Bobby Allison's wife Judy dies

Judy Allison, the wife of Hall of Famer Bobby Allison, died Friday at the age of 74.

Chris Heroy moving to RPM #9 team

Chris Heroy, who in 2015 served as the crew chief of the Chip Ganassi Racing #42 Chevrolet SS in the Sprint Cup Series driven by Kyle Larson, will move to the #9 Ford Fusion at Richard Petty Motorsports to serve as the crew chief of 2016 Rookie of the Year contender Brian Scott. Sam Hornish Jr., also a driver at Joe Gibbs Racing and Team Penske in recent seasons, left the Petty stable after driving the #9 car for the full 2015 season. Marcos Ambrose and, in various iterations, Kasey Kahne are also former drivers of the car. Heroy and Larson almost made it to Cup victory lane a few times in 2015.

Chris Buescher driving full-time at Front Row in 2016

Chris Buescher, the 2015 Xfinity Series champion, will leave the #60 Roush Fenway Ford Mustang Xfinity team to drive full-time in the Sprint Cup Series starting in February for Ford associate Front Row Motorsports. Front Row has said they could scale back to two cars in 2016, and Buescher may replace 2015 Cup Rookie of the Year Brett Moffitt in the #34 Ford Fusion. Buescher drove the #34 car in five 2015 Cup races during Kyle Busch's and Brian Vickers' medical issues during the spring that saw David Ragan replacing both drivers.

Brian Scott moving to Cup with Richard Petty

Brian Scott will move from the #2 Richard Childress Racing Xfinity Series Chevrolet Camaro to drive for Richard Petty full-time in the Sprint Cup Series in 2016. Scott will replace Sam Hornish Jr. in the #9 Ford Fusion with Twisted Tea retaining sponsorship. Scott drove in select Cup races in the RCR/Joe Falk #33 Chevrolet in 2015, sharing the ride with his Xfinity teammate Ty Dillon.

Busch, Gordon, others shine at Sprint Cup banquet

Kyle Busch, the 2015 Sprint Cup Series champion in remarkable fashion, was far from the only driver highlighted at Friday night's Sprint Cup Series Awards Banquet in Las Vegas hosted by Drew Carey. The ceremony featured spots from all 16 Chase drivers, whose speeches were all longer the higher they placed in the final season standings. Retired four-time champion Jeff Gordon delivered an emotional yet enthusiastic speech in front of the crowd and surprise guest Tom Cruise. For the 13th straight year, Dale Earnhardt Jr. came away with the Most Popular Driver award. The annual In Memorial segment included a special dedication to Steve Byrnes, who died of cancer in April. Each Chase driver was provided with a gift basket before the ceremony consisting mainly of candy and snacks. Some drivers including Busch engaged in an after-party following the awards. The ceremony was considered another successful one based on the reactions of fans and drivers.