The season finale is not just for crowning the series champion, but it also signifies the end of careers, partnerships and in some cases, race teams. The 36th and final points-paying race of the 2024 NASCAR Cup season at Phoenix Raceway was no different. While all the focus was on the championship showdown, several other storylines were quietly tying up their own endings in the background.

MTJ is going fishing

There was Martin Truex Jr., making his final start as a full-time driver. MTJ hasn’t missed a Cup race since 2005 in an impressive streak totaling nearly 700 consecutive races. Truex was given a round of applause by his fellow drivers in the pre-race meeting, who then took a group picture with the future NASCAR Hall of Famer.

Martin Truex Jr, Joe Gibbs Racing, Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry

Photo by: Danny Hansen / NKP / Motorsport Images

Anyone who has been watching NASCAR for long enough would have immediately recognized the DEI-esque paint scheme — a throwback scheme honoring his Cup debut from nearly two decades ago — leading the charge of his final full-time race. And while race itself didn’t pan out perhaps the way Truex would have wanted to end things, which has been a theme for him this year, he crossed the finish line in 17th.

Later, on pit road, he was approached by legends such as Michael Jordan and Jeff Gordon who simply wanted to shake his hand.

“Yeah, it means a lot to have the respect of guys like that and what they mean to the sport,” said Truex. “Absolute legends, right? It makes me feel good that I’ve earned that respect over the years, and it means a lot. From here forward, I’m just going to go have some fun and do a little bit of racing here and there just for fun. Hopefully, it will be less stressful than days like today.”

A NASCAR giant calls it quits

For Truex, it was his choice to finally walk away from the weekly grind, but for others, this was the end and not exactly by choice. Stewart-Haas Racing, co-owned by Tony Stewart and Gene Haas, are shutting their doors now that the season is over. They were one of just three four-car Cup operations in the sport, and a constant presence on the grid since 2009. On Sunday, the No. 4, No. 10, No. 14 and No. 41 raced under the SHR banner for the final time with 323 employees cheering them on. Noah Gragson was the best of the bunch ending the race in 12th place.

Some of the drivers organized a victory lap of sorts on the cool-down lap and later, Stewart himself directed the last hauler out of the track. 16 seasons, 70 wins, 62 poles, nearly 20,000 laps led later, the journey has come to an end. 

“Man, this is just such a special group and I can’t say thank you enough to everyone at SHR for all they did this season,” said Berry, who is heading to Wood Brothers Racing in 2025. “We had some really tough circumstances and a lot of uncertainty, and the No. 4 group still showed up and gave it their all and I am just so thankful.”

Chase Briscoe, Stewart-Haas Racing, Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang

Photo by: Danny Hansen / NKP / Motorsport Images

Chase Briscoe, who earned SHR’s final win with a dramatic victory in the Southern 500 at Darlington, was probably about as happy as you’ll ever see someone after running near the back all day.

“I mean, this is probably the most smiling and laughing we’ve ever had after a 29th-place finish,” noted Briscoe. “So, yeah, we obviously would’ve loved to have a better result, but at the end of the day, it was all about just enjoying each other and the people and everything that makes Stewart-Haas so special. It’s been a place I’m so thankful to have called home for the last seven years. I knew, honestly, it was going to be a little bit emotional but, I mean, I was crying before we rolled off pit road. Just appreciative of the opportunity Tony (Stewart) and Gene (Haas) gave me. My dream was to make it to the Cup Series and the 14 car was the car I always cheered for, so the fact that I got to drive it and do it for my childhood hero was pretty cool. Definitely something I never took for granted.”

Nearly 20 years of shipping it to P1

Elsewhere, the sun was quietly setting on another partnership dating back to 2006. FedEx has stood beside Denny Hamlin since he made his Cup debut almost two decades ago and was one of the longest driver/partnerships remaining in the sport — perhaps only beaten by Bass Pro Shops and Truex. However, FedEx has gradually disappeared from the No. 11 Toyota, sponsoring fewer races every year. Hamlin posted a somber video on race morning, thanking FedEx and essentially confirming their exit. Hamlin won his very first race with those colors on his car, taking the checkered flag in the 2006 Clash at Daytona as a 25-year-old rookie. 47 of his 54 Cup wins over the years came with FedEx as the primary sponsor.

“Thank you FedEx for being there from the start,” a voiceover from Hamlin began in the video. “All the wins, and all the losses … thank you for letting me be me. For always making a difference. For helping make this kid from Virginia’s dream come true. Thank you FedEx for everything.”

