By Reid Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service
HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Ryan Blaney stole the consolation prize from Tyler Reddick with two laps left in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but it’s Kyle Larson who will leave South Florida with the championship trophy.
Blaney passed Reddick on Lap 266 of 267 in the final race of the reconstituted NASCAR Cup Series Chase presented by Mobil 1 and powered his No. 12 Team Penske Ford across the finish line 0.314 seconds ahead of the Reddick’s 23XI Racing Toyota.
Long before Blaney secured his fourth victory of the season and 21st of his career, Larson had clinched his second straight championship and third overall with a fourth-place finish in the first stage.
After multiple brushes with the outside wall, Larson eventually rolled home in 12th in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, becoming the first Cup Series driver to win back-to back titles since Hendrick legend Jimmie Johnson claimed five straight from 2006 through 2010.
“I got word that we clinched it, and I started driving like an idiot,” Larson said with a laugh.
Larson became the 11th driver to win three or more championships in NASCAR’s top division. As broadcaster Jeff Burton pointed out earlier in the weekend, more humans have walked on the moon (12) than have won three Cup titles.
Larson joined an elite group of three-time champions that includes NASCAR Hall of Famers Lee Petty, David Pearson, Darrell Waltrip, Cale Yarborough, Tony Stewart and current Team Penske driver Joey Logano.
The championship was the 16th for team owner Rick Hendrick, extending Hendrick Motorsports’ series record.
“I’m just so proud of my team, first and foremost,” said Larson, who finished 49 points ahead of second-place Christopher Bell and 56 in front of third-place Denny Hamlin. “Hendrick Motorsports, this was statistically probably one of our worst years. To still come away with the championship shows how resilient everybody at the race shop is, everybody on my 5 team, all my teammates, 24 (William Byron), the 9 (Chase Elliott), the 48 (Alex Bowman). GM (General Motors), too, Chevrolet, all the key partners there.
“We absolutely could not have done what we did in the Chase without the teamwork that it took. That’s what this championship is, makes it so meaningful, just the teamwork. This one more than any of them took teamwork.”
Larson’s third championship was official when pole winner Chase Briscoe’s engine blew on Lap 78, ending the first stage. Larson was running fourth at the time, one position behind Bell, with Hamlin in sixth.
By scoring seven stage points to Bell’s eight and Hamlin’s five, Larson put the title mathematically out of the reach of his Joe Gibbs Racing pursuers. Hamlin and Bell were left to battle for second place in the final standings.
“They’ve declared it—we’ve got it,” crew chief Cliff Daniels radioed to Larson during the caution. With his third championship—all with Larson—Daniels is tied for fourth all-time among Cup Series crew chiefs.
“Like it’s done—over?” asked Larson, just making sure. “That was a little anticlimactic, but that’s cool. Good job, guys!”
Hendrick radioed his delight to the 34-year-old driver from Elk Grove, California.
“Congratulations,” Hendrick said. “Now you can run the wall.”
That’s exactly what Larson did, but the freedom came with a price. On Lap 119, Larson steered the No. 5 Camaro to pit road with a cut right rear tire—the result of contact with the outside wall.
Larson’s trip to the pits started a green-flag cycle, with Bell following from the race lead eight laps later and Reddick right behind him. But it was Hamlin, who pitted three laps earlier than Bell, who grabbed the lead and held on to win the second stage, as Larson faded to 17th on well-worn rubber.
Blaney’s journey to the checkered flag was convoluted, to say the least. During the first stage break, he returned to pit road to remedy a loose wheel and restarted at the back of the field. By the end of Stage 2, he had climbed to fifth in the running order.
In the final stage, Blaney ran long and pitted on Lap 220 and was running down Byron and Reddick from five seconds back when a caution bunched the field and set up a restart with eight laps left.
Blaney restarted fourth, passed Bell on lap 263, slipped past Byron a lap later and made the winning pass of Reddick on Lap 266 of 267.
“Pretty cool night battling back from coming down pit road,” said Blaney, who avenged a haunting last-lap loss to Reddick at 1.5-mile Homestead in 2024. “Car was really, really fast. I appreciate everybody for sticking with it.
“Even though we weren’t part of the championship fight, our goal was to try to win the race, end on a high note, get the most points we can.”
The victory elevated Blaney three positions to fourth in the final standings, 94 points behind Larson.
Byron, who was leading by just over one second when Noah Gragson spun Daniel Suarez in Turn 1 to cause the third and final caution with 14 laps left, finished third in front of Bell and Bubba Wallace.
Hamlin came home sixth, followed by Austin Cindric, Suarez, Gragson, and Michael McDowell.
