Sprint Cup finale boasts several lasts

Jeff Gluck | USA TODAY Sports

Show Caption Hide Caption What to watch for in Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship USA TODAY Sports' Jeff Gluck breaks down the NASCAR season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Everyone knows today is Jeff Gordon’s final race as a Sprint Cup Series driver.

But it's time to say goodbye to more than just Gordon after the Homestead-Miami race takes the checkered flag.

Homestead often marks a series of "lasts" -- last race for a driver, sponsor, team and more.

This year is no different. So here’s a list of lasts to keep an eye on:

MICHAEL WALTRIP RACING

MWR will run one final race before closing its doors, which will cost more than 200 people their jobs. The sad saga of the once-promising team started with the loss of sponsor NAPA in the wake of a race-fixing scandal at Richmond International Raceway in 2013. MWR never recovered, and majority owner Rob Kauffman decided to take his investment to Chip Ganassi Racing after this season.

The team recorded seven wins in 780 starts entering the weekend, with Clint Bowyer’s three wins in 2012 representing nearly half of them.

Bowyer is heading to HScott Motorsports in 2016 and then will replace Tony Stewart in the No. 14 car in 2017. Teammate David Ragan’s future is unclear.

BUDWEISER

Though Anheuser-Busch is not leaving NASCAR, the beer company is switching brands from Budweiser to Busch on Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 car.

That means Bud, which had some of its most notable moments on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 8 car, won’t be on track next year. Bud has been sponsoring NASCAR Cup cars since 1983.

GODADDY

Danica Patrick and GoDaddy have been synonymous since the driver’s IndyCar days, but that will end – at least in terms of car sponsorship – after Sunday.

GoDaddy is pulling out of NASCAR in an effort to shift its focus to international growth, the company said in April. Nature's Bakery will be Patrick's primary sponsor next year.

SAM HORNISH JR.

The three-time IndyCar champion and former Indianapolis 500 winner is not expected to return to Richard Petty Motorsports in 2016. Given the lack of success in his full-time return to the Cup Series this season, it seems unlikely he’ll be able to find a similar ride at this point.

Hornish, 36, has managed just three top-10 finishes this year and is 25th in the points standings. Meanwhile, teammate Aric Almirola is 17th.

JUSTIN ALLGAIER AS A CUP DRIVER

Allgaier lost his ride at HScott Motorsports when Bowyer joined the team, and he’s taking the Brandt sponsorship to JR Motorsports’ Xfinity Series team next season.

JRM is a quality organization and Allgaier will have a chance to win races. But as other drivers have shown (his future teammate Elliott Sadler, for one), it’s difficult to drop down to Xfinity and later return to a full-time Cup ride.

FURNITURE ROW RACING CHEVROLET

Much like Brad Keselowski’s No. 2 team winning the championship in its final race with Dodge, Martin Truex Jr. and his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing team have a chance to win the title in their last race as a Chevrolet.

Furniture Row is switching to Toyota next year, where it will join an alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing.

Follow Gluck on Twitter @jeff_gluck

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