Michael McDowell made his 500th NASCAR Cup Series start in the next-to-last race of the season Nov. 3 at Martinsville Speedway. There was something special about start No. 501 as well, with McDowell’s seven-year run with Front Row Motorsports No. 34 team drawing to a close last weekend at Phoenix Raceway.

McDowell’s next stage starts this week as he joins Spire Motorsports to drive the team’s No. 71 Chevrolet in 2025. The adjustment — to a new organization, a new manufacturer — should take some getting used to, but McDowell noted an unintended consequence while signing autographs for fans last weekend at Phoenix. Adding “34” to his signature as he’s done for the last seven years will no longer be accurate.

“I thought about it like, man, it’s going to be a hard habit to break,” McDowell said Saturday, the day before the season finale. “I’m … just thankful, thankful for the opportunity I’ve had and what we’ve built and what we’ve done, and you know, there is a new chapter, and so I’m thankful for that. I’m thankful to still have a few years in front of me racing in the Cup Series, but it’s definitely going to be hard to walk away from the 34.”

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McDowell’s FRM tenure produced both of his Cup Series wins — his breakthrough in the 2021 Daytona 500 and a convincing drive to victory in 2023 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Though his average finish this past season receded slightly to 21.3, his average starting spot (14.6) was a career-high — aided by the first six pole positions of his career, all in one calendar year.

With some aspects of the transition — autographs included — that will take some time to adapt to, McDowell will have the advantage of keeping his crew chief pairing intact. Travis Peterson, atop the No. 34 pit box the last two seasons, will also make the shift to Spire’s No. 71 operation in a move that should smooth their relocation in the Cup Series garage.

“I think it was huge for both of us,” Peterson told NASCAR.com on race-day Sunday morning. “The way the sport is right now, teams clicking and the little details of understanding each other and doing that kind of stuff is more valuable than it’s ever been. So being able to go somewhere new but have a lot of familiarity with some of the guys on the team coming with us, and me and Michael staying together is going to help us not have so many growing pains, because we already have that understanding of each other, the way we communicate, the things that he likes in the race car, and how to accomplish that. So it’s going to help us a ton, even though it’s a new manufacturer and a new team and all that, it won’t be as bad because we have a lot of the foundation.”

Their groundwork will add to a burgeoning organization in Spire, which has grown since its humble start as a single-car outfit in 2019. Spire expanded its Cup Series operations from two cars to three full-time entries last season, and its Craftsman Truck Series effort that began in 2022 is now a three-truck fleet after its acquisition of Kyle Busch Motorsports in September 2023. That move gave Spire a new headquarters in Mooresville, N.C., in KBM’s former 77,000-square-foot shop.

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The sustained growth was a prime selling point for McDowell, who announced his move in May. Peterson’s deal with Spire was revealed three months later, not long after championship-winning crew chief Rodney Childers signed a multiyear agreement with Spire in July.

“I’m super-excited because we have a lot of great people and great hires that we’ve made and more to come,” McDowell said. “Momentum is good, and you know you’ve seen Spire really progress these last six months in a good direction, so timing is good. I think the timing is right, and I feel good about the decision I’ve made and where it’s going and what it’ll look like, and so I’m very excited. I’m ready to get to work, but that starts on Monday.”

McDowell will add a veteran presence to a Spire roster with two young teammates lined up for next season. Carson Hocevar will return to the No. 77 Chevrolet after driving to Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors in 2024, and Justin Haley will be back in the No. 7 Chevy after Spire traded for him in September with seven races left in the season.

That direction combined with focused growth, Peterson said, made Spire an attractive next option for both driver and crew chief.

“I mean, I think that’s everything that we liked about it when we were looking around for what our next move would be, and their vision and the things they’re doing and the people they’re investing in is very exciting,” Peterson said. “That was a huge part of why we’re choosing to go there is to be part of that next step for them. And they’ve done a good job, even through this season of showing a lot more speed and performance, so all of that is super encouraging. And I’m pumped, because it’s a good group, and they’re doing all the right things in terms of what they’re trying to create. Again, like we kind of talked about in our sport right now, that stuff is so much more valuable than it’s ever been, too, because it’s not just ‘somebody’s got better race cars,’ it’s how you put the people together to make it happen.”