Larson Makes It Three NASCAR Cup Series Titles as Blaney Gets Homestead Revenge!
HOMESTEAD, F.L. - Kyle Larson won his third NASCAR Cup Series championship Sunday, November 8, as he secured the championship in the opening stage. With his championship win, Larson became the third youngest three time champion in NASCAR history behind two other Hendrick Motorsports greats Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. Despite the outcome of the champion not being dramatic, the race was action packed and delivered an excellent finish with Ryan Blaney picking up the win.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Chase Briscoe started the race on pole for Joe Gibbs racing and led the opening 34 laps before starting off the pit cycle. Briscoe had issues on his stop causing him to lose the lead, but that was not the only issue that he faced over the course of the stage.
Instead, Tyler Reddick acquired the lead of the pit cycle and took the lead from Christopher Bell in turn three on lap 53. Reddick went on to lead the remainder of the stage that was ended early on lap 78.
This is where the other issue for Chase Briscoe occured as his engine had blown up causin his race to end early. With Kyle Larson running 4th, Christopher Bell 3rd, and Denny Hamlin 6th, the stage effort was enough to secure the championship for Larson.
With the pressure for all the championship drivers off the table, Denny Hamlin rose to the occasion in stage two. On lap 125 Hamlin climbed up to 3rd before hitting the pits. On lap 127 leader Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick both pit, bu they did not beat out Hamlin.
What proceeded was Hamlin holding off Bell for the final 38 laps of the stage, proving the 11 car had the capability of finally stepping up to the occasion, even though it was too late for his championship hopes.
But stage three did not come easy at all for Hamlin as Tyler Reddick showed strong long run strength again and kept him in tow for most of the early portion along with Ryan Blaney. On lap 216, one of the big moes of the race happened.
While Hamlin and Blaney were battling side by side for the lead, they found themselves sidedrafting eachother incredibly hard. Behind, Tyler Reddick used momentum around the outside lane to get a huge run that resulted in a four wide pass for the lead as the field was also lapping Chase Elliott. Reddick went shot to the bottom down the front stretch and cleared in a dive to turn one by a decent margin stealing the lead away.
That move for Reddick seemed like it was going to be the race defining move, but as it turned out it wasn't. William Byron held the lead after undercutting on the pit cycle on lap 237, and was challenged by Reddick as the laps winded down.
But instead on lap 253, the race got turned on its head to a shootout as Daniel Suarez got turned by Noah Gragson while battling for 11th bringing out the race changing yellow.
This forced all the teams to pit road and William Byron won the battle off. But, on the restart his lead was anything but safe.
On lap 260, Byron jumped out to the lead by got pressured a lap later as Tyler Reddick took the lead on lap 261. Behind it was a battle of hard racing and desperation that provided a beatiful display of the capiabilities that make Homestead-Miami Speedway so famous.
On lap 265 with three laps to go, Ryan Blaney looked under William Byron for second and took the position of turn two. Then on lap 266 in shades of the race back in 2024, but with roles reversed, Ryan Blaney got his revenge against Tyler Reddick.
After pushing Reddick hard into a blocking position down the backstretch Ryan Blaney got to the outside of Tyler Reddick entering turn three. Reddick on the bottom tried to throttle up, but Ryan Blaneys gas pedal was to the floor against the boards as he rapped around the outside and took control of the lead.
It had been a tough chase of hopes and bad luck for Ryan Blaney, but it ended on a positive note as Reddick was unable to challenge back, Ryan Blaney closed out 2026 winning his 4th race of 2026, while Kyle Larson further back crossed the line in 12th securing the championship!
OTHER NOTES:
For Hendrick Motorsports, the third championship win of Kyle Larson's career with HMS resulted in the team's 16th overall driver championship in the series. As mentioned earlier for Larson, he not only is the third youngest driver to three NASCAR Cup Series championships, but also the 11th driver in history to achieve such an accomplishment.
As for Joe Gibbs Racing it will be a long offseason back to the drawing board along with Toyota as a manufcturer. Despite having six drivers in the top seven in points to start the Chase, none of the drivers were able to secure the deal to win Toyota's first drivers championship since 2019.
Lastly, the race ended with some positive momentum for two non-Chasers. In particular, Noah Gragson and Michael McDowell tallied a 9th and 10th place finish. For Gragson it was his third top ten effort of the season, meanwhile McDowell ended his season with his 10th. It is not easy to run well at Homestead, so the gutsy perfomances can go a long way.
UP NEXT:
Drivers will celebrate their championship victories this week at Homestead and begin the off-season grind as teams will prepare for February when the 2027 NASCAR season returns. The next slated race will the Clash at Daytona International Speedway will be held February 13th with the time of the green flag to be determined.
The clash being at Daytona will start of Speed Weeks, as the 2027 Daytona 500 will be held on Sunday, February 21st.
We want to thank you for all of your support this season and look forward to seeing you at the track next season! A reminder that you can keep up with us on X, Instagram, Youtube, TikTok, and here at MotorsportsToday.net! We have plenty of off-season action planned so there will be plenty to keep up with!
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