Kyle Larson's 2026 championship was over before most fans had finished their first plate of wings. The No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet came to Homestead-Miami Speedway with a 67-point cushion over Christopher Bell, needing only nine points to wrap it up. A fourth-place finish in Stage 1 did the job, and the rest of Sunday's finale was a victory lap that lasted 187 more laps.
The numbers. It's Larson's third Cup Series title and his second in a row, making him the first driver to repeat as champion since Jimmie Johnson's five-year run ended in 2010. He's now one of only 11 drivers in Cup history with three or more championships. Crew chief Cliff Daniels has all three of his titles with Larson, and Hendrick Motorsports now owns 16 Cup championships. Larson finished 12th on the day and beat Bell by 49 points in the final standings.
The comeback nobody saw coming. This is the part we can't get past: Larson went the entire 26-race regular season without a win. The team started the Chase as the seventh seed. Then the switch flipped, and the No. 5 was the best car in the sport when it mattered.
Blaney steals the show. With the title decided early, the race itself turned into a Ryan Blaney highlight. Tyler Reddick had the field covered late, but Blaney ran him down, swung to the outside and cleared him as they took the white flag. He won by 0.314 seconds for his fourth win of 2026, the 21st of his career and his second straight season-finale victory. Byron, Bell and Bubba Wallace rounded out the top five, and Chase Briscoe started from the pole.
Our take: The Chase format was supposed to bring back drama on the final day, and instead the champion was decided by Stage 1. Larson earned every point. But expect a lot of conversation this winter about whether the finale needs a little more on the line.
Sources: NASCAR.com, Motorsport.com, Speedway Media.