The end of a record win streak

Lastly, an impressive statistic also came to an unceremonious end. Kyle Busch held the record for most consecutive years with a race win at 19 total. While 2024 was perhaps the worst year of his career, he still came agonizingly close to extending that win streak with runner-up finishes at Darlington and Daytona. He also crashed from the lead at Kansas, and lost Atlanta in the closest three-wide photo finish in NASCAR history.

Daniel Suarez, Trackhouse Racing, Freeway Insurance Chevrolet Camaro , Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet Camaro and Ryan Blaney, Team Penske, BodyArmor Zero Sugar Ford Mustang race to the checkers

Photo by: Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images

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The streak certainly did not end without a valiant fight from KB, but it did ultimately end with a 21st-place finish at Phoenix. Taking up the mantle with the longest active win streak is the sport’s newly crowned three-time champion Joey Logano, who has won at least one race for 13 consecutive seasons.

These are just the major storylines that played out in the shadow of the main event on Sunday. To add, there were retirements of highly-respected industry figures, while several drivers still face uncertain futures in the sport. But like every season finale, some stories will conclude with happy or bittersweet endings in some kind of bow, as the rest will ready themselves to add another chapter — next year.

REFEREE David Coote may face an unusual FA charge due to “reference to nationality” during his furious tirade towards ex-Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp.

A shocking clip, which appears to be at least two years old, emerged showing Coote, 42, branding Klopp, 57, a ” German c**t” and Liverpool as “s**t”.

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Within a couple of hours of it first being circulated publicly, it was announced the ref had been “suspended with immediate effect pending a full investigation” by the PGMOL.

According to The Times, the FA will make their own separate probe for the use of the word “German” and that could lead to an aggravated misconduct charge.

That is because references to a person’s nationality can lead to stiffer sanctions.

FA rules state that an “aggravated breach” includes a reference “whether express or implied, to race and/or colour and/or ethnic origin and/or nationality”.

An FA spokesperson said: “We are aware of the matter, and we are investigating.”

SunSport understands Coote “cannot recall” abusing Klopp in the video rant that seems certain to end his refereeing career.

But the Nottinghamshire official is not denying the accuracy of the footage.

In the video circulated online, Coote also said: “Aside from having a right pop at me when I was refereeing them against Burnley in lockdown, he accused me of lying and then had a right f*****g pop of me.

“I have no interest in speaking to someone who is f*****g arrogant.

“So I do my best not to speak to him. James Milner is alright, I get on with him.

“You can see me there with a ‘mask’ on. But, my God, German c**t, f**k me.”

Bonnyrigg have been deducted six points, warned about their future conduct and now must provide details by 31 January of funding arrangements and a programme of works to allow pitch levelling works next summer.

It means Bonnyrigg drop four places from fourth to third bottom, still two points above Clyde and Forfar Athletic.

Appealing for donations, the club said on X: “The Rosey Posey, the heartbeat to our community, needs your help.

“We are fundraising to help towards levelling the pitch as well as improve draining, etc., to ensure compliance with league membership.”

Bonnyrigg won promotion to League 2 in 2022 after winning the Lowland League and finished eighth of the 10 teams last season.

England will head to Portugal in their opening game of the 2025 Women’s Nations League after Uefa announced the match schedule for the competition.

The Lionesses start their campaign with an away trip to the team ranked 22nd in the world in their first fixture of Group A3 on 21 February.

Sarina Wiegman’s side then face World Cup holders, and Nations League champions, Spain in a highly anticipated fixture on home turf five days later.

Scotland travel to Austria in their first game in Group A1 before they host the Netherlands on matchday two.

Wales head to Italy for their opening encounter in Group A4 then have a home fixture with Sweden.

Northern Ireland begin Group B1 with a game in Poland and then host Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Jon Anik would prefer divisional meritocracy, and the result of the upcoming Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic heavyweight title fight could muddy the waters even more.

Jones and Miocic headline Saturday’s UFC 309 pay-per-view card with Jones putting his title on the line for the first time. Since Jones’ octagon absence, Tom Aspinall has won and defended the interim heavyweight title — historically suggesting that he should be next in line for a shot to unify the titles.

While the fan base would love to see Jones face Aspinall, “Bones” has continued to no-sell Aspinall, and instead focused his attention on planting seeds for a champ vs. champ fight with light heavyweight title holder Alex Pereira. Anik was asked about the situation days away from the promotion’s return to Madison Square Garden.