Bell and Hamlin were the only two drivers still mathematically alive for the title entering Sunday’s race, but winning would have required a perfect night from one of the two JGR drivers along with calamity for Larson.
Neither happened.
“This year consistently we were in the mix,” Bell said. “We were in there for contention of race wins. Obviously disappointed we didn’t win more. Yeah, just happy and thrilled and thankful that I’m in position.
“Something to build on. Hopefully, we can execute a little bit better and get that grand prize at the end.”
A four-time winner this season, Hamlin echoed Bell’s sentiments.
“We had a great year,” he said. “Every way you can measure the year, it’s been really, really good. Congrats to the 5 team. They deserve everything, the spoils of victory. They performed absolutely incredible during these last 10 races.
“We are extremely happy with the 36 races that we put together. It’s really tough to do in this sport. Certainly felt good to be competitive from the first race to the last.”
Notes: Hamlin led a race-high 87 laps, followed by Reddick with 53, Bell with 46 and Byron with 38. Blaney led seven laps… J.J. Yeley finished 36th in his 400th Cup start, one spot ahead of Casey Mears, who achieved his personal goal of 500 Cup starts… Justin Haley ran 21st, subbing for suspended Spire Motorsports driver Carson Hocevar.
NASCAR Cup Series Race – NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race
Homestead-Miami Speedway
Homestead, Florida
Sunday, November 8, 2026
1. (9) Ryan Blaney (C), Ford, 267.
2. (3) Tyler Reddick (C), Toyota, 267.
3. (8) William Byron (C), Chevrolet, 267.
4. (6) Christopher Bell (C), Toyota, 267.
5. (18) Bubba Wallace (C), Toyota, 267.
6. (2) Denny Hamlin (C), Toyota, 267.
7. (5) Austin Cindric (C), Ford, 267.
8. (10) Daniel Suarez (C), Chevrolet, 267.
9. (33) Noah Gragson, Ford, 267.
10. (12) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 267.
11. (20) Ty Gibbs (C), Toyota, 267.
12. (4) Kyle Larson (C), Chevrolet, 267.
13. (14) Josh Berry, Ford, 267.
14. (27) Zane Smith, Ford, 267.
15. (11) Austin Hill(i), Chevrolet, 267.
16. (13) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 267.
17. (19) Joey Logano (C), Ford, 267.
18. (25) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 267.
19. (23) Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, 267.
20. (24) Erik Jones, Toyota, 267.
21. (26) Justin Haley(i) (C), Chevrolet, 267.
22. (7) Chase Elliott (C), Chevrolet, 267.
23. (29) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 267.
24. (17) Chris Buescher (C), Ford, 267.
25. (32) Ryan Preece (C), Ford, 267.
26. (21) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 266.
27. (15) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 266.
28. (40) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 266.
29. (28) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 266.
30. (36) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 266.
31. (31) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 266.
32. (22) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chevrolet, 266.
33. (30) Riley Herbst, Toyota, 265.
34. (34) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 265.
35. (35) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 264.
36. (38) JJ Yeley(i), Chevrolet, 262.
37. (37) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 261.
38. (39) Chad Finchum(i), Ford, 257.
39. (1) Chase Briscoe (C), Toyota, Engine, 77.
40. (16) Corey Heim(i), Toyota, Electrical, 57.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 133.5 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 0 Mins, 0 Secs. Margin of Victory: .314 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 3 for 23 laps.
Lead Changes: 18 among 8 drivers.
Lap Leaders: C. Briscoe (C) 1-33;T. Reddick (C) 34-39;B. Wallace (C) 40;*. Heim(i) 41-42;C. Bell (C) 43-52;T. Reddick (C) 53-88;C. Bell (C) 89-90;T. Reddick (C) 91-92;C. Bell (C) 93-126;T. Reddick (C) 127;D. Hamlin (C) 128-214;R. Blaney (C) 215;T. Reddick (C) 216-217;R. Blaney (C) 218-221;W. Byron (C) 222-254;T. Reddick (C) 255;W. Byron (C) 256-260;T. Reddick (C) 261-265;R. Blaney (C) 266-267.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Denny Hamlin (C) 1 time for 87 laps; Tyler Reddick (C) 7 times for 53 laps; Christopher Bell (C) 3 times for 46 laps; William Byron (C) 2 times for 38 laps; Chase Briscoe (C) 1 time for 33 laps; Ryan Blaney (C) 3 times for 7 laps; * Corey Heim(i) 1 time for 2 laps; Bubba Wallace (C) 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 45,12,20,5,2,11,23,7,24,9
Stage #2 Top Ten: 11,20,45,2,12,24,48,9,38,7
