Chapters of NASCAR history ending at Phoenix

This weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series championship race at Phoenix Raceway will mark the end of several chapters in the sport’s history. 

Here are the individuals and eras that we’ll be saying goodbye to on Sunday: 

Stewart-Haas Racing

Since Tony Stewart brought a 50% stake in Gene Haas’ team in 2009, Stewart-Haas Racing has been a perennial Cup Series contender. Stewart won the team’s first championship in 2011, with Kevin Harvick earning the team its second and final title in 2014. SHR rose to be one of NASCAR’s powerhouses in the 2010s, with Stewart, Harvick, Kurt Busch, Aric Almirola, Cole Custer and Chase Briscoe winning races for the organization. 

In May, it was announced that the team would shut down at season’s end, with Haas retaining one Cup Series charter and two Xfinity Series entries for 2025.

Going into Sunday’s race at Phoenix, Briscoe’s win in the Southern 500 on Sept. 1 is the final Cup Series win for the team. The good news? Custer has an opportunity to win the Xfinity Series championship for the second year in a row Saturday, which would give SHR a storybook moment on its final weekend of competition. 

Martin Truex Jr. 

Sunday’s finale will be the final race of Truex Jr.’s full-time Cup Series career. While he will attempt the 2025 Daytona 500 and a handful of Xfinity Series races next season, Phoenix marks the end of an era in which Truex became an elite driver. 

Initially, the narrative of Truex Jr.’s career looked to be one of unfulfilled potential. Going into the 2015 season, he only had two wins in eight seasons and was driving for an underdog team in Furniture Row Racing. But it was with Furniture Row that Truex Jr. built his legacy. A win at Pocono marked Truex Jr.’s first with the team, and 2015 saw the No. 78 team make the Championship Four. In 2017, the team returned to Homestead as title contenders, but this time, it closed the deal and delivered Truex Jr. a championship. 

Truex Jr. moved to Joe Gibbs Racing after Furniture Row was forced to close at the end of 2018, but his legacy will be one of a driver who, as Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith might articulate, didn’t write back when others wrote him off. 

Michael McDowell’s tenure with Front Row Motorsports

This chapter won’t be as celebrated as others, and McDowell won’t be the only driver switching teams in NASCAR’s top three series over the offseason. However, the pairing does deserve a look-back. 

When McDowell joined Front Row in 2018, he wasn’t seen as a driver who had race-winning potential. As a team, Front Row was happy to be in the conversation for top-20s on a consistent basis. 

Over the past seven years, however, McDowell and Front Row have taken major steps forward in their respective journeys. 

McDowell provided a veteran presence to a team that finally had a consistent driver on a yearly basis, while the team provided cars that increased in quality with every passing season. In 2021, McDowell and the No. 34 team won the Daytona 500 and advanced to the playoffs for the first time. In 2023, McDowell won at another iconic venue, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, to give Front Row its second postseason appearance. 

This season, McDowell and Front Row have won six pole positions. Noah Gragson is slated to take over McDowell’s ride next season, with McDowell moving to the No. 71 team at Spire Motorsports.