Xfinity Series director Wayne Auton, who is retiring at the end of the 2024 season, will leave a lasting impact on the sport.
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00:00When you see Wayne, instantly you smile.
00:03He's kind of like the Wizard and the Wizard of Oz, just like all-knowing.
00:07Wayne Alton has always fit the Xfinity series and it's always fit him.
00:11He's definitely the mayor. I put him more like the president.
00:13He's been an amazing director.
00:15There is, as we know it,
00:17no Xfinity series without Wayne Alton.
00:20I think people underestimate how hard Wayne works at knowing the entire garage.
00:25You know that he's here for the sport,
00:27you know that he loves it, he's passionate about it.
00:29He's always got a smile on his face, he's always got something positive to say.
00:33I could name drivers, drivers' wives, drivers' kids, drivers' grandkids.
00:39He has been the guiding force and that gentle, grandfatherly figure.
00:45He makes an investment into people. That's why he is so respected.
00:50You know, that's how you get people to work harder and smarter
00:54and invest in what you're trying to build by investing in them.
00:58As our series says, where names are made,
01:00there's plenty of names that have been made in this series.
01:05If you look at our division,
01:06it's one of the most competitive series in all the history of NASCAR.
01:10You know, when you look at the respect level of the Xfinity series
01:13compared to other feeder series,
01:16he does a really good job maintaining that respect.
01:18You look at Wayne's career, 35 plus years,
01:22someone that can run our garages and interact with our owners
01:25and our young drivers and crew members and have those tough conversations
01:29and explain why they did something wrong or how they did it wrong
01:33and why it doesn't work well to do that in NASCAR.
01:36I'm going to miss Wayne Alton because Wayne,
01:38I told Wayne when you get into a sport like NASCAR,
01:41sometimes we don't use common sense.
01:44We just go whatever the rules are, whatever the book says.
01:48Wayne Alton has been that guy that you can go to and use his common sense.
01:52And that's what we're going to miss with Wayne Alton.
01:55The hardest thing about this job is giving a penalty
01:57and taking money out of their pocket.
01:59But the most rewarding thing is getting to see somebody
02:02lift that big old trophy out there.
02:04If you treat those gentlemen and crew members with a lot of respect,
02:09you'll get a lot of respect yourself.
02:11So he calls me every Christmas day and you can tell he calls everybody,
02:14but all he says is, hey, Merry Christmas.
02:17And so when human beings do things like that,
02:20that means they're a super caring person.
02:23When he walks in the garage area, that's the way the guys get.
02:25They're happy to see Wayne because they know if Wayne's there,
02:29it's the same series.
02:31Nothing's changed.
02:32He's that calming force, calms the seas of that series,
02:36no matter how rough it gets.
02:38I can tell you this, when I step away, the hard part's going to be the people.
02:42It's just getting to see their smiling faces.