Kyle Larson is now a three-time NASCAR champion. The 34-year-old from Elk Grove, California, clinched his third Cup Series title early in the 400-mile season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, November 8, becoming the first back-to-back champion since Jimmie Johnson in 2010. The Kyle Larson NASCAR championship was secured before the race was even half over, a formality that reflected just how dominant his season had been.
Larson entered the weekend with a 67-point lead over Christopher Bell and needed only nine points to wrap up the title. He got one point for starting the race and seven more by finishing fourth in the opening stage, which ended under caution on Lap 80 after pole winner Chase Briscoe’s engine blew. That was enough. There was no path left for Bell or Denny Hamlin to catch him.
“He didn’t need to do much on Sunday,” USA Today noted, “and at arguably his best track on the circuit, where he’s led more laps than any other driver, Larson left no doubt.” He put the pedal to the floor on his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and clinched the championship by finishing fourth in Stage 1 of the final race of the season.
A remarkable turnaround
Larson’s path to the title was one of the most unusual in NASCAR history. He went the entire 26-race regular season without a victory, then won three of the final ten Chase races and finished in the top ten in eight of them. The Chase presented by Mobil 1 returned in 2026 with a single points reset following the regular season, followed by a 16-car field and ten races without eliminations, and Larson was its defining story.
He ended a 51-race winless skid during the playoff run, transforming a season that had looked lost into a championship. His second title had come in stunning fashion last year at Phoenix; this one was, by contrast, a coronation. He was the overwhelming favourite to hoist the Bill France Cup long before the green flag dropped at Homestead.
Larson ultimately finished the race in 12th, putting him 49 points ahead of Bell and 56 points over Hamlin in the final standings. Ryan Blaney won the race for Team Penske, passing Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing with a little more than a lap to go, with NBA legend Michael Jordan watching from pit road. Blaney’s victory, his fourth of the season and 21st of his career, was a footnote to Larson’s celebration.
Joining the legends
Larson became the 11th driver in NASCAR history with three Cup titles, joining a list that includes seven-time champions Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson. He also joins Lee Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Tony Stewart and Joey Logano as a three-time champion, and he became the 14th driver to win at least two consecutive Cup championships.
He is the third Hendrick Motorsports driver with at least three championships, joining Hall of Famers Jeff Gordon, who won four, and Jimmie Johnson, who won seven. The title was the 16th Cup championship for team owner Rick Hendrick, extending the organisation’s series record. Hendrick’s titles have come from five drivers: Johnson, Gordon, Larson, Chase Elliott and Terry Labonte.
General Motors president Mark Reuss congratulated Larson, crew chief Cliff Daniels and the entire No. 5 Chevrolet team on their third NASCAR Cup Series championship, in a statement released by Chevrolet after the race.
What the Kyle Larson NASCAR championship means
Back-to-back championships are rare in modern NASCAR. Johnson’s five in a row from 2006 to 2010 was the last sustained dynasty, and no driver had managed even two in a row since. Larson’s achievement, coming after a winless regular season, is a reminder that the playoff format rewards timing as much as consistency.
For Larson, the title also cements a career arc that has already included three championships in six years, with titles in 2021, 2025 and now 2026. At 34, he has time to add more, and his record at Homestead, where he has led more laps than any other driver, suggests he will remain a threat at the season finale for years to come.
For NASCAR, the return of the Chase format and Larson’s dramatic run through it gave the season a compelling finish. The sport now heads into the off-season with a champion who has won three titles, a team that has won a record 16, and a format that produced exactly the kind of late-season drama it was designed to create.