Kyle Larson Wins 2026 NASCAR Cup Title, His Third

Kyle Larson didn't need the checkered flag to win the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series title. He had it wrapped up by the end of the first stage at Homestead on Sunday, and he summed it up on the radio in three words: "That was anticlimactic."

The result still puts Larson in rare company. He is now a three-time Cup champion, and the first driver to win back-to-back titles since Jimmie Johnson finished his run of five straight in 2010.

How Larson clinched it in Stage 1

Larson arrived at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a 67-point lead over Christopher Bell. Under the points math, he needed nine points on Sunday to lock up the title no matter what anyone else did.

He got one point just for starting. He banked seven more by running fourth in Stage 1, which ended under caution on Lap 78 after pole-sitter Chase Briscoe's No. 19 Toyota went up in smoke. Bell took third in the stage and Hamlin sixth, and with Larson guaranteed at least one more point for finishing, neither could catch him. NASCAR's recap laid out the arithmetic: Bell trailed by 66 with only 66 points left on the table.

Team owner Rick Hendrick radioed his congratulations during the caution and added a joke: "Now you can go ride the wall." Larson did, and he cut a right-rear tire and had to pit out of sequence. Later he took nose damage in contact on pit road after Stage 2. He still finished 12th on the lead lap, and admitted afterward, "I started driving like an idiot," according to the Guardian.

Ryan Blaney wins the Homestead finale

The race itself was the opposite of anticlimactic. Over the last seven laps the lead changed hands among three drivers. William Byron looked like the winner until Tyler Reddick got by him, and then Ryan Blaney passed Reddick coming to the white flag and held on to win by 0.314 seconds.

It was Blaney's fourth win of 2026 and the 21st of his Cup career, per Sports Illustrated, and the second year in a row he has won the season finale. Michael Jordan, who co-owns Reddick's 23XI Racing team, watched from pit road.

Top 10 at Homestead, per the official results:

1. Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford
2. Tyler Reddick, 23XI Toyota
3. William Byron, Hendrick Chevrolet
4. Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
5. Bubba Wallace, 23XI Toyota
6. Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
7. Austin Cindric, Team Penske Ford
8. Daniel Suárez, Chevrolet
9. Noah Gragson, Ford
10. Michael McDowell, Chevrolet

Hamlin led the most laps, 87, before brushing the wall late. Only two of the 40 starters failed to finish: Briscoe and Corey Heim.

From winless to champion

What makes this title stand out is how it started. Larson went the entire 26-race regular season without a win, part of a 51-race drought. Then the Chase, NASCAR's 10-race postseason, began. He won three of the first nine Chase races and finished in the top 10 in eight of them.

By championship week his lead was so large that he was the only driver NASCAR invited to its title media day, which he called awkward. His team didn't seem tense either. Larson said they spent qualifying day debating whether a hot dog counts as a sandwich.

Where Larson ranks among NASCAR's greats

Larson, 34, is the 11th driver with at least three Cup championships, according to the Associated Press. Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Johnson have seven each and Jeff Gordon has four. Lee Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Tony Stewart and Joey Logano have three.

His three titles came three different ways. In 2021, his first year with Hendrick, he won four of the last five races, including the finale at Phoenix. In 2025, also at Phoenix, his crew took two tires on a late caution and he jumped Hamlin on pit road with two laps left. This year he clinched before halfway. The title is the 16th Cup championship for Hendrick Motorsports.

He also keeps winning outside NASCAR. Larson has won the Rolex 24 at Daytona, three Chili Bowl Nationals and four Knoxville Nationals, and has raced in the Indianapolis 500 twice. "He wins in everything he does," NBC Sports analyst Jeff Burton said.