NASCAR Cup Series

Noah Gragson’s career seemed to come to a screeching halt this past August.

On Thursday night at the Music City Center, the NASCAR Champion’s Week festivities concluded with the honoring of Ryan Blaney, who reached the pinnacle of the sport—claiming the NASCAR Cup Series title—by outdueling three other Championship 4 contenders Nov. 5 at Phoenix Raceway.

Ryan Blaney passed Kyle Larson for second on lap 292 and held the position to claim the championship as Ross Chastain took the win at Phoenix. It is Blaney's first Cup championship.

While one driver retires, another celebrates the ultimate prize. It symbolized the changing of eras in NASCAR.

The 29-year-old, third-generation Blaney from High Point, North Carolina, outdueled title rivals Kyle Larson, William Byron and Christopher Bell to become the 36th different competitor to win a Cup Series title following a runner-up result in the 2023 finale at Phoenix.

The 2014 Cup Series champion from Bakersfield, California, led 23 laps en route to earning a top-10 result in his 826th and final career start as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series competitor.

The 21-year-old Gibbs from Charlotte, North Carolina, recorded four top-five results, 10 top-10 results, 112 laps led and an average-finishing result of 18.4 en route to becoming the fourth different competitor to win a Cup rookie title for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Heading into the championship finale weekend for NASCAR's three main touring series at Phoenix Raceway, Bell is looking to win his first career Cup Series Championship.

As the curtain falls on another season of NASCAR, let's look at the good and bad of its 75th season.

The two-time Xfinity Series champion from Olive Branch, Mississippi, is set to achieve a milestone start in his 11th full-time season in NASCAR's premier series.