Kyle Larson Wins Talladega From 11th on Final Lap
Kyle Larson won the 2026 YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway by 0.041 seconds, climbing from 11th place to first on the final lap of overtime. The victory was Larson’s first at Talladega and his first in 59 NASCAR Cup Series starts on a large drafting-style track.
Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet dropped from the lead to 11th as the field took the white flag. He moved to the bottom lane, maintained his momentum through the final two corners and passed seven cars in the last quarter-mile. Hendrick teammate William Byron finished second, with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. third and Ross Chastain fourth in a tightly packed run to the line.
The official NASCAR race report said post-race technical inspection was completed without issue, confirming Larson as the winner. He led 23 laps and collected 71 points from the race.
Larson found a path from 11th to first
Talladega’s final lap began with Larson appearing to have lost his chance. Cars separated into multiple drafting lanes, and the No. 5 fell outside the top 10. The traffic that cost him positions then created an opening: Larson committed to the lower lane and carried enough speed to surge back toward the front.
Byron cleared into the lead entering Turn 3, but Larson continued advancing underneath the pack. The teammates crossed the finish line nearly side by side, with the official NASCAR results listing Larson ahead by 0.041 seconds.
The result gave Chevrolet the first six positions. Byron and Stenhouse followed Larson, with Chastain fourth, Cole Custer fifth and Carson Hocevar sixth. Todd Gilliland was the first Ford in seventh, ahead of Denny Hamlin, Alex Bowman and Michael McDowell.
- Kyle Larson, Chevrolet
- William Byron, Chevrolet
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet
- Ross Chastain, Chevrolet
- Cole Custer, Chevrolet
- Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet
- Todd Gilliland, Ford
- Denny Hamlin, Toyota
- Alex Bowman, Chevrolet
- Michael McDowell, Chevrolet
Two large crashes reshaped the race
The finish followed two major multicar incidents. The first occurred on Lap 132 when Ryan Blaney lost momentum in the outside lane and was collected in a 12-car crash. Eight drivers competing in NASCAR’s Chase were involved, including Blaney, Bubba Wallace, Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, Ty Gibbs, Ryan Preece, Chase Elliott and Daniel Suárez.
A second crash with five regulation laps remaining involved 15 cars and forced a 13-minute red flag. Contact sent Joey Logano’s Ford upside down; the car slid through the tri-oval before safety workers returned it to its wheels. Logano climbed out under his own power.
That late accident also eliminated several cars that had been competitive throughout the race. Chris Buescher, who won Stage 1 and led a race-high 53 laps, finished 32nd. Pole winner Chase Briscoe finished 33rd, and Stage 2 winner Logano was 34th.
Talladega delivered Larson’s missing superspeedway win
Larson has won across many forms of racing, but a Cup victory at Daytona or Talladega had remained absent from his record. NASCAR said Sunday’s result ended that gap after 59 starts on the series’ large drafting-style tracks.
The win was Larson’s third of the 2026 Cup season and the 35th of his career. It was also his first Talladega victory in 24 starts and his sixth top-10 finish at the Alabama track.
The final margin was Talladega-close, but it was not the day’s only photo finish. Logano beat Larson by 0.012 seconds for the Stage 2 win. Buescher had controlled the opening stage after RFK Racing teammates Ryan Preece and Brad Keselowski broke away from the fuel-saving main pack.
The championship picture changed sharply
Larson entered Talladega only five points ahead of Christopher Bell. Bell spun while entering pit road during the first round of stops, damaged the No. 20 Toyota and eventually finished 35th. The combination of Larson’s win and trouble for several challengers expanded his lead to 73 points over Hamlin.
Bell is now 74 points behind Larson, Briscoe trails by 79, Logano by 100 and Blaney by 107. Reddick remains mathematically eligible at 126 points back, according to NASCAR’s post-race standings. Austin Cindric, Gibbs, Hocevar, Byron and Elliott have been eliminated from title contention.
The larger lead gives Larson room to manage the final two races, but it does not make the championship automatic. Martinsville’s short-track traffic and the season finale can still produce large swings, especially if mechanical trouble or an accident removes a contender from a race.
What comes next
The Cup Series moves from NASCAR’s largest oval to the half-mile Martinsville Speedway for the Xfinity 500 on Sunday, November 1. Byron is the defending winner of the fall event, while Hendrick teammate Elliott won at Martinsville earlier in 2026.
Larson will arrive with a commanding points advantage and a milestone victory behind him. Talladega did not merely extend his championship lead; it added the superspeedway win that had been missing from one of NASCAR’s most versatile résumés.
Sources
- NASCAR: Kyle Larson scores first superspeedway win at Talladega, October 25, 2026
- NASCAR: official 2026 YellaWood 500 results, October 25, 2026
- Jayski: 2026 YellaWood 500 race information and standings, October 25, 2026
Featured image: Kyle Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March 2026. Archive image from the same season and car, not the Talladega race. Photo by TaurusEmerald via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
