My friends say I'm crazy because I spend my weekends "watching cars go in circles" for three or four hours. I say I'm crazy because I sit on the couch every year and watch the Cup awards banquet for three hours.

Let's face it, the banquet hit its peak when Jeff Gordon toasted Dale Earnhardt with milk back in 1995. Since then, it's just like watching a two-hour commercial for DuPont or DeWalt or Home Depot or whichever companies sponsored the top 10 points finishers.

But this year, I'm convinced I'm not crazy.

I'll sit through a dozen Dodge mentions to hear Bill Elliott's farewell, as this likely will be his last time speaking from the stage at the banquet as a member of the top 10. I'll sit through a Kellogg's commercial to do the same for Terry Labonte. I'll even suffer through the musical stylings of LeAnn Rimes and Harry Connick Jr. to share in celebrating the end of Winston's involvement in NASCAR.

Friday night will be less about punctuating the season and more about the end of three eras (not that I'm trying to rush Elliott or Labonte out the door).

Elliott's career as a full-time Cup driver is reportedly over, as he is expected to announce Thursday morning. Next season, the 48-year-old driver will probably run a limited five-to-10 race schedule with Kasey Kahne jumping behind the wheel of Evernham Motorsports' No. 9 Dodge Intrepid.

What does that mean? It means Elliott isn't fully retiring, but it also means he wouldn't be in the best equipment, either. It means the days of Million-Dollar Bill adding to that 44-victory total could be over. It means that his win at Rockingham last month might have marked his last stand, and Friday will be our chance to applaud him, and remember the days when he was a brazen red-head, breaking into the sport with his family as his crew and setting superspeedway qualifying records which -- as long as there are restrictor plates -- will never be broken.

The only time Labonte talks retirement is when reporters ask him about it. While it's not certain how long Labonte will be racing in the Cup Series, it is quite possible -- especially given the level of competition and small gap between the top 30 or so drivers -- that the two-time champion will never again be invited on stage in New York as a top-10 points finisher.

The avid deer-hunter whom Billy Hagan discovered at a Texas short track decades ago wouldn't agree, of course. He's always believed he was capable of more than others expected. Labonte, also 48, made a remarkable run in 2003, posting nine top-10s and a victory to finish 10th in the standings. This came on the heels of a 2002 season when his four top-10s were outnumbered by seven DNFs en route to a 24th-place finish.

	Tony Stewart was honored at last year's NASCAR banquet.

And then there's R.J. Reynolds. What began with Junior Johnson looking to fill some space on the hood of his racecar in the early '70s turned into one of the most lucrative and successful partnerships in sports. Winston has been such a fixture in NASCAR that most outsiders -- and some legit fans -- never realized that the Winston in Winston Cup was a corporate naming rights deal.

At a time when everything's for sale and fans cringe to say the Chicago Bears presented by Bank of America or call their team's stadiums by names like the Comcast Center, saying the Winston Cup Series always just rolled off the tongue. It's so natural that more than a couple writers and broadcasters will make the mistake next season -- guaranteed.

But after more than 30 years in the sport, Winston is leaving -- and on Friday, with the help of a video tribute narrated by Kiefer Sutherland, we get to say goodbye.

I don't care that the commercials on Friday will sometimes be a welcome break from the actual show -- let's face it, at least they'll be a creative sell. I don't mind that most of the jokes are going to flop. And I don't care that many of the drivers and crew members will look and act about as comfortable in their tuxedos as champion Matt Kenseth will look in the spotlight.

Friday isn't just about Friday. It's about a look at the past and a tip of the cap to three NASCAR institutions.

Rupen Fofaria is a freelance writer living in Chicago and a regular contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached at rfofaria@espnspecial.com.