ZEELAND, Mich. (WBTV) – The company that makes an iconic NASCAR trophy plans to shut down, according to reports.

Howard Miller, a furniture and clock-making company based in Michigan, currently makes the grandfather clocks handed out to NASCAR winners at Martinsville Speedway.

The family-owned company plans to close next year after nearly 100 years in business, Furniture Today reported. The company employees nearly 200 people and has two facilities in Michigan, plus locations in Lexington and High Point in North Carolina.

Furniture Today said that Howard Miller plans to continue production through the end of 2025 and will stay open in 2026 to sell off its inventory. The Furniture Today report said the company’s CEO cited a struggling housing market, rising inflation and interest rates, and tariffs as reasons for shutting down.

History of grandfather clocks in NASCAR

Following news of Howard Miller’s impending closure, NASCAR broadcaster Mike Joy took to social media to explain the history of the iconic grandfather clocks at Martinsville.

Joy said that major race winners at the historic short track have been given a Ridgeway clock since 1964, the year Hall of Fame driver Fred Lorenzen won both races and led a remarkable 980 out of 1,000 laps between the two events.

In the decades since, Howard Miller acquired Ridgeway and has continued to supply race winners with clocks.

Joy posted that he got a text from the Martinsville Speedway president that said the track “will find something just as good.” In the same post, Joy himself said the clock situation “will turn out fine, and the uniqueness of their trophy will be preserved.”

Since Martinsville began giving out the clock trophies to race winners, some of NASCAR’s biggest names have won them. Among the list of drivers to do so are Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, and both Dale Jr. and Dale Sr.

Dale Jr. was one of the people who publicly commented on the Howard Miller news.

“Whomever makes the next version better make them exactly like the previous versions,” Earnhardt wrote on social media. “Don’t get cute and [expletive] this up.”

Fellow driver Landon Cassill had a bit more humorous approach and joked in a comment on Earnhardt’s post that “[The] next versions gonna be digital and Bluetooth controlled with an app.”

Also Read: NASCAR coming back to historic North Carolina racetrack in 2026

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Carson Hocevar conceded that his move from the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series to the Cup Series drew considerable backlash from those in his inner circle.

Since taking his talents to the top racing series of NASCAR, Hocevar has repeatedly ruffled feathers due to his aggressive driving style. Ryan Blaney described him as a “moron” following the Ambetter Health 400, AJ Allmendinger issued him a stern warning at the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, Ryan Preece warned “he’ll have his day” after the Wurth 400 and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. threatened to ‘beat his a–‘ on the heels of the Viva Mexico 250.

Most recently, Hocevar drew the ire of Austin Dillon, who called him the ‘biggest dumb—‘ in NASCAR upon getting caught up in a wreck during last weekend’s Grant Park 165.

Though Hocevar’s racing tactics haven’t exactly made him many friends on the grid, they have led to respectable results. Over 19 races, he’s amassed four top-10 finishes, two top-5s and one pole — a far cry from the type of production that Spire Motorsports achieved just several years ago.

Back in October 2023, Hocevar inked a multi-year contract with Spire Motorsports to pilot the No. 77 Chevrolet in the Cup Series. The prior season, the team ranked a meagre 33rd in owner points while in the midst of a strenuous rebuild.

Given Hocevar’s prior success in the Truck Series, several people close to him questioned why he was taking such a massive risk by joining a downtrodden organization. “I had people really, really close to me and my family just be like, ‘Congrats, career suicide. Good job,’” Hocevar said while making an appearance on the ‘Dale Jr. Download’ podcast.

“I had people in my inner circle really close to me that aren’t in that inner circle anymore, but they were just like, ‘Are you f—— sure about this? You’re f—— winning truck races and you’re going to do this?’”

Despite receiving pushback from multiple angles, Hocevar remained committed to chasing his dream of racing in the Cup Series. “I’ve always wanted to drive a Cup car,” he explained. “I didn’t get winning stuff in trucks. If I really believe in myself, I can make this stuff winning, or I can make this stuff better… I’ve done it before. Not just be like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna make this winning,’ but I was like let’s just see where it goes. I just got to get in the door, get to Sunday, and see where it goes. If I was wrong, I was wrong at least on Sunday.”

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Now that Spire is a legitimate race contender, Hocevar noted that expectations are higher but the internal intensity has remained the same. “This year, it’s just been like, okay, we have to run up front and get stage points. That’s our goal,” he said. “Last year it was like, okay, we’re looking at points and we’re 18th, but it’s 100 to the next guy. It’s because he’s got 100 stage points — we have nothing.

“Our intensity level I feel like has been the same everywhere. It’s just whether our car or me can handle it on the right day. We’re trying to operate on that level now because if you’re expected to win races, I don’t feel like the moment is gonna be too big because our intensity is here. I feel like guys get that winning opportunity and now they have to raise their intensity up. Now they’re uncomfortable and that’s when they bust their a–.”

Carson Hocevar got into it with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. during NASCAR’s trip to Mexico City in June. During an appearance on the latest episode of the Dale Jr. Download, the Spire Motorsports wheelman revealed his team was so confused about the incident that they thought he suffered a medical emergency.

The Portage, Michigan native accidentally lost focus and turned the former Daytona 500 winner. According to Hocevar, he went through some serious brain fog at the moment, and didn’t mean to hit Stenhouse Jr. at the time. Still, the Hyak Motorsports wheelman wasn’t hearing any of it.

“Remember when Riley [Herbst], like, hooked around and the No. 47 was really close, and then like he like, putted right? I almost hit him. I thought his car was dead. I thought he hit the No. 35, so he’s putting over. So, he turned left. I was like, ‘Oh f***,’ and I locked up the brakes. We run a bunch of laps, and I’m just trying to get comfortable. The straightaways are so long, our cars are kind of slow with the horsepower, with the elevation and everything, and I noticed he was catching the guys in front,” Hocevar explained.

“I was like, ‘I’m going to earn some back here. I’m going to push him down the straightaway,’ so I was kind of staying close and everything. Just the biggest brain-fade ever. I got in the corner, and I was just like, ‘Oh, there’s a corner here,’ so I went to the break. I locked up. I just got zoned out. I was just like, you know, banging gears. Now there’s like five to go, and I’m just like, ‘Caution’s not going to come out. Yep, yep, yep. This is normal.’ For a minute, my guys thought I like, passed out, because my car just goes straight.

“I am legitimately in there, just holding the wheel straight, either getting ready to turn right to go to the garage. Not actually, but I was just literally sitting there and I’m watching him and I don’t even turn the wheel. I just literally like stop, and I’m just watching him spin. I’m just like, ‘Please for the love of God, save this thing. Even if you lose a spot, just save it,’ and I just watch him spin around.

“I’m just like, ‘Okay, do I just wait for him to go? Do I just get wrecked now?’ So I just stay — my car just stayed there for a while. They thought I legitimately like, a medical emergency, like I passed out from the heat and whatever. But I was just like, no. I was just sitting there watching.”

At the least, it certainly adds an interesting layer to the incident between Hocevar and Stenhouse Jr. in Mexico City. Evidently, Stenhouse Jr. bought Hocevar’s explanation, as there haven’t been any problems between the two drivers since that moment.

Moving forward, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won’t give Carson Hocevar much grace on the track, but he’s put their scuffle in Mexico behind them, it seems. When these two are racing over the course of the summer, though, don’t expect any love, as they’re going to continue racing each other hard regardless.