Kyle Larson Clinches Third NASCAR Cup Title as Ryan Blaney Wins Homestead Finale
HOMESTEAD, Fla. — The NASCAR Cup Series closed its 2026 season on November 8 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Miami-Dade County, Florida, where 34-year-old California driver Kyle Larson finished 12th to lock up his third Cup Series championship on points, while Ryan Blaney passed Tyler Reddick late to win the season finale.
Larson, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, needed only nine points to clinch the title. He finished fourth in the first stage for seven stage points, and with Chase Briscoe's engine failure on Lap 78 ending the stage under caution, Larson had mathematically clinched the championship by the end of Stage 1. His car later took nose damage in a pit-road incident and brushed the wall, and he finished 12th.
Larson won the title with 2,501 points, 49 ahead of Christopher Bell and 56 ahead of Denny Hamlin. It is his third Cup championship, after 2021 and 2025, and his second in a row, making him the first driver to repeat as champion since Jimmie Johnson's five straight titles ending in 2010; he is the 11th driver with at least three Cup titles. Winless in the regular season, Larson won three races in the final Chase stretch. Hendrick Motorsports earned its 16th Cup Series championship.
In the 267-lap finale, Blaney, driving the No. 12 Ford for Team Penske, passed Reddick on Lap 266 and won by 0.314 seconds, his fourth victory of 2026 and the 21st of his career. Reddick was second, William Byron third, Bell fourth and Hamlin sixth. Blaney finished fourth in the final standings. (Source: NASCAR)
Source: NASCAR
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Photo: 图：拉森驾驶的5号 HendrickCars.com 雪佛兰赛车2025年在 Sonoma 赛道（资料照片）。TaurusEmerald 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Kyle Larson's No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet at Sonoma in 2025 (file photo). By TaurusEmerald, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
