End-of-season goodbyes: 2024 edition

As NASCAR crowns its champions at Phoenix Raceway this weekend, it’s also time to bid farewell to familiar names, pairings and competitors that will appear at the track for the final time in their current roles. Here’s the curtain call for the 2024 season.

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Wayne Auton, longtime series director of the NASCAR Xfinity Series, will bid farewell following Championship Weekend. The lifelong racer has led the division that’s grown today’s NASCAR stars since 2013, and the Craftsman Truck Series for 16 seasons prior.

Ryan Sparks, crew chief at Spire Motorsports since 2020, will call his final race atop the pit box for the No. 7 team Sunday. Sparks moves into the team’s Competition Director role next year, making way for champion crew chief Rodney Childers. 

Longtime Team Penske crew chief Jeremy Bullins called his final race for Wood Brothers Racing last month. Bullins won 10 Cup Series races as crew chief -- victorious with each of his drivers, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, Austin Cindric and Harrison Burton. Bullins and Cindric won the 2022 Daytona 500 together.

Sunday, for the final time, Matt McCall will lead the No. 6 team at RFK Racing. McCall joined the team in 2022 as crew chief for team co-owner and driver Brad Keselowski. The pair earned a victory at Darlington in May, Keselowski’s first behind the wheel for his team.

Harrison Burton will climb behind the wheel of the Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 one last time Sunday following three seasons with the legendary team. Burton scored the team’s 100th victory at Daytona International Speedway in August. He’ll move to AM Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2025, while Josh Berry replaces Burton. 

Bootie Barker, crew chief for Bubba Wallace at 23XI Racing, led the No. 23 team for the final time atop the pit box at Martinsville last Sunday. Barker, a longtime figure in the sport who joined the team in 2021, earned two wins with Wallace. Craftsman Truck Series crew chief Charles Denike replaces Barker in 2025, who remains with the team in a competition leadership role. 

Michael McDowell will pilot his final race in the familiar No. 34 Front Row Motorsports colors Sunday after seven seasons with the team. McDowell won the 2021 Daytona 500 with the team, as well as the 2023 Indianapolis Road Course race. He moves to Spire Motorsports for 2025, replacing Zane Smith.

Following his rookie season in the Cup Series, Zane Smith will depart Spire Motorsports, highlighted by a second-place finish at Nashville in June. The 2022 Craftsman Truck Series champion hasn’t yet announced his 2025 plans, but Sunday will mark the last time he races the No. 71 in the Cup Series.

Daniel Hemric will make his final race for Kaulig Racing Sunday at Phoenix. The 2021 Xfinity Series champion joined the team in 2022 for two seasons in the Xfinity Series before returning to Cup full-time in 2024. Hemric earned four top-10 finishes in the No. 31, which will be renumbered to No. 10 next year for the incoming Ty Dillon. Hemric hasn’t yet announced his driving plans for 2025. 

The final race of the season means the final race carrying bright-yellow rear-bumper stripes for Sunoco Rookie of the Year contenders. Josh Berry, Kaz Grala, Carson Hocevar and Zane Smith will race as rookies for one final time Sunday. Hocevar will earn the distinction of Rookie of the Year. 

After scoring at least one win in the past 19 seasons -- every year since 2005 -- we’ll bid farewell to Kyle Busch’s record winning streak if he doesn’t win Sunday. The two-time champion has proven his skill and enduring power for years across various teams, cars and eras, but the No. 8 driver struggled to close the deal in 2024. 

Stewart-Haas Racing will race for the final time Sunday at Phoenix. The four-car powerhouse earned championships with driver/co-owner Tony Stewart in 2011 and Kevin Harvick in 2014, amassing 70 points-paying Cup Series victories along the way. Team co-owner Gene Haas will continue running a single car under the Haas Factory Team banner in 2025 with Cole Custer behind the wheel of the No. 41. Josh Berry will move to Wood Brothers Racing in 2025, while Noah Gragson joins Front Row Motorsports. Chase Briscoe will drive for Joe Gibbs Racing after this season, and Ryan Preece hasn’t yet announced 2025 plans. 

Sunday marks the final time Martin Truex Jr. will compete as a full-time driver in the Cup Series. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has raced in every event since the start of the 2006 season, earning 34 wins in his nearly 700 starts. With just two victories in the first half of his Cup Series tenure, Truex’s career had a remarkable resurgence in 2015 after pairing up with crew chief Cole Pearn at Furniture Row Racing. Truex went on to make five appearances in the Championship 4, highlighted by winning the 2017 championship. He won’t step away from driving entirely; he’s already announced plans to compete in next year’s Daytona 500 for 23XI Racing.