Kyle Larson Claims Third NASCAR Cup Title; Ryan Blaney Wins Homestead

Kyle Larson secured his third NASCAR Cup Series championship—and his second in a row—during the opening stage of Sunday’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Ryan Blaney then supplied the race’s late drama, passing Tyler Reddick near the finish and winning by 0.314 seconds.

The unusual split between race winner and champion was a product of NASCAR’s returning Chase format and Larson’s large points advantage. He entered the November 8 finale 67 points ahead of Christopher Bell and needed nine points to make the title mathematically unreachable. Larson started fourth and finished fourth in Stage 1, collecting seven stage points. Because Bell and Denny Hamlin did not gain enough ground—and Larson was guaranteed at least one finishing-position point simply by completing the event—the championship was settled after Lap 78.

Larson’s title was won across the Chase

Larson did not win any of the 26 regular-season races, according to NASCAR’s official championship report. His season changed after the points reset. Driving Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 5 Chevrolet, he ended a 51-race winless streak at World Wide Technology Raceway and built a run of strong finishes that included wins at Kansas and Talladega.

That consistency mattered under the 2026 system: the 16 eligible drivers competed through all 10 Chase races without elimination rounds, while wins paid 55 points and stage points remained available. Larson arrived at Homestead with enough margin to clinch long before the checkered flag.

The result makes Larson the first back-to-back Cup champion since Jimmie Johnson completed five consecutive titles in 2010. Larson’s previous championships came in 2021 and 2025. He is now one of 11 drivers with at least three Cup titles, while Hendrick Motorsports extends its record to 16.

Blaney wins the race on a final-lap move

The title was settled early, but the race remained open until the final lap. Blaney, driving Team Penske’s No. 12 Ford, passed Reddick and led the final two laps. The official NASCAR results list Blaney first after 267 laps, followed by Reddick, William Byron, Bell, Bubba Wallace and Hamlin.

Reddick led 53 laps and won Stage 1, while Hamlin led a race-high 87. Byron led 38 laps and finished third. Larson completed all 267 laps in 12th after dealing with nose damage from contact on pit road late in Stage 2. The finish did not affect a championship that had already been locked up.

Blaney’s victory and Larson’s championship completed NASCAR’s three-series weekend at Homestead. In the support divisions, Justin Allgaier won the 2026 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series title, while Kaden Honeycutt earned the Craftsman Truck Series championship.

What the result means

Larson’s third title is less a story about one dominant finale than about recovering from a winless regular season and controlling the Chase. NASCAR’s official account credits crew chief Cliff Daniels and the No. 5 team with turning early-season inconsistency into a postseason run built on speed, stage points and damage limitation.

Blaney, meanwhile, leaves Homestead with the race trophy after a decisive final-lap pass. The official record therefore has two headline results from the same afternoon: Larson is the 2026 Cup champion, and Blaney is the Homestead race winner.

Featured image: Archive photo of Kyle Larson’s 2026 No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, not the Homestead finale. Photo by TaurusEmerald via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. No changes were made.