Dale Earnhardt Jr. set to make 600th NASCAR Cup Series start

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will make his 600th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start Sunday in the Auto Club 400, where he will be seeking his first career victory at Auto Club Speedway.

Earnhardt has five top-five and seven top-10 finishes in 24 starts at the 2-mile Southern California oval..

Here are six more pertinent facts as the Hendrick Motorsports driver hits No. 600:

--A decal commemorating Earnhardt's momentous start has been affixed to the B posts of his No. 88 Chevrolet.

--Since making his first start at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 30, 1999 (Jeff Burton won) he has 26 wins, 148 top-five and 252 top-10 finishes.

--Each of his Cup starts has come in a No. 8 (Dale Earnhardt Inc.) or No. 88 (Hendrick Motorsports).

--Earnhardt ranks 25th in all-time Cup starts, second among active drivers to Matt Kenseth, who will pass Tony Stewart for 22nd Sunday with his 619th start.

PHOTOS: Dale Earnhardt Jr. through the years

--Earnhardt's late father, Dale Earnhardt Sr., made 676 Cup starts, ranking 18th on the career list.

--Earnhardt has been voted NASCAR’s most popular driver for 14 consecutive seasons.

On making his 600th start: “I just wanted to drive.  I wanted to race cars for a living.  I wanted to do it well enough to be able to afford to make a living doing it.  I didn’t have vision or assume that I was going to make all of the money and success that we have made, but all I really wanted to do was to do it long enough so I didn’t have to get a real job.  I mean that as sincere as I can.”