10 Unreal Final Race Facts
by Tom Jensen October 24, 2024
The numbers are in for the final race of each of NASCAR’s first 75 seasons. And they are fascinating.
The NASCAR Cup Series concludes its 76th season of competition on November 10 at Phoenix Raceway, where the 2024 champion will be crowned.
With the last race of 2024 nearly aupon us, we researched the final race of each of the first 75 years of the Cup Series and found some great stories. Here are 10 of the most intriguing.
Bobby Allison’s first season-ending race victory came at North Carolina’s Asheville-Weaverville Speedway, where he won the 1967 Western North Carolina 500. Photo courtesy of NASCAR Archives & Research Center via Getty Images
Hall of Famers Dominated
In the first 50 years of Cup Series competition, NASCAR Hall of Fame inductees won the last race of the season 40 times, an 80 percent win rate. The percentages dropped in recent years because many of the race-winning drivers are still active.
A total of 28 different NASCAR Hall of Fame inductees won the final race of the year, led by a pair of Bobbys: Bobby Allison (Class of 2011) won the last race of the year a record five times, followed by Bobby Labonte (Class of 2020), a four-time final race winner.
Buck (left) and Buddy Baker both knew how to win at the end of the year. Photo courtesy of NASCAR Archives & Research Center via Getty Images
Like Father, Like Son
Buck Baker (Class of 2013), and his son, Buddy (Class of 2020) have each won a last race of the season. Buck won the final race of the season at three now-defunct NASCAR tracks: Atlanta’s Lakewood Speedway in 1953; and two North Carolina dirt tracks, Wilson Speedway in 1956 and Greensboro Fairgrounds in 1957. The latter two victories came in Baker’s two championship seasons.
Buddy took the season finales at Texas World Speedway in 1972 and Ontario Motor Speedway in 1975. The Bakers are the only father-son duo to win the final race of the season more than once.
Lee Petty (left) was one of the most dominant NASCAR drivers of the 1950s. Son Richard was the dominant NASCAR driver of the 1960s and '70s. Photo courtesy of NASCAR Archives & Research Center via Getty Images
Like Father, Like Son, Part 2
Lee Petty (Class of 2011) won the 19th and final race of the 1950 season, which took place on the 1.00-mile Occoneechee Speedway dirt track in North Carolina, while son Richard (Class of 2010) took home the trophy in the 1971 Texas 500 at Texas World Speedway. Lee’s win in 1950 made him the first Hall of Famer to win the last race of a season.
The brand rivalry between Ford and Chevrolet has stirred the passions of NASCAR fans for decades. Photo courtesy of NASCAR Archives & Research Center via Getty Images
Brand Wars
Thirteen different automakers – seven of which are now defunct – have won the last Cup Series race of the year over the last 75 years. Ford narrowly leads the way with 23 last-race wins, followed by Chevrolet with 21. No other automaker has double-digit victory totals in last race of the season.
Last race wins by automaker:
Ford – 23
Chevrolet – 21
Pontiac – 6
Toyota – 5
Dodge – 4
Mercury – 4
Oldsmobile – 3
Plymouth – 2
Buick – 2
Chrysler – 2
Studebaker – 1
Hudson – 1
American Motors – 1
At Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2000, Jerry Nadeau was the class of the field. Photo courtesy of Jon Ferrey/Allsport
One and Done
In the first 75 years of the NASCAR Cup Series, only once has a driver scored the only race victory of his career in the final race of the season. The date was November 20, 2000, and the place was Atlanta Motor Speedway. There, Jerry Nadeau led 155 of 325 laps to win the NAPA 500 in a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Nadeau’s first and last victory came in his 103rd of 177 career starts.
Jimmie Johnson’s 2016 championship-winning car is on exhibit in the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s Hall of Honor until February 2025. Photo courtesy of Robert Laberge/Getty Images
Last Time Around
The last time a NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee won the final race of the season was in 2016, when Hendrick Motorsports driver Jimmie Johnson (Class of 2024) won the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The Homestead triumph was the 80th of 83 career Cup Series race victories for the seven-time champion. It was the only time in his Hall of Fame career that Johnson won the final race of the season.
Jack Roush (right) has won more season-ending NASCAR Cup Series races than any other team owner, including this one with Carl Edwards in 2008. Photo courtesy of Jerry Markland/Getty Images
Boss Man
NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Jack Roush (Class of 2019) knew how to get it done in the last race of the year. Roush, the founder of Roush Racing (now RFK Racing) won the final race of the season twice at Atlanta Motor Speedway, both times with driver Mark Martin (Class of 2017). And that was just for starters. From 2002 to 2010, Roush drivers won the season-ending race at Homestead-Miami Speedway seven times in nine years, including three in a row with Greg Biffle from 2004-06 and once with Matt Kenseth (Class of 2017) in 2007 and anand twice with Carl Edwards (Class of 2025) in 2008 and 2010.
South Florida’s Homestead-Miami Speedway is a popular spot for racers and fans alike. Photo courtesy of James Gilbert/Getty Images for NASCAR
Bicoastal Battles
Of the 75 Cup Series seasons already concluded, the state of Florida has hosted the most final races of the seasons. Florida has been home to the final race on the Cup Series schedule 20 times, including 18 consecutive years at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Georgia is a close second, having hosted 19 season-ending races. North Carolina and California are tied with 13 end-of-season races each.
Ross Chastain was the first non-championship contending driver to win the final race of the Cup Series season since 2013. Photo courtesy of James Gilbert/Getty Images
In 2014, NASCAR adopted a winner-take-all format where four drivers qualify for the Championship Round, the last race of the season. The driver who finishes ahead of the other three contenders is crowned champion for that season. For the first nine seasons of this format, the champion won the final race of the season. Last year, however, was different. At Phoenix Raceway, Ross Chastain won the championship race, but he was not one of the title contenders. Ryan Blaney finished second in the race, which was the best result of the four title contenders, so he was crowned champion.
It didn’t matter where he raced, who he drove for or what car he was in; Bobby Allison was a winner. Photo courtesy of NASCAR Archives & Research Center via Getty Images
The Best For Last
Bobby Allison (Class of 2011) won more final races of the season than any other driver in NASCAR history. By itself, Allison’s five victories in the last race of the year is impressive. Dig a little deeper and the numbers are remarkable. Allison won his five races:
With five different owners:
- Holman Moody Racing (Ralph Moody, Class of 2025)
- Bobby Allison Racing (himself)
- Roger Penske (Class of 2019)
- Bud Moore (Class of 2013) and
- Harry Ranier
At four different tracks:
- Asheville-Weaverville Speedway (0.500 miles)
- Langley Field Speedway (0.395 miles)
- Ontario Motor Speedway (2.500 miles), and
- Riverside International Raceway (2.62.-mile road course)
In four different car brands: Ford, Dodge, AMC and Buick.
And one more little factoid: Allison holds the NASCAR record for most wins in the first race of the season with five. He truly could do it all, from start to finish.
