around NASCAR trying something bold: a temporary course on an active naval base, a new Southern California racing stage, and a weekend that has brought Cup, Trucks and the O’Reilly Series into the same compressed spotlight. ReadMotorsport has covered how NASCAR’s Coronado weekend now faces its real San Diego test, while Layne Riggs’ San Diego Truck opener gives the Friday programme a title-fight edge. Clements gives Saturday’s race a more personal edge.
This is not a driver arriving with an overnight breakthrough story. Clements has been a constant presence in the series, building a career around family ownership, sponsor hunting and survival in a paddock that rarely gives small teams room to breathe. Jayski reported that the San Diego start will carry him past Wallace with 548 appearances, adding another layer to a weekend already heavy with new-event significance.
That matters because the O’Reilly Series has always had space for racers who make themselves difficult to dislodge. Clements’ two wins, including Road America in 2017 and Daytona in 2022, sit inside a wider record of persistence rather than dominance. The No. 51 team has had to earn continuity the hard way, and that is why this mark lands differently from a normal statistics note.
Haas link gives the record sharper timing
The timing is also better than a simple lap-count record might suggest. Clements’ team has entered a technical alliance with Haas Factory Team, giving the family-run operation a stronger platform during the same season in which he becomes the series’ starts leader. The record is therefore not arriving as a farewell tour marker, but as part of a campaign in which the No. 51 group has more reason to look forward.
That is the useful racing context. San Diego will ask a very different question from Pocono, Daytona or the conventional road courses on the calendar. The street layout, braking zones and limited margin for error should make track position and composure matter quickly, and Clements is scheduled 21st in the O’Reilly qualifying order, according to NASCAR’s official qualifying list.
ReadMotorsport has already looked at why San Diego’s bumps turn NASCAR’s street-race debut into a real test. For Clements, the test is a little broader. He has to handle a new course, a historic start, and the attention that comes with carrying a family-run team into a place no driver in the series has reached before.
There are louder stories on the weekend, from Cup regulars adjusting to Coronado to veteran names returning elsewhere on the bill. Jimmie Johnson’s San Diego Truck return will naturally draw eyes, but Clements’ record is the one that best captures the long route through NASCAR’s middle tier.
San Diego is new territory for the series. For Jeremy Clements, it is also proof of how far a team can travel when it simply keeps finding a way to make the next race.