“Well, certainly it stands to reason that Alex ‘Poatan’ may be the bigger money fight,” Anik told MMA Fighting. “It may not be the fight that has the greater fan appetite, but maybe it is. ‘Poatan’ versus Jon Jones is absolutely enormous, right? But there are a lot of us that operate as true, die hard sports fans in a meritocracy in our brains and just doesn’t sit well with this interim champion who has already defended the title idling or sitting pat, especially when you look at how good Tom Aspinall is across every aspect of mixed martial arts.

“But what is Jon Jones’ net worth? What is Stipe Miocic’s net worth? What if your financial advisor might tell you you need to retire — because I can assure you I’m not retiring — in terms of what you actually need? And so Jon Jones fighting Tom Aspinall or Alex, what does he make? $15 million? Is that worth it? Is that worth risking the 0? I don’t know, but if Jon Jones is worth $25-$30 million and it stands to reason, there are a lot of opportunities for him to make money beyond fighting, I don’t know. If you were his manager, would you tell him to risk the O and legacy because he should fight Tom, because Tom’s got the interim belt and Tom’s the f*cking man? I don’t know that you do that.

“You can be sure… well, I shouldn’t say this, but I would submit to you that for Dana White and Hunter Campbell, they would much rather make a Jon Jones-Tom Aspinall fight than inject Alex ‘Poatan into’ the equation. But Jon Jones does have status as the greatest mixed martial arts athlete of all time,. so if he wants to fight ‘Poatan,’ I’d imagine, promotionally, you would listen.”

Anik will call the action with Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier — who has had multiple fights with both headliners over his hall of fame career — and understands why Miocic is a massive underdog in the former champ’s first fight in nearly four years.

But what if Miocic goes into The World’s Most Famous Arena and regains the heavyweight title? Anik understands how surprising that could be for a lot of fight fans to see, but also believes that if the Cleveland native pulls this off, perhaps he’d stick around to give Aspinall is opportunity to beat a legend of the game.

“This is the fight game, right? I mean, Belal Muhammad now has a life-threatening injury, and had that happened during his training camp for Leon Edwards, he probably never gets that undisputed championship opportunity,” Anik said. “So, yes, it’s crazy to sort of think about the prospects for Tom Aspinall, no matter who wins this fight. I will say to you if Stipe Miocic wins this fight — and you have me thinking about how I would cap it, were he to do so — but if Stipe Miocic wins this fight, I think he will fight Tom Aspinall. And if it’s a relatively quick fight, maybe in short order to try to realize that payday, I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see Stipe want to make one title defense against Tom Aspinall and then ride off into the sunset.

“But I don’t know without having sat down with these individuals and if you think Stipe is going to be wicked forthcoming, then you’ve never met the man, so we’ll see how it all plays out.

“I just feel pretty convicted in saying that Tom Aspinall is going to realize financial freedom for his family, hopefully for generation, and just needs his opportunity. But man, it’s a tough world for a lot of these fighters. When you get very close to the top, sometimes you have to wait forever and sometimes you feel like it’s never going to come.”

Regardless of the result, and how things may go on Saturday night in the Big Apple, one thing is for sure: This fight can’t happen soon enough to get the heavyweight division, hopefully, moving in the right direction.

As Anik things about how things can play out, he has a tough time truly grasping how both guys can look after significant layoffs.

“Well, I don’t try to get too predictive in some part because I am a play-by-play announcer, but how do you really predict what you’re gonna see out of both of these athletes?,” Anik said. “The sample size for Jon Jones at heavyweight is small, and Stipe Miocic last competed against Francis Ngannou when he was 38 and he is now 42 years of age.

“Now, one thing I can tell you with sitting down with Stipe in a fighter meeting is that he’s done everything in his power to have the best cardiovascular base possible and put himself in the best position to win this fight. I do think it stands to reason if the fight is contested early on the feet that Stipe can land some shots and look better than whatever the betting line suggests he is. I mean, I was talking to some of my contemporaries, I think two years ago when this fight was first inked and I was like, ‘Man, Stipe a +290 against any man?’ And they’re just like, ‘Dude, he’s fighting Jon Jones who is not any man,’ and I guess that is true.

“And so I think Stipe at 42 is not like a handicapper’s dream, but what kind of training camp has preceded this fight for Stipe? What kind of training camp has Jon Jones had? I can’t wait to sit down with these two individuals in the fighter meeting. But yes, this fight needs to happen in the worst possible way. We need Nov. 16. We need clarity and finality and a result when it comes to these two absolute legends.”