Stewart's big move: Stewart, after two championships and 33 victories, decided to leave JGR following a successful 10-year run. After contemplating a contract extension for several months, he explored the market and found other compelling offers.

He took the one that handed him 50 percent ownership in Haas-CNC Racing, and the Haas part is one of the few things that will remain the same next season. Stewart Haas Racing has new drivers in Stewart and Ryan Newman, new sponsors and new personnel. The move also returns Stewart to Chevrolet, which has been a longtime supporter of his racing programs.

The owner-driver role might be one Stewart is slow to adapt to, especially if he struggles on the track next year. But he’s eagerly anticipating the new venture, and it took some of the sting off of his final disappointing days at JGR.

Tough road for open-wheel drivers: Not every open-wheel driver is as good as Juan Pablo Montoya, which was proven this year when a handful trying to make the switch to NASCAR flamed out.

Jacques Villeneuve didn’t qualify for the season-opening Daytona 500, and the former Formula One champion hasn’t been seen since. Dario Franchitti was back in IndyCars by the end of the summer when Chip Ganassi folded that slumping team because of a lack of sponsorship.

Patrick Carpentier was let go from Gillett Evernham Motorsports before the end of the season, and Sam Hornish Jr. lost his bid for rookie of the year when he failed to qualify for the season finale at Homestead. Meanwhile, Scott Speed hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire in his handful of starts for Red Bull Racing.

Not all is lost: AJ Allmendinger has shown tremendous promise since moving from Red Bull to GEM for the final five races of the year. Now if only someone would give him a full-time job.

Some stars slump: Getting a victory became more difficult, as former series champions Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth both went winless on the season. Gordon had not been shut out since his 1993 rookie year, and Kenseth last went winless in 2001. His shutout left him 11th in the standings — his worst showing since that winless year.

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It took Stewart until the 30th race of the year to make his only trip to Victory Lane, and there were no first-time winners this season.

Twelve drivers shared the 36 race wins, and Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman were the only non-Chase participants to win this year.

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